It’s not much of a surprise, but the Toronto Maple Leafs have begun selling off their pieces. They may not have a lot of pieces, but they are doing whatever they can do get value for them.
TRADE: @MapleLeafs acquire San Jose's 2nd-round picks in 2017 & 2018 as well as F Raffi Torres for D Roman Polak & F Nick Spaling. #TMLtalk
— Leafs PR (@LeafsPR) February 22, 2016
Taking a look at this from a completely objective point of view, this trade makes very little sense for the San Jose Sharks. They are basically going all in with players that are not any good. Polak is maybe servicable as a bottom pairing defenseman, but he isn’t anything that should have been traded for. Same goes for Nick Spaling who is a bottom-six player and is not a player that should be traded for. The Leafs absolutely fleeced the Sharks in this deal. I have no idea how they got two second round picks out of this deal. The Sharks have to be thinking that they can win right this moment.
The Leafs are not going to be competitive for quite some time, but this team is going to be an interesting study for rebuilds across the league. The public pressure in 2-3 years though will be immense as the team should be coming to fruition and they should be seeing results. People will be impatient and will be wanting to see results at that point.
Toronto had 9 picks in 2015 and already has 12 in 2016 and 8 in 2017.
29 picks in 3 years. 3 of those picks in the 1st round. 6 in 2nd.
— Adam Gretz (@AGretz) February 22, 2016
From a pure picks angle, they are set. Do they have what it takes to build this correctly? All seems to be pointing in the right direction but it has to actually happen. The future is bright but the risk is very high.
