The Toronto Maple Leafs have traded defenceman Roman Polak and forward Nick Spaling to the San Jose Sharks for two second-round draft picks and forward Raffi Torres.
The second round selections are for the 2017 and 2018 Entry Drafts.
"I think the picks are the most important thing that we've got in these transactions," general manager Lou Lamoriello said on a conference call shortly after the trade was announced.
Polak and Spaling will help boost the depth of the Sharks as they continue their playoff push. The Sharks currently sit third in the Pacific Division with 67 points - five points back of the division-leading Kings.
Polak, 29, has six goals and 16 assists in 111 games with the Maple Leafs and one goal and 11 assists this season - the final year of a five-year, $13.75 million deal he signed with the St. Louis Blues in 2011. He is set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1.
"There's no question what his characteristics are: he's a man," Lamoriello said of Polak. "He's somebody you'd go in a foxhole with at any given time. He knows what we think of him."
Drafted 180th overall by the Blues in 2004, Polak has scored 19 goals and logged 82 assists for 101 points in 535 regular-season games with St. Louis and Toronto.
The Ostrava, Czech Republic native has also represented his country at one Olympic Games (2010), two world championships (2009, 2014) and one world junior championship (2005).
Spaling, 27, has been plagued by an upper-body injuries this season and has one goal and six assists in 35 games this season. He is also in the final year of his contract, a two-year, $4.4 million deal he signed with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2014.
Drafted 58th overall by the Nashville Predators in 2007, Spaling has scored 50 goals and notched 118 points in 414 regular-season games with the Predators, Penguins and Leafs.
The Palmerston, Ontario native has also scored three goals and eight points in 33 playoff appearances.
Spaling was part of a trade that sent himself, Kasperi Kapanen, Scott Harrington and two draft picks to the Maple Leafs in exchange for Phil Kessel, Tyler Biggs, Tim Erixon and a 2016 second-round pick.
Torres, 34, will be re-assigned to the San Jose Barracuda of the American Hockey League. He has skated in six games with the Barracuda this season.
Torres is playing in the final season of a three-year, $6 million contract. He is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer.
The Leafs recalled defenceman Stuat Percy and forward Brandon Leipsic from the AHL's Toronto Marlies to fill the vacated roster spots. They will be expected to play, with the utmost intensity on Tuesday against Nashville.
Leipsic has only 1 game in his entire NHL career, but he's amassed 1 goal for 1 point in that game, with 2 shots, 2 PIMS, and a +1 rating. He's described as a potential Top 6 Forward. His AHL past says he's an agitating Forward, with little upside.
Percy has 9 games played on the Maple Leafs roster in his career. He has 3 assists and 3 points in those 9 games. His best season came with the Missassuga Steel Heads where he amassed 13 goals and 28 assists for 45 points in 68 games in the 2012-2013 season.
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