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Polak signed to PTO

Zee said:
CarltonTheBear said:
https://twitter.com/kristen_shilton/status/908769726955950081
https://twitter.com/DaveAMcCarthy/status/908769366422032385

The way Babs is talking about this is somewhat promising.
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I'll take Polak back if it means more hilarious segments with Ferraro between benches saying Polak got away with a dirty hit while Polak listens in and shakes his head.
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WGqTI3P.gif

 
Bruce Arthur with a good look at the Polak situation:

https://www.thestar.com/sports/leafs/2017/09/20/polak-takes-the-long-painful-road-back-to-leafs-arthur.html

Lots of talk there about his injury and what he went through in the weeks and months that followed. It's a good read. But again there's another comment from Babcock that doesn't really make it seem like he's in the Leafs plans:

?Well, he?s just got to get healthy,? says Babcock. ?To tell you the truth, I haven?t paid any attention to him, until he?s in a situation to play in a game, it?s just a matter of him on rehab.?
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Polak also says that he's still in pain because of his leg. It honestly sounds like he's probably rushing things right now. I hope things work out for him, because despite not loving him as a player he's clearly a pretty great guy. The article ends with a neat story from when he first joined the team:

Morgan Rielly tells the story of a team karaoke night during training camp at Blue Mountain in 2015, and how he and some of the younger players like Jake Gardiner and Matt Frattin were nervous, and didn?t do very well. Next up went Polak, still new to the team, and he belted out the 80s song Life is Life, parading through the crowd, dancing with his teammates. He didn?t know all the words, but he let it all hang out. People were dying laughing: this big scowling serious man, acting the fool.

?That was the first time I was ever around him,? says Rielly. ?And I think he was making fun of himself, because ... it makes everyone feel better about themselves when he goes out to do that. He?s the one who?d rather be the butt of the joke rather than making fun of other people.?

Polak was willing to be vulnerable, then. He is back to being the tough guy, now. Roman Polak is a relic of an earlier time in hockey, trying to keep up, trying to recapture his own past. He is hoping that to his teammates, he can somehow be the same.
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After he cross-checked Connor McDavid during a World Cup warm-up and Auston Matthews retaliated by cross-checking Polak, Polak?s assessment of the Matthews hit was, ?good technique.?
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This sort of ices it for me.
?I root for everybody who works hard and competes hard and does things right, but in the end, I never confuse the player and the person,? says Babcock. ?At this time of year, you?re looking for players. At the same time, you?re hoping they?re really good people. If it?s a 50-50 situation and the tie goes to the best person, a guy like Polie has a chance to win.?
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I hope he makes it back to playing in a few months. I like that the Leafs are giving him access to whatever facilities he needs to get going again.
 
CarltonTheBear said:
You mentioned Aaltonen as well and that's another guy with basically a 0% chance of making the team out of camp. I think all 3 Euros signed knowing full well that they weren't the type of impact players that would get a NHL spot right away from any team other than someone like Colorado. They were going to require AHL seasoning from any team that was courting them.
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Reporter today: "Is it a surprise that Aaltonen and Rosen have earned the first shot at those spots?"

Babcock today: "No, they're good players, it's why we signed them."

He also said the exact same to Dreger in Paris, said he was "excited" to get them on-board.

Nothing is set in stone right now of course, but I think it's pretty clear people misunderstood these signings at least a little.

Not a shot btw, just having some fun.  ;)
 
Haha, all good! Aaltonen making the team would definitely be a pretty big shocker. But it sure looks like that's where we're headed. The question now would be can he (and Rosen) maintain their spots during the season. Impressing in training camp isn't a particularly huge feat.

edit: And truthfully, even from what I've seen I'm a little surprised at how high Babs is on them. Aaltonen didn't really impress me when I saw him, and I thought Rosen's first game was kinda meh but his second was strong. That's still not a lot to go on. I guess they've been crushing it at those highly competitive practices.
 
Aaltonen's pace in the KHL translates to almost 50 NHL points, he seems at the very least to be talented offensively.

With them needing to play a top-nine forward like Brown on the fourth line, they might think Aaltonen can help him score if Martin creates space.  It'll be interesting to see if Aaltonen can be defensively responsible enough to keep play tilted the right way.
 
WhatIfGodWasALeaf said:
Aaltonen's pace in the KHL translates to almost 50 NHL points, he seems at the very least to be talented offensively.

