{"id":74537,"date":"2025-08-16T17:12:09","date_gmt":"2025-08-16T17:12:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/74537\/"},"modified":"2025-08-16T17:12:09","modified_gmt":"2025-08-16T17:12:09","slug":"after-failed-leafs-stint-veteran-defenseman-ready-for-nhl-return-the-hockey-writers-toronto-maple-leafs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/74537\/","title":{"rendered":"After Failed Leafs Stint, Veteran Defenseman Ready for NHL Return – The Hockey Writers – Toronto Maple Leafs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Maple Leafs defenseman Jani Hakanpaa<\/a> is ready to return to the NHL after a challenging 2024-25 season. Signed to a contract early last summer, there was a delay in his deal becoming official, mainly due to a career-threatening injury that no one had seemingly figured out. He eventually returned with Toronto, but played only two games. <\/p>\n

The 33-year-old initially signed a multi-year deal with Toronto, but after the contract was revised to account for his health status, he inked a one-year, $1,470 million deal that expired at the end of the 2024-25 season. By most accounts, it was a gamble that didn\u2019t pay off for the Maple Leafs, who were looking to overhaul their defense corps and get tougher to play against. <\/p>\n

Now, free to sign wherever he\u2019d like and fully cleared, Hakanpaa is seeking a new NHL opportunity for the upcoming season. <\/p>\n

Will An NHL Team Take a Chance on Hakanpaa?<\/p>\n

If healthy, Hakanpaa can bring an intriguing element to an NHL roster. Known for his physicality, he has recorded 899 hits and 45 points over 290 career games, and can be a solid (while not speedy) third-pairing defenseman. He likely won\u2019t average the rough 18 minutes of ice time per night he used to play, but in a more limited role on a cheap contract, he could be an intriguing addition. <\/p>\n

Related: Wolf Extension, Oilers Goaltending Overhaul, & More NHL Rumors<\/a><\/p>\n

As a right-shot defenseman, he could attract attention from teams looking to add depth and toughness to their blue line. <\/p>\n

The 33-year-old\u00a0told Ilta-Sanomat\u2019s Ville Touru<\/a>\u00a0that he\u2019s got a clean bill of health and has already received calls from NHL clubs. He is waiting to sign somewhere, but it\u2019s not entirely clear why. It could be that he\u2019s hoping the offers go up. It could also be that he knows the offers won\u2019t be high and he\u2019ll need to prove himself. That could mean looking for the best opportunity with a team that will give him a shot at upping his numbers for a contract offer in 2026. <\/p>\n

\"JaniJani Hakanpaa, Dallas Stars (Amy Irvin<\/a> \/ The Hockey Writers)<\/p>\n

Given his recent injury history, he may be a strong candidate for a professional tryout (PTO).<\/p>\n

Could Hakanpaa Return to the Maple Leafs?<\/p>\n

As good as it is to hear that the defenseman is healthy and ready to return to the NHL, don\u2019t expect Toronto to give Hakanapaa another shot. The Leafs may be looking for help on their blue line, but the focus is offense from the back end, not the type of game that Hakanpaa provides. If anything, GM Brad Treliving will be looking for a puck-mover and another potential power-play guy. The idea is to produce points, replacing some of the production that left when Mitch Marner did. <\/p>\n

Not to mention, the Leafs took a swing here once and whiffed. Potentially gunshy to give Hakanpaa another go, Toronto isn\u2019t in a position where they\u2019d be happy making the same mistake twice. He was actually cleared to play for the Leafs last season in the playoffs. \u201cThe 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.\u201d <\/p>\n

Still, Toronto chose not to go that route, signaling they\u2019ve moved on. <\/p>\n

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<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Maple Leafs defenseman Jani Hakanpaa is ready to return to the NHL after a challenging 2024-25 season. Signed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":74538,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[433],"tags":[49,48,45975,448,82],"class_list":["post-74537","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-jani-hakanpaa","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74537","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74537"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74537\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/74538"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74537"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74537"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74537"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}