Photo credit: Jamie Sabau – USA Today Sports
Jani Hakanpaa has not yet appeared in any of the Maple Leafs’ pre-season games, but on Saturday, Craig Berube revealed the team’s plans for the big defenseman.
At the start of July, the Maple Leafs kicked off their free agency by adding some significant pieces to their blueline, including Chris Tanev, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, and Jani Hakanpaa. Despite the reporting on July 1st that Hakanpaa had signed a deal, it wasn’t until earlier this month when the 6’7 blueliner actually made things official by putting pen to paper in Toronto.
Hakanpaa had undergone knee surgery earlier this season and his condition following the procedure was very much unknown until recently. There were previous reports that Hakanpaa’s knee was bone-on-bone, which left the outlook appearing pretty grim. However, after working with the Leafs’ medical staff, both sides felt comfortable enough to make things official.
After skating with Group C for the entirety of training camp to this point, Hakanpaa finally appears to be turning a corner, as Leafs head coach Craig Berube confirmed on Saturday that Hakanpaa will shift over to the main group at the beginning of next week.
Hakanpaa’s deal with the Leafs was originally expected to be a 2-year pact back in July, but when the deal was finalized a couple of weeks ago, it was confirmed to be a 1-year deal.
The expectation is that Hakanpaa will be in competition for the 3rd pairing spot on the right side — the spot that Timothy Liljegren currently occupies. Hakanpaa also figures to factor into the team’s plans on the penalty kill.
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