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. Anthony Munoz Jersey . 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." AJ McCarron Jersey . Anderson shook off some unusually poor shooting and hit two clutch 3-pointers in overtime that carried the New Orleans Pelicans to a 111-106 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday night. Vincent Rey Jersey . LeBron James believes hes a major reason for their early failures. http://www.bengalsauthenticproshop.com/Kevin-Minter-Bengals-Jersey/ .com) - The Eastern Conferences best team takes on one of its worst Tuesday night when the Atlanta Hawks pay a visit to the Wells Fargo Center to take on the Philadelphia 76ers.Starkville, MS - Dak Prescott threw for a career-high 331 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions, and the top-ranked Mississippi State Bulldogs survived another scare in the SEC with 17-10 win over the Arkansas Razorbacks. Prescott added 61 yards on the ground, while Josh Robinson carried the ball 19 times for 64 yards and a touchdown and also had a team-high six receptions for 110 yards. Fred Ross finished with 107 yards receiving and the game-winning 69-yard score early in the fourth quarter as the Bulldogs rallied for the games final 17 points. Mississippi State (8-0, 5-0 SEC) remains undefeated on the season after two close calls against some of the SECs weaker teams. The Bulldogs, who are the No. 1 team in the first ever College Football Playoff rankings, earned a tough 45-31 road win over Kentucky last week before narrowly beating the Razorbacks, with Will Redmonds interception in his own end zone with 15 seconds remaining preserving the win on Saturday. Arkansas (4-5, 0-5), meanwhile, continues to search for its first conference win in over two years. The Razorbacks have now lost 17 straight in the SEC and havent won in conference since a home victory over Kentucky on Oct. 13, 2012. Brandon Allen threw for 238 yards with an interception and Alex Collins rushed for 93 yards with a score in the setback. After committing three first-half turnovers, the Bulldogs started the second with a methodical march down the field. Prescott completed a 12-yard pass to Ross on 3rd-and-13 to the Razorbacks 22 and Mississippi State chose to go for it on fourth down. Prescott, however, was stuffed for no gain on the play as the visiting defense came up with a big stop to maintain their 10-7 lead. Evan Sobiesk tied the game with a 37-yard field goal with 3 1/2 minutes to play in the third. Adam McFain had a chance to give the visitors the lead, but his 42-yard attempt was wide right early in the fourth. The Bulldogs grabbed the lead for good three plays later. On 3rd-and-4 at their 31, Prescott rolled to his left and converted a 69-yard touchdown pass to a wide open Ross for a 17-10 lead. Arkansas threatened on its next series, but Mississippi States defense didnt break. Allen hooked up with Hunter Henry for 12 yards on 4th-and-3 at the MSU 21. Jonathan Williams wass stopped for a loss of two on 3rd-and-goal from the 1, then Collins was stuffed on his run up the middle as the Razorbacks turned it over on downs. Ryan Hewitt Jersey. After the Bulldogs used just over 2 1/2 minutes of clock, Arkansas got the ball back for one last gasp. Henry hauled in a clutch 36-yard pass from Allen on 4th-and-15 to move the chains to midfield. Allen found Henry again a few plays later for 24 yards to the MSU 16, but his next pass was intercepted by Redmond on a fade into the end zone. Arkansas churned up over five minutes of clock on the games first drive, an 11-play, 60-yard march, that resulted in a 36-yard field goal from McFain. Mississippi State wasnt as successful on its first touch, as Prescott completed a 21-yard pass to Malcolm Johnson before tossing his sixth interception of the season. However, the Razorbacks were unable to do anything with the short field position. Arkansas cashed in on the next Bulldogs miscue that occured early in the second quarter. The Razorbacks were forced to punt from their 11. Sam Irwin- Hill booted a 44-yard punt that was muffed by Jamoral Graham. The ball rolled all the way to the Mississippi State 25, then Collins plunged in from a yard out seven plays later to give the visitors a 10-0 lead. Mississippi State answered with a touchdown on its ensuing possession. After Robinson picked up a first down, Prescott hit Fred Brown for a 31-yard pass. Prescott then converted two seperate third downs on the ground to set up Robinsons 3-yard TD scamper. The hosts looked to put some more points on the board late in the half, driving inside the Arkansas 40, but Prescotts third-down pass was picked off by Brooks Ellis and returned 27 yards to the MSU 42. The Razorbacks went backward on the possession and settled for a three-point lead at the break. Game Notes Arkansas leads the all-time series 15-9-1 ... The Razorbacks were the last team to beat a No. 1 ranked opponent as an unranked team, topping LSU, 50-48, in triple overtime in 2007 ... Arkansas has played five straight conference games against Top 10 opponents, marking the first time that has happened in FBS history ... The Razorbacks fell to 4-17 against top-ranked teams ... Henry finished with 110 yards receiving ... MSU outgained Arkansas 459-401. Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '