I remember seeing a question about how good Polak is and it hasn't really been answered.
From my viewings of the Leafs this season, I would say this: He's a guy who's very consistent on a night in and night out basis, you always know what you're going to get with him. He's a physical, shut down bottom pairing guy. He knows what he's good at and what he isn't good at and he stays within his limits.
The Leafs have one of the worst GF/A margins in the league at -23, and yet Polak is a +6 on the team. The Leafs used him at points throughout the year with both Morgan Rielly and Jake Gardiner as a veteran guy that would allow them to do there thing and learn the ropes in the NHL more. He's a good professional. When we brought in Stuart, he was already 34(35?) years old and had shown signs of slowing down before even playing with the Avs. With Polak, he's only 29 right now and wont turn 30 until the end of this season. He's a few years younger then Stuart, and hasn't played nearly as much as Stuart did. He also hasn't suffered the type of injuries that Stuart did.
The Stuart acquisition was a bad one and we all knew it was right away. But with Polak I think he's a better player now then Stuart was when we added him, and he's still at an age where if the Avs want to bring him back, he could be brought in on a 2 year deal or something that would really shore up the Right side for those few years. I think he'd be the perfect guy for Bigras, we wouldn't be asking a lot out of him, we wouldn't be bringing him in hoping he can play in the Top 4 like we did with Stuart either. It would be 3rd pairing duties where he plays 12-14 minutes a night of ES, and a couple of minutes of PK a night.
It would also be a big relief to EJ and Beauch, allowing us to have a competent 3rd pairing would limit those guys minutes by 2-3 a night, especially PK time. I believe he is the perfect piece to add to our Defense. It would give us 3 pairings that work for the first time in years.
Beauch - EJ
Holden - Barrie
Bigras - Polak
That's so much better then having Redmond or Bodnarchuk playing in that role. If a cup contending team like CHI, DAL, WSH, or someone like that offers a 3rd + Prospect or a 2nd for the guy, then ya I dont think the Avs should be outbidding those offers. But if we can get him for just a 3rd or a 4th or a later pick and a Hishon/Siemens then I think the Avs would benefit a lot from the trade.
He's not necessarily someone who would push us over the top and into the playoffs. But it would go a long way having him playing instead of Redmond and his 4-5 huge mistakes every night.