After the 6-3 loss to the Ottawa Senators on Saturday night, Maple Leafs head coach Mike Babcock clearly was not happy with his club’s work ethic early in the game and defensive shortcomings throughout.
“We turned the puck over, over and over again. (Ottawa) did a good job making that happen, but we didn't execute in our own zone and then turned it over as we entered their zone. It made for a long night for us.… Babcock said after the game. “I think we gave up four 2-on-1s in the third period. We crawled our way back and gave them two more goals right after we scored each time.…
.@SportChek Player Alert: @MapleLeafs sign D Roman Polak to one-year contract.
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) October 22, 2017
More: https://t.co/N3B7POWBVw#TMLtalk pic.twitter.com/NS1lzBAEVZ
That dissatisfaction may have been the final nudge needed to convince the Leafs to add to their defensive corps, which they did by re-signing veteran blueliner Roman Polak on Sunday.
After playing through training camp on a professional tryout contract and practicing with the club the last two weeks, Polak agreed to a one-year deal with the Leafs for $1.1 Million.
The 31-year-old veteran has 33 points (10 goals and 23 assists) in 186 games with Toronto and suffered a broken leg in Game 2 of the first round playoff series against Washington last April. Babcock gave extended looks to rookie blueliners Calle Rosen and Andreas Borgman over the first eight games. With the signing of Polak, it is likely that Toronto has made a decision and will demote one of them to make room for the veteran on the club’s 23-man roster.