The Toronto Maple Leafs signed defenseman Jani Hakanpää to a two-year deal worth $1.5 million per season, according to multiple reports.
The Maple Leafs have yet to officially announce the deal because Hakanpää is dealing with serious knee injury, the Toronto Sun’s Steve Simmons tweeted on July 2.
“I was told his knee was bone on bone. I asked the Leafs about this. They said their doctors cleared him to be signed. We’ll find out in the fall – or later – whether he can play again,” Simmons wrote.
More on Hakanpaa
i was told his knee was bone on bone. I asked the Leafs about this. They said their doctors cleared him to be signed. We’ll find out in the fall – or later – whether he can play again.
Hakanpää, 32, dealt with a knee injury that ended his season March 16. Still, Toronto moved quickly to sign Hakanpää to a two-year deal once free agency opened on July 1.
Some NHL Teams Thought Jani Hakanpää Would Never Play Again: Report
Simmons wrote in his July 1 column that he was surprised by the signing because sources around the league told him that they thought Hakanpää would never play another game in the NHL.
“It wasn’t that way with Hakanpää, who signed with Toronto on Canada Day, as well. A year ago, maybe two years ago, Hakanpaa would have factored rather nicely on the Leafs defense. He’s a giant of a man at 6-foot-7, popular in the room, that great hockey vernacular, and a penalty-killer beyond compare. But one with a knee so bad that some think — although the Leafs disagree — that he may never play again,” Simmons wrote.
“The Leafs signed him to play but many doubt he will. … If he plays again, plays at all for the Leafs, it will shock those who were around in recent seasons,” Simmons added.
Hakanpää skated in 64 games with the Dallas Stars last season, recording 2 goals and 10 assists for 12 points.
Maple Leafs GM Spoke About Signing Hakanpää
Despite the signing with Hakanpää still not being made official, Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving spoke about the signing on July 1.
Treliving felt like Hakanpää would help out the team’s penalty kill.
“With Hakanpää, again a penalty killer. One of the areas looking back at last season that we wanted to address was our penalty kill. That’s an area that Jani really shines in. … You saw that in Dallas over the years, and specifically this past season,” Treliving said.
The Leafs Nation’s Jon Steitzer called the signing a “low-risk” acquisition.
“I don’t think the Hakanpää contract falls into the ‘too good to be true’ category or a case of the Leafs not doing their due diligence,” Steitzer wrote on July 3. “This seems like a calculated low-risk gamble by Brad Treliving. The Leafs can go the Long Term Injury route with Hakanpää until he is ready to go. … If Hakanpää comes in and isn’t playing at an NHL level, burying his contract on the Marlies will only carry a $350k hit that doesn’t hurt, beyond the fact the Leafs will be penny-pinching as always.”
Along with Hakanpää, Toronto signed Chris Tanev to a six-year deal and Oliver Ekman-Larsson to bolster their defense.
“We’ve got a group of defensemen. I’d rather have too many than not enough, and we’ll try to sort this out in the coming days. Today’s a day that you can add players, but you build your team over the course of the summer. There are certainly some areas that we still want to address and still want to augment,” Treliving added.
But, for now, Hakanpää’s deal with the Maple Leafs is not official and whether or not it will come to fruition is uncertain.
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Insider Reveals Injury Newly Signed Maple Leafs Defenseman Is Dealing With