The NHL week kick offs with a trade!

As we close in on the National Hockey League trade deadline you can expect more and more trades to break, and that's exactly what we're starting off the week with.

According to multiple reports the Toronto Maple Leafs have traded two of their rental pieces to the San Jose Sharks , defenseman Roman Polak as well as center Nick Spaling, both men are set to be unrestricted free agents at the end of the season.

In exchange for those pieces the Leafs have acquired notorious forward Raffi Torres, who is expected to be buried in the American Hockey League, in fact the Leafs have already loaned him to San Jose. The real return for the Maple Leafs comes in the form of draft picks, a 2nd rounder in the 2017 draft as well as a 2nd round draft choice in 2018.

There's no telling where that pick will be on the draft board, but for a team eyeing a long term rebuild adding draft flexibility has to be their top priority.

[pub]