The Toronto Maple Leafs signed Jani Hakanpaa to a one-year deal last offseason, after the original two-year deal was nixed due to a potential knee injury.
Reports came out that Hakanpaa’s knee was so bad that he may never play again. He ended up skating in 2 games with the Maple Leafs due to the injury. Yet, despite him not playing last season, he revealed to Finnish outlet Ilta-Sanomat that he is drawing interest from some teams.
“The intention would be to continue there. Now let’s see how we can get the contract work done,” Hakanpaa said. “A few teams have been interested in him since the start of the free agent market (July 1st). But I want to wait a bit, watch and sum up what and when.”
Hakanpaa last played in an NHL game on Nov. 16 for the Maple Leafs. However, the 6-foot-7 defenseman says he was cleared to play in the playoffs, but his services weren’t needed for Toronto.
“The doctors cleared me to play in the playoffs. My leg was in good condition and I was able to train well. That was a really positive sign for the future,” Hakanpaa added.
Hakanpaa signed a one-year, $1.47 million deal with the Maple Leafs last offseason. He’s skated in 290 career games, recording 15 goals and 30 assists for 45 points.
Hakanpaa is Confident in his Play
Although Hakanpaa didn’t play much last season, he doesn’t think the layoff will impact him.
The former Maple Leafs defenseman believes he will be able to be a solid NHL defenseman and a shutdown defenseman.
“It’s still a game. Of course, I can’t say, since I’ve never experienced anything like this before,” Hakanpaa said. “But I’m sure I’ll still throw the puck at the glass and box the gang out of the goal line in the same way. My own playing has never been that great, so maybe that makes things a little easier, the tough-as-nails starting defender.”
As Hakanpaa says, he plays a physical game and nothing fancy. That is why he expects his play to thrive once he gets another chance to return to the NHL.
But, Hakanpaa may have to sign PTO and prove to a team in training camp that he’s healthy.
Maple Leafs GM Opens up on Failed Hakanpaa Signing
Toronto took a risk by signing Hakanpaa to a one-year deal last offseason, but it didn’t work out.
Hakanpaa only played two games as his knee was never truly healthy. After the Maple Leafs’ season ended, general manager Brad Treliving admitted it was a swing that didn’t work out.
“In Jani’s case, we knew going into the summer and talking to him that there was risk,” Treliving admitted. “We went through that process, and we took a swing, and it didn’t work out. But we’ll always continue to look at if there’s times to take swings, we’re going to try to take swings. It didn’t work out.”
Although Treliving says the swing didn’t pay off, he won’t shy away from taking high-risk, high-reward deal to elevate the Maple Leafs roster.
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