Toronto Maple Leafs Activate Jani Hakanpaa, Reshaping their Defense Against the Capitals
It's been a long time coming for Jani Hakanpaa, but the Leafs free agent signing will lace up his skates for the first time in over six months against Washington.
With the Toronto Maple Leafs coming off a rough loss at the hands of the Ottawa Senators, the team has to make a few changes. While they had a good three-game win streak, it was against weaker teams and may have been more than just skill that got them by.
So with a slew of tough games coming up, and numerous back-to-back games mingled in that schedule, Craig Berube and company need reinforcements.
Well, they got a big one on Wednesday, activating defenseman Jani Hakanpaa off the LTIR in anticipation for his debut:
So how does Toronto's defense look now that Hakanpaa is going to be a fixture?
Jani Hakanpaa Replaces Simon Benoit
It's been a long time since Jani Hakanpaa has been in an NHL game, since March of last year in fact. But the 6'7 Finnish defenseman is hungrier than ever and is chomping at the bit to get back into the swing of things.
But who does he replace? Toronto's defense has been a solid contingent thus far, but there are some outliers. More than likely, Hakanpaa would slide into Simon Benoit's spot in the lineup. Both do the same job but Hakanpaa is bigger, stronger, and needs to get reps in.
Benoit has looked two steps behind this season and whether it's a lack of focus due to him being a new father or something else entirely; nothing is clicking. A mental reset is in order and giving Hakanpaa the chance to showcase what he can do now and potentially in the future is key to potentially signing him long-term.
He reshapes their whole identity on the bottom half as adding a player of Hakanpaa's caliber and size will certainly open up the ice for the other players. It will especially allow Conor Timmins to get his offensive potential progressing, and he would add another deadly force on the penalty kill. Maybe this is what gets the bottom lines producing again.
He doesn't light up the lamp but can put some points up, and with the occasional bomb from the blueline he can help Toronto too:
Hakanpaa's improvement over Benoit should not be overlooked. Benoit only has two points and is actively letting opponents beat him night in and night out, he needs a break and Hakanpaa can give him the rest he surely needs.
It's a great sign to see Hakanpaa back and he's sure to help the Maple Leafs as they face the Washington Capitals and try to prevent Alex Ovechkin and company from making it two straight losses.
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