With them needing to play a top-nine forward like Brown on the fourth line, they might think Aaltonen can help him score if Martin creates space.  It'll be interesting to see if Aaltonen can be defensively responsible enough to keep play tilted the right way.
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That, and the PK thing.  That's what I thought Moore was for.

I guess there's a possibility that Aaltonen gets to stay at the expense of Leivo, but that would be quite the story if they waive Leivo after protecting him instead of Leipsic.
 
WhatIfGodWasALeaf said:
With them needing to play a top-nine forward like Brown on the fourth line, they might think Aaltonen can help him score if Martin creates space.  It'll be interesting to see if Aaltonen can be defensively responsible enough to keep play tilted the right way.
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Yeah I heard Babs talking about how Aaltonen needs to adjust his game to play a more defensive role here, but I mean on the 4th line he's constantly going to be going up against other 4th lines. You don't need a defensive specialist to play there to shut down guys who are just chipping the puck in and trying to basically kill time for another line to come out. If Aaltonen is as good as advertised then he and Brown can definitely do some damage down there.

Now just imagine if they swapped Martin out with Leivo.
 
CarltonTheBear said:
WhatIfGodWasALeaf said:
With them needing to play a top-nine forward like Brown on the fourth line, they might think Aaltonen can help him score if Martin creates space.  It'll be interesting to see if Aaltonen can be defensively responsible enough to keep play tilted the right way.
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Yeah I heard Babs talking about how Aaltonen needs to adjust his game to play a more defensive role here, but I mean on the 4th line he's constantly going to be going up against other 4th lines. You don't need a defensive specialist to play there to shut down guys who are just chipping the puck in and trying to basically kill time for another line to come out. If Aaltonen is as good as advertised then he and Brown can definitely do some damage down there.

Now just imagine if they swapped Martin out with Leivo.
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Indeed.

Let's hope they can overwhelm the Canadiens tonight, for obvious reasons this is the first preseason game that feels like the build-up to an actual game.
 
As someone who has been advocating for an offensive fourth line that is made up of third liners to overmatch weaker opponents with overwhelming scoring depth, I feel really good about keeping Aaltonen/Moore, Leivo/Martin as swappables to suit the match up. Brown instantly adds a scoring threat to either combination. In-game injuries immediately have players who can fill top-9 minutes temporarily.

It means carrying only one extra defender, but I?m okay with Marincin riding pine with Ros?n-Carrick filling out the bottom.
 
Arn said:
Frank E said:
What happened to Dermott having the spot?

I think he's looked better than Rosen.
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He's waiver exempt?
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They're both waiver exempt, and Dermott has the advantage of being performance bonus-free.

They are both flexible options, capable of playing right or left, capable of PK or PP time; Dermott is probably better right now too.

My interpretation of the Leafs actions so far is that they sort of want the bottom pairing to be semi-part-time, with flex options into top-4 minutes for injuries. I think they also value letting their draft picks develop, especially in top minutes if there is a chance.

So I think Dermott will be held back with the Marlies to start the season to shepherd Liljegren and Borgman a bit, rather than tossing him into sheltered bottom-pairing minutes or sitting in the press box. Rosen is easier to cycle in and out of the bottom of the lineup.

I don't think Polak is part of the equation beyond giving him all the space and access to trainers and nutritionists he needs to get back into playing shape. On his PTO, he can participate in practices and round out our 7, as he already knows the drills and the practice pace.
 
Keep Polak in the wings...my understanding is they are responsible for his full rehab before they or anyone can re sign him...it is so nice overall to have true competition for these jobs!
 
herman said:
https://theleafsnation.com/2017/12/05/is-roman-polak-safe/

Yeeeaaaah...
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I'll preface this by saying I'd rather have Carrick in the lineup. 

First point they make is how "unsafe" he is based on the amount of penalties he takes.  Well, if you are choosing between Carrick and Polak guess what- Carrick has taken more penalties in almost equivalent number of minutes over the past two years:

Carrick:  1226 mins 100 penalties taken
Polak:  1234 mins  94 penalties taken

Second they point to his advanced stats, focusing on shot rates against  (attempts, unblocked, on-net).  But they don't mention the fact that Babcock doesn't trust Carrick anywhere near as much as Polak defensively- 0.57 ZSR vs 0.47 ZSR (Zone-Start Ratio).  Where you start your shift can impact your rates against (NOT saying it is the reason why his rates are higher entirely- just a part of it)

Polak is still sitting at 50% shot-attempt share (Carrick is slightly below 50%) despite the less favourable zone starts. 
Anyways, I'm not advocating for Polak over Carrick, just pointing some stuff out here.

 
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