Roman Polák

Roman Polák (born 28 April 1986) is a Czech professional ice hockey defenceman currently with the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League (NHL). Polák was drafted in the sixth round, 180th overall, at the 2004 NHL Entry Draft by the St. Louis Blues, the organization with which he spent his entire NHL career with prior to joining the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2014. He rejoined the Maple Leafs in 2016, after a brief stint with the San Jose Sharks.

Playing career
Polak was drafted in the 6th round, 180th overall, in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft by the St. Louis Blues. After playing in the Western Hockey League in the 2004-05 season with the Kootenay Ice he returned back to his native Czech Republic to make his professional debut with HC Vitkovice of the Czech Extraliga.

In the 2006-07 season, Polak returned to North America and appeared in his first NHL game on October 9, 2006 against the Anaheim Ducks. After two seasons between the Blues and affiliate, the Peoria Rivermen, Polak made the starting roster for the Blues in the 2008-09 season.

Polak scored his first NHL goal in his 57th game on December 20, 2008, against the Minnesota Wild. Roman finished the season with 15 points in 69 games and was re-signed by the Blues to a two-year contract on July 24, 2009. Emerging as a mainstay in the Blues defense and establishing himself as one of the Blues' top defensive-defensemen over the next two seasons, Polák was re-signed by St. Louis to a five-year contract extension on 2 June 2011.

On 28 June 2014, Polák was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for defenseman Carl Gunnarsson and a 2014 fourth-round draft pick (Ville Husso). During his first season in Toronto, Polák set a career-high in goals scored (5).

On 22 February 2016, Polák was traded to the San Jose Sharks along with Nick Spaling in exchange for second-round draft picks in 2017 and 2018, as well as forward Raffi Torres. He was part of a Sharks team that made their first ever appearance in the Stanley Cup Final, but came up short to the Pittsburgh Penguins, losing 4 games to 2. On July 2nd 2016, Polák returned to the Maple Leafs on a one-year contract.