The Dallas Stars have lost veteran defenceman Roman Polak overseas to the Czech Republic. Polak does not plan to honour the remainder of his NHL deal this season and has likely played his last game in North America.
Roman Polak has signed with team back in Czech Republic. Told https://t.co/hV7WNCS4r1: “I am already determined to stay at home … If I really had to finish the NHL, I would go. But I will do everything to make it unnecessary. I will definitely be here next season. “
— Sean Shapiro (@seanshapiro) June 15, 2020
Dallas Stars Lose Roman Polak to the Czech Republic
This past season, Polak scored no goals and four assists for four points, adding 24 minutes in penalties. He averaged 16:40 minutes of ice time per game this season. His possession numbers were 42.4 percent Corsi and a relative Corsi of -8.4. Those totals were down compared to last season, where he scored one goal and eight assists for nine points and added 69 penalty minutes in 77 games played. He also averaged 19:10 minutes of ice time. Last season, he had possession numbers of 43.7% Corsi and a relative Corsi of -6.7. The writing was evidently on the wall for Polak’s NHL career.
Over his 14-year NHL career, Polak has played for the St. Louis Blues, the Toronto Maple Leafs, the San Jose Sharks and the Stars. In that time, he has 26 goals and 114 assists for 140 career points in 806 career games. He was originally drafted in the sixth round, 180th overall of the 2004 NHL draft by the Blues.
Polak has played in 71 playoff games over the course of his career. He had four assists and 54 penalty minutes. He has averaged 18:14 minutes of ice time in his career playoff games. Polak has never won a Stanley Cup, but he did make it to the Stanley Cup Final in 2015-16 with the Sharks, who lost 4-2 to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
What This Means For the Future
Polak’s career was mostly over, but his departure for HC Vitkovice in the Czech Extraliga seals the deal. He’s capable of playing on the second or third defensive pairing and putting up a fight when he needs to, but safety and family take priority right now.
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