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PHILADELPHIA – Restructuring the Toronto defence was primary in the objectives of Maple Leafs management as they strode into the busiest stage of a lengthy offseason. And on the final day of draft weekend, they took the first step toward doing just that. Carl Gunnarsson, selected with the 194th overall pick at the draft in Columbus seven years earlier, was dealt to St. Louis on Saturday morning for thick Czech defenceman and longtime Blue, Roman Polak. He is the first addition to a roster that promised to change following another late season meltdown. Adjustment to a mismatched and ineffective back-end was a must for the Leafs, who finished near the league basement defensively last season – yielding more shots against than any other club. Polak, while not an upgrade to the steady, but increasingly over-taxed Gunnarsson, does offer a different kind of presence to the Toronto defence, something brawnier and edgier for head coach Randy Carlyle, if not quite better. Gunnarsson, it was ultimately deemed, could be replaced on the top pairing with something similar internally. "We like our defence individually," general manager Dave Nonis said after the final round of the draft was completed on Saturday afternoon, "[but] we didnt necessarily like how they fit together last year. We wanted to move some pieces and change the look, rebuild it a little bit. I wouldnt say its a major overhaul by doing something like this, but it does give us a different element and its a player we didnt really have." Maybe more significant is how the trade promises to open up further opportunity for the clubs two top guns on defence: Morgan Rielly and Jake Gardiner. By removing Gunnarsson – who teamed with Dion Phaneuf on left side of the top pair – and adding the right-handed Polak, the Leafs opened up room for Rielly and Gardiner to become more prominent members of the defence. Rielly should move from a place on the bottom pair to something more substantial in the top-four. Gardiner, who led the team in even-strength ice-time, might be the one to replace Gunnarsson on the top pair. "Those guys are going to have to take steps forward," Nonis said of the promising duo. "It might be a lot to ask for Morgan a little bit in his second year, but he made some pretty big strides last year and we would expect that hell take some more next [year]. And I think Jake is a good possibility [of doing the same] as well." Left-handed shots, Rielly and Gardiner were both forced to play the right side often last season – nearly the entire season for the rookie – due to the rarity of right-handed defenders on the Toronto defence (Gardiner, specifically, struggled with the change and eventually had to move back to the left). The addition of the 6-foot-1, 227-pound Polak will ease that glut and allow more options for Carlyle. The Blues, who ranked third in the league defensively a year ago, employed Polak in shutdown capacities as well as on their second-ranked penalty kill. He was known in St. Louis as a fierce, physical competitor willing to play through injury. The 28-year-old, who has two years remaining on a five-year contract ($2.75 million cap hit), led the Blues defence in hits and finished second in blocked shots. "Hes a tough guy to play against," Nonis said of Polak, picked in the sixth round of 2004 Draft. "If you look at the minutes he plays he often plays against teams top players. He is very physical, hes very strong. I think theres a perception that because hes so big hes not mobile, I dont think thats true at all. We think that one of his strengths is his skating ability. Hes going to provide a little bit of edge." The fifth overall pick in 2012, Rielly had a fine first season in Toronto, demonstrating improvement with each passing month. He finished with 27 points in nearly 18 minutes of nightly work, emerging as one of the Leafs top possession players in 73 games. It remains to be seen whether he can climb another rung as a sophomore next season though the organization is certainly hopeful based on all that they saw a year ago. "We are hoping that he improves next year," said Nonis. "He may not. He might go through a year where hes not quite ready to go up the lineup, but were comfortable that hes going to get there and hes going to be an impact player and were going to give him an opportunity to do that." Gardiner, meanwhile, finished a rollercoaster third season on a high. He was easily the teams best defenceman down the stretch of another alarming late season collapse, totaling five goals and 14 points in the final 21 games. "Jakes going to have times where [the media] sitting below me in the press-box will hear me smacking on the wall, but the fact is hes got God-given ability that you just cant teach," Nonis said of the 23-year-old. "I think hes getting the other part of his game under control. The last half of the season the turnovers and some of the mistakes he was making earlier were decreasing … He did come a long way." Nonis expects the Leafs to be active at the outset of free agency on July 1st. He was inclined to add another defenceman to the mix, while stating his acceptance to the status quo if furthers upgrades were unavailable. Gunnarsson had mixed feelings after a five-year stay in Toronto. He received word of the trade shortly after 11 a.m. on Saturday morning and was "kind of shocked". "I didnt expect it," he told TSN.ca, still piecing together the emotions of his first trade in the NHL. "Sucks leaving Toronto…its been great." Seahawks Jerseys China Cheap . 