Further information revealed about new Maple Leafs defenseman Jani Hakanpaa
The Toronto Maple Leafs signed Jani Hakanpaa early in free agency, and now further information has been revealed about his worrying injury situation.
Brad Treliving was aggressive on day one of free agency, boosting the Maple Leafs defensive core with the additions of Chris Tanev, Oliver Ekman-Larsson and veteran Jani Hakanpaa. However, injury concerns have arisen surrounding the latter, with reports quickly emerging that he may never play in the NHL again.
Now, there's been a major update on the report, with Nick Kypreos diving deeper into the situation, revealing that the Maple Leafs must have confidence in his future to ink him to a two-year deal.
That second year is significant for them," said Kypreos. "The other thing that kind of concerns me from afar. They (Dallas) let this guy go who's 6'7, 230, 31 or 32-years-old and they let him go and they replaced him with a guy they paid twice as much for...They were willing to pay another guy $3.5M over a guy they could have had for $1.5M or $2M...
Dallas was not comfortable with his knee. That I know for a fact. That they thought it wasn't just a doctor going in there and cleaning it up. That there were issues that left him questionable."
As of right now, the team haven't officially announced the signing like they have for others, signalling that their look into him may still be ongoing, but if he can be healthy, he will be a major addition to a blue line that needs physical, experienced defenseman to help lead the team to the promised land.
Source: Maple Leafs Daily
Additional news surfaces about new Leafs defenseman Jani Hakanpaa
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