The Toronto Maple Leafs medical staff gave the green light to sign defenseman Jani Hakanpaa despite the knee issues, according to analyst and former NHL player Nick Kypreos.
On July 1, it was reported that the Maple Leafs signed Hakanpaa to a two-year deal worth $1.5 million per season. However, Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun then reported that Hakanpaa had a knee injury, which Kypreos confirmed was the case.
In Kypreos’ article for the Toronto Star on July 4, the former player says the Maple Leafs medical staff gave the green light for the signing.
“A Dallas source confirmed to me they would have liked to re-sign Hakanpaa but feared he has a ‘degenerative knee’ that would be tough to manage next season. The Leafs certainly do not feel the same way as their medical team had an extensive look prior to the signing and were very comfortable giving Shanahan and Treliving the green light to move forward,” Kypreos wrote.
It is interesting that the Maple Leafs’ medical staff gave the green light to sign Hakanpaa even though Dallas’ medical team wouldn’t approve of it.
However, the signing of Hakanpaa has still not been made official by the NHL or the Maple Leafs.
Maple Leafs GM Excited for What Hakanpaa Brings
Brad Treliving, the general manager of the Maple Leafs, focused on improving the team’s defense in free agency, and Hakanpaa was one of the ways to improve the roster.
“With Hakanpaa, 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.
Hakanpaa was projected to be on the third-pairing while also helping to the penalty kill. Along with the 6-foot-7 defensemen, Treliving also inked Chris Tanev to a six-year deal and Oliver Ekman-Larsson to a four-year deal.
“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.
Toronto is currently over the salary cap by $1.5 million, according to CapFriendly.
Hakanpaa’s NHL career
Hakanpaa was drafted 104th overall in the 2010 NHL draft by the St. Louis Blues.
The Finnish defensemen never played a game in the NHL with the Blues as after spending three seasons in the AHL he went back to Europe. After four years in Europe, he signed with the Anaheim Ducks.
Hakanpaa made his NHL debut on March 4, 2020. He spent a year and a half with the Ducks before being traded to the Carolina Hurricanes. Hakanpaa then signed a three-year, $4.5 million contract with the Stars.
Hakanpaa has skated in 288 career NHL games recording 15 goals and 30 assists for 45 points. He’s also played in 33 playoff games recording 1 goal and 3 assists for 4 points.
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Leafs Medical Staff Approved Signing of Player With ‘Degenerative Knee’ Issues