Maple Leafs have had a breakthrough in securing the signature a top defenceman in $1.47M a yeara deal that worth

Maple Leafs sign defenceman Jani Hakanpaa to one-year, $1.47M deal

 

The Maple Leafs’ biggest unanswered question for the off-season was just resolved.

After two months of waiting for the agreement to be finalized, Toronto revealed on Wednesday that defenseman Jani Hakanpää had signed a one-year, $1.47 million contract.

Hakanpää and the Leafs were said to have reached an agreement on a two-year, $3 million contract on July 1, the start of the NHL’s free agency window. However, as of Wednesday, neither the team’s roster nor their official signing had included him.

Following his knee injury that kept him out of the Dallas Stars’ playoff run and the final 13 games of the regular season, there were concerns about the blueliner’s health. To remedy the ailment, he had arthroscopic knee surgery.

When Auston Matthews was named the new captain of the Maple Leafs in August, general manager Brad Treliving was questioned about the reason behind the hold-up in Hakanpää’s contract being signed.

“We are resolving that. We’re addressing this today. However, we intend to address that as quickly as possible,” Treliving stated.

The six-foot-six, 225-pound defenseman joins Chris Tanev and Oliver Ekman-Larsson as the third new player to join Toronto’s blue line this off-season.

Throughout his five-year NHL career, Hakanpää—a genuine defensive-defenseman—only managed 12 goals and 28 assists in 226 games. He has never been one to pile up points.

Before suffering a knee injury in 64 games with the Dallas Stars the previous season, he had 10 assists and two goals.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *