Brad Treliving Confirms Unfortunate News on Max Pacioretty and Jani Hakanpaa
Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving was a busy man on Friday, and with the trade deadline past him, he's given an update now focused on two injured players.
The NHL Trade Deadline has passed, and the focus turns to the rest of the regular season. Toronto ended up making a couple of moves to bring in Scott Laughton and Brandon Carlo in what could be considered a good deadline for Brad Treliving.
But he has other things on his mind, and specifically his injured players. With Jani Hakanpaa's career questionable, and Max Pacioretty no closer to returning; the GM has updated everyone with some unfortunate news.
When asked about the status of both men for the rest of the season, the front office boss wasn't too positive toward things:
So what does the future hold for both players going forward then?
End Of The Line? Jani Hakanpaa and Max Pacioretty's Career-Threatening Injuries
If it's the end for either or both of these players, it's a disappointing end to say the least. Hakanpaa was signed to bring some much needed defensive depth and be another big-bodied stay at home defenseman, but it's been anything but.
Only playing in two games for the Maple Leafs this season, his lingering knee issues flared up again and prevented him from not only playing for Toronto, but saw his Team Finland spot taken away as well due to injury concerns.
Though he's been trying his best to get back, he relented that it hasn't been the best season and perhaps it just wasn't meant to be this year.
In only two games this season, Hakanpaa has zero points, four blocks and a minus-1.
In the case of Pacioretty, this is the third time he's dealt with a serious injury this year and it's worrying considering the past two seasons have been nothing but missed time and injuries for the veteran.
First, he got tangled up with Michale Matheson in a game against Montreal and injured his leg. Then, again versus Montreal, he took a puck to the head which caused him to miss some time as well.
This latest injury is a bit of a question mark, but clearly it's been keeping him off the ice for awhile. Toronto seems to be trying to get a better idea of things before making a decision.
This season was a bit of a comeback for Pacioretty despite the injuries. In 37 games, he had 13 points (5G, 8A) but added 105 hits; the most he had since 2018-19.
It's a tough end of the road for both men if this is indeed over for them, but the fact they got to have solid careers regardless is a win in of itself.
