Leafs GM Brad Treliving provides grim update on the Jani Hakanpaa situation

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Daniel Lucente
August 14, 2024 (8:07 PM)

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GM Brad Treliving of the Toronto Maple Leafs refused to provide any clarity on the Jani Hakanpaa situation, leading many to believe he won't ever play in Toronto.

Brad Treliving was asked a Jani Hakanpaa question at today's Auston Matthews captaincy announcement press conference. Back in July, Treliving signed Hakanpaa to a two-year deal worth $3M. It was sadly revealed later on that Hakanpaa had a knee injury which could potentially prevent him from ever playing in the NHL again, or at least for the foreseeable future, so that deal has been placed on hold as Hakanpaa would need medical clearance first.

Nick Barden of The Hockey News has recently shared an update regarding Jani Hakanpaa where he was seen wearing a Dallas Stars jersey, even after he had already signed with the Leafs. That led many to believe he likely knew he wouldn't ever be coming to Toronto due to his injury.

Brad Treliving didn't provide any updates for fans about this situation, refusing to comment and simply said the team is "working through" the matter as per David Alter. Fans were very frustrated by this.

There was a lot of excitement when the Leafs signed Jani Hakanpaa as he would have been such a solid defenseman for the team and he is a very tall player standing at 6'7" and that's without even any skates on.

With the Dallas Stars last season, Jani Hakanpaa managed to get 12 points in 64 games before he sadly got injured. He didn't play in the playoffs either.

Source: Hockey Patrol
Leafs GM Brad Treliving finally comments on the Jani Hakanpaa situation

Source: HockeyDB
Jani Hakanpaa Stats