The Toronto Maple Leafs announced early Friday morning that they assigned defenceman Jani Hakanpaa and forward Connor Dewar to the American Hockey League (AHL)’s Toronto Marlies on an LTIR conditioning loan.
The @MapleLeafs have assigned D Jani Hakanpää and F Connor Dewar to the @TorontoMarlies on an LTIR conditioning loan.
— Leafs PR (@LeafsPR) November 1, 2024
The move comes in the days following the trade that sent defenceman Timothy Liljegren to the San Jose Sharks in exchange for defenceman Matt Benning, a 2025 third-round pick, and a 2026 sixth-round pick. Liljegren struggled to find his footing in training camp under new head coach Craig Berube and seemed to slip behind both Conor Timmins and Philippe Myers on the depth chart, leading to his eventual trade despite his two-year extension this offseason. Despite solid play from Timmins early on and the same from Myers albeit in a smaller sample size, it’s expected that both will be leapfrogged by the veteran Hakanpaa once he’s ready to return.
Hakanpaa, 32, was signed to a one-year contract worth $1.47 million after reports early in the offseason that the Maple Leafs were signing him to a two-year contract. His injury status following a knee injury in March floated in the air for most of the summer, with the official deal not being made official until September. The 6-foot-7, 225-pound blueliner has blocked over 100 shots in each of his last three seasons and led the Dallas Stars in hits in each of the three seasons he was there, even last season despite only playing 64 games. His physical, shutdown style of play will get him into Berube’s good books pretty quickly and should form a tough bottom pair with Simon Benoit.
Dewar, 25, was acquired by the Maple Leafs at the final buzzer of last year’s trade deadline in exchange for prospect Dmitry Ovchinnikov and a 2026 fourth-round pick. He tallied five points in 17 regular season games with one assist in six playoff games against Boston. He was re-signed to a one-year, $1.18 million contract in July and has missed the start of the season as he works his way back from shoulder surgery. He will join an already-full group of Maple Leafs forwards competing for a regular spot night in and out.
Both Hakanpaa and Dewar can remain on their LTIR conditioning stints for six days and up to three games, but it’s up to the Maple Leafs when to activate them from LTIR. As these two and Calle Jarnkrok get healthy, there will likely be a transaction up front to free up cap space whether that’s via trade or waivers.
