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NHL Rumors: Maple Leafs doctors approved $3M Jani Hakanpaa signing despite rumored career-ending knee injury
Defenseman Jani Hakanpaa has been out since March of last season with a knee injury, raising questions about his comeback to the NHL. The injury dealt a significant blow to the defensemen, adding to rumors of a possible career-ending situation.
Steven Simmons of the Toronto Sun previously reported strong beliefs within the NHL circles regarding the severity of the 6 ft. 7 defenseman's knee injury, raising concerns that he may not return to play another game in the league.
Nick Kypreos of the Toronto Sun delved into the situation further despite the reports of a career-ending injury. Kypreous said that the Maple Leafs' medical team holds a different perspective on Hakanpaa's prognosis compared to other reports.
Speaking to the Leafs Nation, Kypreos shared that a source in Dallas expressed interest in re-signing Jani Hakanpaa but voiced concerns about a potentially challenging "degenerative knee" issue for the upcoming season.
However, the Maple Leafs doctors conducted a thorough evaluation before the signing and felt confident in approving the move:
"A Dallas source confirmed to me they would have liked to re-sign Hakanpää but feared he has a “degenerative knee” that would be tough to manage next season,” Kypreos wrote. “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.”
The assertion from Kypreos implies that the Toronto Maple Leafs have presented Jani Hakanpaa with a new contract, reportedly a two-year, $3 million deal. However, no official confirmation has been made yet, and it is anticipated that the Leafs will announce the decision officially in due course.
GM Brad Treliving praises Jani Hakanpaa's penalty-killing skills
During an interview earlier this week, Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving praised Jani Hakanpaa's penalty-killing skills, emphasizing the team's focus on improving their penalty kill, an area where the 6 ft. 7 defenseman excels.
Treliving also mentioned the team's strategy of having an abundance of defensemen and expressed intentions to address the situation in the days ahead.
"A penalty killer, one of the areas looking back at last season we wanted to address was our penalty kill and that’s an area Jani really shines in his ability to kill penalties,” Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving said of Hakanpaa on Monday. “You saw that in Dallas over the years and specifically this past season.” (via Leafs Nation).
“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.”
Jani Hakanpaa had been with the Dallas Stars for the past three seasons and appeared in 64 games this past season. He will join Chris Tanev, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Phillippe Myers, and Dakota Mermis as part of the Leafs' new defensive pairing on the blue line once his signing is officially announced.
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