Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving wanted to reshape his blueline when free agency opened this summer, and his interest for some more size and snarl led him to defenceman Jani Hakanpaa.
A month and a half later, after Hakanpaa reportedly signed a two-year contract worth $1.5M AAV on July 1st, the deal has yet to officially be signed.
Hakanpaa’s lingering knee issue is the point of contention and since it was reported that the Maple Leafs had the parameters of a deal complete, it’s been a very mysterious storyline. The Athletic’s Chris Johnston provided an update, speaking about Hakanpaa’s willingness to see things through on a recent episode of The Chris Johnston Show.
“From what I gather is going on here, Hakanpaa did finish last season with a very significant knee injury in Dallas. He believes he can play on his knee. But I don’t know that there’s unanimity in that opinion from those that are looking at his medical file and just concerns that, essentially, he’s got bone-on-bone. It’s not a situation that could be terribly comfortable,” Johnston explained.
“What’s interesting about medical-related issues is some players do manage to play through certain things that others can’t. Everybody’s bodies are different, pain tolerance, what have you. The X-rays themselves are black and white but sometimes what they tell you, the information isn’t black and white.”
Johnston’s reporting comes just a few days after Treliving was asked about the latest on Hakanpaa joining the team at the Auston Matthews captaincy reveal press conference, and at the time Treliving confirmed he hoped to have a resolution sooner than later and that the team was ‘working through it’.
If Hakanpaa joins the Maple Leafs, he will slide into a depth role on their blue line and would have to battle it out with Conor Timmins as the team’s seventh defenceman. It’s also worth noting Toronto is currently just $1.27 million under the salary cap but the original Hakanpaa contract was slated at $1.5 million AAV and the Maple Leafs still have restricted free-agent forward Nick Robertson without a contract. Even if Robertson ends up traded as he reportedly prefers, something has to give financially for the Maple Leafs before opening night.
Hakanpaa appeared in 64 games for the Dallas Stars last season, scoring twice, adding 10 assists, while playing over 18 minutes a game while averaging 3:16 on the penalty kill — the second-highest total for the Stars. The towering defenceman also landed 196 hits and blocked 123 shots. If he’s healthy, he can undoubtedly help the Maple Leafs.
All the doubt lies in Hakanpaa’s medical records and exactly how he’s going to be able to handle playing hard-nosed hockey on a knee that’s leaving many within the Maple Leafs’ brass scratching their heads.
“We’ll see if he gets a contract, I don’t know which way it’s going to go,” Johnston said. “Obviously there is concern there.”