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Authentic Frank Clark Jersey . -- Conner Bleackley got it done in regulation time and in the shootout.Philadelphia, PA (SportsNetwork.com) - If you were to go head-to-head against Patrick Reed, you better hope that it isnt a Monday. That is Reeds favorite day of the week. As a young professional in 2012, Reed Monday-qualified his way into six PGA Tour events. That was his springboard to the tour. He earned his tour card for 2013, where he earned his first PGA Tour win and he hasnt looked back since. Reed holed out for eagle on the 16th at Kapalua to gain a share of the lead with Jimmy Walker on Monday. The two eventually headed to a playoff, where Reed birdied the first extra hole for his fourth tour title. Seven-for-nine, Reed exclaimed afterward. Meaning he has won, or Monday-qualified, seven of the nine times he competed on Mondays on the PGA Tour. Would you want to battle him on a Monday? Reed wasnt as brash after this win as he had been after winning the WGC- Cadillac Championship last year. After that victory, Reed said, I think Im one of the five-best players in the world. He hasnt reached that lofty perch quite yet, but he has climbed to 14th in the new rankings. Those rankings are fickle and tend to reward consistently good play. Five of the 13 players ranked ahead of Reed have fewer PGA Tour wins, but of that group, only Jordan Spieth has been on tour for a shorter period. This win gave Reed the most victories for any player on tour under the age of 25. It also put Reed in a select group with Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Sergio Garcia as the only players in the last 20 years with four or more wins at age 24 or younger. Mondays final round didnt start off with Reed in the lead. In fact, he was two back at the outset, and was four back by the time he reached the 15th tee. There were plenty of fireworks down the stretch, though. Reed reached the green at the par-5 15th in two shots and two putts later, his birdie inched him within two as Walker, in the group behind Reed, bogeyed the 14th. Two shots later, Reeds deficit was gone. He holed an 80-yard wedge shot for eagle to vault him alongside Walker at 21-under. But, there were still two holes to play and plenty could happen. Reed missed the green at the 17th and chipped to four feet. However, he missed the short par effort and now needed birdie or eagle at the last hole to force the playoff. He reached the green at the monstrous 18th in two, but was nearly 80 feet from the hole. Reed lagged his eagle try to tap-in range. After the birdie, it was off to the scorers tent to see if Walker would seal the deal. Walker, who parred 17, missed the green at No. 18 and hit a poor chip to boot. He failed to convert his 17-footer for birdie, and that meant he and Reed were headed to a playoff. Reed against Walker, head-to-head, in a Monday playoff. It was almost as if the result was known before they sttarted the extra session.dddddddddddd Reed hit a poor tee shot, but got away with it. Walker hit a worse second shot, and didnt escape. Walker also hit a poor third, opening the door for Reed, who drained a 19-foot putt for birdie and the win. It helped Reed that Walker didnt have his best stuff in the final round, but Reed still needed to rally late in the round to give himself a chance. At any future event Patrick Reed contends in, I wouldnt want there to be any weather delays to push the completion into Monday. You just know Reed would come out on top of that event. WALKER COUGHS UP TITLE CHANCE Walker was going for his fourth PGA Tour win in the last 15 months, but an even-par back nine did him in. And a couple of short putts were to blame. Walker won three times in the 2013-14 season. That helped him soar up the world rankings and earn a spot on his first Ryder Cup team among other things. None of that mattered on Monday. Walker drained a clutch 8-foot par putt on the sixth to keep his round going, but he couldnt keep the momentum on the back nine. Though that par save spurred Walker onto three straight birdies from the eighth, that was all the birdies he could muster the rest of his round. Walker missed a pair of birdie putts from inside 10 feet at the 15th and 16th. If either of those putts fell, he would likely be the champion. Walker had two longer birdie putts, 31 and 17 feet, on the final two holes and failed to convert them. He made a mess of the playoff hole, including knocking his second shot into the grandstands short, right of the green. That opened the door for his 2014 Ryder Cup teammate Patrick Reed to earn his fourth win. Walker did post his 12th top-10 finish in his last 31 PGA Tour starts. That is quite a remarkable turnaround from earlier his career, where he notched 19 top-10 finishes in 187 starts. Obviously, something has started clicking for Walker. Now, he just needs to regain that magic touch from last season. MINI-TIDBITS * The European Tour kicks off its desert swing this week in Abu Dhabi, and does so with a strong field. Four of the top-10 players and five of the top 12 from the latest world rankings are competing this week. World No. 1 Rory McIlroy headlines that group. He will play again in two weeks in Dubai, then will likely be off for a month after that. * Robert Streb entered the third round of the Hyundai Tournament of Champions like a pitcher entering the sixth inning of a no-hitter. Streb was bogey-free for 36 holes, the only player in the field who could say that. After some talk about that, Streb proceeded to bogey the first hole of the third round. So much for the no-hitter, and bogey-free tournament. He posted three more bogeys over his final 35 holes en route to sharing eighth place. ' ' '