The Toronto Maple Leafs will be without new addition Jani Hakanpaa for at least eleven games after placing the defenceman on LTIR on Monday afternoon.
The Maple Leafs’ regular season opener against the Montreal Canadiens is just a few days away, and the anticipation is as high as ever, with their fierce rivalry marking the beginning of what promises to be another exciting and nerve-racking NHL season.
With that comes roster adjustments to free up some cap space, and the team will be without one of their big signings this summer, at least for the first ten games, when the Maple Leafs placed Jani Hakanpaa on LTIR on Monday.
The #LeafsForever opening roster is $4.34M over cap with 23 (13F/8D/2G)
LTIR: Jarnkrok $2M, Hakanpaa $1.47M, Mermis $775K
IR: Dewar $1.18M, Minten SOIR $77KThey're $1 within optimal LTIR capture.
Can add $1.26M cap space by adding Dewar/Minten to LTIRhttps://t.co/gG2oRpjZ3A
— PuckPedia (@PuckPedia) October 7, 2024
He joins Connor Dewar, Dakota Mermis, and Calle Jarnkrok as they recover from their injuries as the season rolls on. Dewar is recovering from a shoulder injury that required surgery, and Jarnkrok is dealing with an unspecified lower-body injury that’s kept him out of action and practices for a couple of weeks. Mermis recently underwent surgery and is going to be out for a few months; so the injuries are slowly already piling up for Toronto.
Hakanpaa, a 6’7 defender from Finland was signed by Toronto to solidify their new game plan and use size, intimidation and shutdown defense as a method of controlling the game as opposed to fully offensive. His metrics over the past few seasons have been elite and using his length and ability to read offenses like a quarterback gives him the advantage to get out of the defensive zone and let the rest of the team do the offensive heavy lifting. He fits the mold of GM Brad Treliving and head coach Craig Berube’s strategy, and although he’s on the wrong side of 30, would still be a massive piece of a long Maple Leafs playoff run if healthy.
