Maple Leafs trade Roman Polak to Sharks for Raffi Torres and draft picks

As expected, the Toronto Maple Leafs unloaded pending unrestricted free agent defenseman Roman Polak on Monday in a trade with the San Jose Sharks.

San Jose also received forward Nick Spaling for Toronto. In return, the Maple Leafs receive second-round draft picks in 2017 and 2018, as well as the minor league contract of forward Raffi Torres.

The Maple Leafs are in full rebuilding mode, so they've spent the last few weeks unloading every unrestricted free agent of value for draft picks. Polak, a 29-year-old defenseman, is expected to help the Sharks' blue line as they look to solidify their hold on a playoff spot. Spaling is a restricted free agent at the end of the season and has only one goal and seven points in 35 games.

Leafs will now have about $10-million in cap space by next week's trade deadline. There will be more bad contracts on the way in.

— James Mirtle (@mirtle) February 22, 2016

The Maple Leafs now have eight picks in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft, including three in the second round. Combine that with their 12 picks in 2016 and Toronto has a significant opportunity to boost their rebuild in the next two years.