Team Finland Surprisingly Selects Toronto Maple Leafs Player to the 4 Nations Face-Off
Team Finland announced their 4 Nations Face-Off roster and among the additions is one very surprising Toronto Maple Leafs player.
With the 4 Nations Face-Off set to take place next year, the countries selected to play have finalized their rosters with announcements coming Wednesday afternoon for Team Sweden and Team Finland.
Finland recently released their full roster and among the list is one very surprising name coming from the Toronto Maple Leafs: Jani Hakanpaa.
Jani Hakanpaa's Surprise Selection For Team Finland
Hakanpaa is among several big name NHL stars like Mikko Rantanen and Patrik Laine.
The rest of the team is comprised of some pretty solid NHL stars in addition to the elite names on the list such as Juuso Valimaki and Juuse Saros.
The surprise addition of Hakanpaa is due to the fact the towering defenseman hasn't played much at all this season and is currently on the IR trying to rehab the knee issues that have given him so much trouble.
Clearly, GM Jere Lehtinen wasn't too concerned about Hakanpaa's status, and knows what he can bring to the team once healthy. If he doesn't get Hakanpaa into too many games he can rely on big names like Miro Heiskanen, Rasmus Ristolainen and Olli Maata.
Hakanpaa signed a one-year deal with the Maple Leafs this offseason after initially agreeing to a two-year pact but with hesitation towards his health, the deal was never officially confirmed. He underwent arthroscopic knee surgery and made his season debut in November.
With Team Finland announcing their selections, as well as Team Sweden doing the same, fans await the selections for Team Canada and Team USA which is scheduled to happen later on Wednesday night scheduled for 6:30pm ET.
The 4 Nations Face-Off is a tournament in the vein of the World Cup of Hockey, which was last played back in 2016. The tournament consists of the best NHLers from four powerhouse countries to determine who reigns supreme.
The tournament is scheduled to take place from February 12-20 with Canada taking on Sweden in the opening game of the event.
