Coach Craig Berube Provides Update on Jani Hakanpaa's Status: The Defenseman Hasn't Played in 7 Months
Head coach Craig Berube is confident the Maple Leafs will see Jani Hakanpaa on the ice soon, but will he be too rusty after not playing for the last seven months?
The Toronto Maple Leafs had one of their goals this summer was to shore up their defense. They added Chris Tanev, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, and recently acquired Matt Benning from San Jose for Timothy Liljegren. They also signed a 6'7 behemoth in Jani Hakanpaa but he's been dealing with a knee injury since spring.
Hakanpaa's return is imminent, and while head coach Craig Berube says that Hakanpaa will get some conditioning reps with the Marlies ahead of his Maple Leafs debut, it's still been a long, long, time coming.
The last time Jani Hakanpaa took the ice for an NHL game was March 16. Seven months ago.
Half a year on the shelf and off the ice does nobody any good. When Hakanpaa last played, there were still 16 games left in the season and he missed those, the playoffs, didn't skate all summer, and finally took the ice a couple of weeks ago. It's possible that Hakanpaa can shake off the rust quickly, but losing so much time in a game that's getting quicker by the moment is definitely a downside.
When he is healthy though, he's a monster. Using his frame and length to disrupt opponents, he's not afraid to throw the body or block shots either. Extremely useful on the penalty kill, he'll boost their PK substantially and provide yet another big body for Crag Berube to intimidate teams with. Not known as a scorer, Hakanpaa has a heavy slap shot that can find the net at times but often will eschew offense to make sure he's in the right position.
It's a big sign that Hakanpaa is close to returning, and the Maple Leafs defense hasn't been terrible but it hasn't been fantastic. Adding a 6'7 giant absolutely helps, and with their newest addition also able to pull his own weight: It feels like for the first time in a long time, Toronto has a concrete defensive situation.
We just have to wait and see if the hype is worth it now. Hakanpaa is able to be removed from the IR on November 1.
