New Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Jani Hakanpaa appears to be nearing a return from a knee injury that caused him to miss the final 13 games of the Dallas Stars’ 2023-24 regular season and their entire playoff run.
Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube told reporters Saturday that the veteran defenceman is “getting better” and that they are hopeful Hakanpaa can practise with the team next week.
“He’s actually doing well,” Berube said. “I talk to him daily about his situation, how he’s feeling, where he’s at, and he’s getting better, so I think it’s close. Hopefully, next week he’ll be in the group there with us.”
The Maple Leafs signed the 32-year-old blueliner to a one-year, $1.47 million contract after doing their due diligence to ensure that his recovery from his knee injury was going in the right direction.
“Obviously, there was a bit of a delay on Jani. We had Jani in town here earlier in the summer for a bit of time. Our performance staff went out there two or three times. It was him going through his rehab,” Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving told reporters at Leafs development camp on Sept. 12. “We’re obviously to a point where he and us feel confident. And we’ll see how it goes.”
Things appear to be headed in the right direction.
The six-foot-six, 225-pound defenceman was the third addition to Toronto’s blue line this off-season, joining Chris Tanev and Oliver Ekman-Larsson on the revamped back end.
Hakanpaa, a true defensive-defenceman, has never been one for picking up points, tallying only 15 goals and 30 assists over 288 games during his five-year NHL career.
He had two goals and 10 assists in 64 games with the Stars last season before going down with the knee injury.