glen a richter wrote:FWIW, Polak actually has as many points in one more game played than Gunnarsson so far this season (3 g, 2 a) except that he's a -6, but on a team that has worse defense to begin with. He's also out with a leg injury, so effectively equal stats and currently equal uselessness to their respective teams. Maybe the trade will work out in the long run but right now it does seem we got the short end of the stick.
Toronto actually has the same team +/- as the Blues (+9). They allow more but they score more as well. Their defense is split about 50/50 in terms of +/-, with 4 guys in the positive category and 4 guys in the negative. Polak has the second worst +/- on the team. It is probably due to him being used in the PK more than others and spending second-most time on ice per game, but Phaneuf, for example, is +14, leading the Leafs in ice time per game while being close second to Polak in short-handed ice time per game.
The Blues essentially replaced the 17 munites of Polak'ss ice time with 16+ minutes of Gunnarsson's ice time, getting better puck movement and offensive aptitude in return for toughness that was, in fact, waning (we didn't see the Polak door open that often last season, and his stats for Toronto may back it up). Gunnarsson makes $200k more than Polak for year, so that's not that significant. Toronto seems to be overusing Polak with 21+ minutes per game, which may have contributed to his abysmal +/-. The only thing that needs to happen is that Gunnarsson needs to increase his offensive production. That however, may be a function of no one but STL line really lighting it up. His assists would be much higher if more Blues forwards scored more goals.
So worst case, this is an even-steven trade with both teams yet to reap intended rewards. But it's a stretch to say the Blues got screwed here.