Frankly, I really like this trade. I did then, and I do now.
Its basically nhl hockey trade at its finest.
Gunnar and Polak are roughly the same in value, and Toronto is the one who wants to make the trade. STL said "we are happy staying put, but we dont mind the trade. Add a sweetener and we are good". Toronto threw in a meaningless 4th round pick and balanced their defensemen.
We have Phaneuf, Gunnar, Reilly, Finn, and percy on the left side and very few on the right. We swapped a 2nd pairing dman in gunnar for a 2nd pairing dman in polak. Offense and speed for grit and strength knowing we have Gardiner/Reilly/Finn coming up.