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The Toronto Maple Leafs will not waste anytime getting Roman Polak back into game action, as the veteran defenseman will make his season debut against the Pacific Division leading Los Angeles Kings at Air Canada Centre on Monday.
The Leafs held an optional morning skate at ACC on Monday and only Connor Carrick took to the ice, which means that Polak will pair with Andreas Borgman against the Kings, who are 6-0-1 and tied with St. Louis for the best record in the Western Conference.
Polak scored 11 points ( 4 goals and 7 assists) in 75 games for the Leafs last season, but his ability to clear the front of the net and provide some deterrence on blueline is the main reason the 31-year-old Czech was brought back.
To open up a spot on the 23-man roster, the Leafs sent rookie Calle Rosen to the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League. The 23-year-old Swede had an assist and was -3 in four games and looked unsure of himself at times, which is understandable for someone who has never played in North America.
That has not been the case with fellow Swede Borgman. The 22-year-old has not been shy about using his size (6’0” 212 lb) to play more physically and has also displayed good skating ability that may eventually result in more offensive production when he becomes more comfortable.
The Leafs are likely to use Polak in place of Nikita Zaitsev on their top penalty killing defensive pairing with Ron Hainsey. Zaitsev and defensive partner Jake Gardiner were both -3 on Saturday and played in excess of 20 minutes.
Babcock indicated last week that a decision on the fourth line center battle between Fehr and Dominic Moore would be made in short order and statistically it was not a tough decision for the Leafs head coach.
Fehr (who was acquired in a trade from Pittsburgh last March and played just one game before suffering a season-ending hand injury) had no points in four games and a face-off winning percentage well below 50%. Moore has two goals in four games and has been better on draws, with a 56.4 face-off winning percentage.
With the signing of Polak and the demotion of Rosen, the Leafs increase their payroll by $175,000, but with the waiving of Fehr (if he is sent to the Marlies)Toronto can clear $1.025 Million of his $2 Million salary from the cap.
It is possible that Fehr was placed on waivers to see if other NHL teams are interested, but do not want to pay the full ticket of Fehr’s contract.
The Kings will go with Jonathan Quick in goal and will be without Jeff Carter, after the center suffered a laceration from a skate last week. Former Leaf Brooks Laich will play on the fourth line, between Andy Andreoff and Nic Dowd, with Nick Shore moving up to play between Tyler Toffoli and Tanner Pearson.
Frederik Andersen makes his eighth start of the season for Toronto and it is expected that the Leafs will stick with the same line combinations used against the Senators on Saturday.
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