23Hakanpaa

The process to sign Jani Hakanpaa took longer than expected but eventually the Toronto Maple Leafs were able to agree to a one-year contract worth $1.47 million with the veteran defenceman.

 

General manager Brad Treliving said the team did its due diligence to ensure that his recovery from his knee injury was going in the right direction.

 

 

 

“Obviously, there was a bit of a delay on Jani. We had Jani in town here earlier in the summer for a bit of time. Our performance staff went out there two or three times. It was him going through his rehab,” Treliving told reporters at Leafs development camp. “We’re obviously to a point where he and us feel confident. And we’ll see how it goes.” Initially, it was reported that the team agreed to a two-year deal on the opening day of free agency. Treliving spoke later that day as if Hakanpaa was a member of the team, but no official announcement was made.

Hakanpaa

There were questions about the blueliner’s health after he missed the final 13 games of the Dallas Stars’ regular season and the entire playoff run with a knee injury. He underwent arthroscopic knee surgery to treat the injury.

 

While the team was comfortable signing Hakanpaa to a deal, Treliving says the team will continue to work with the veteran now that he is signed.

 

“There’s certainly always risk with any person coming off an injury, but he’s put in a lot of work really since, I think he had surgery,” Treliving said. “He had a scope on his knee, I think, back in March. (He) went through sort of healing and then rehab, but he’s doing well. And now we’ll get our hands on him on an everyday basis and kind of see where it goes.”

 

Hakanpaa isn’t the only player whom the team had to go through an extensive process before putting pen to  paper on