Leafs' handling of Hakanpaa shows determination to not repeat past mistakes
Signing John Klingberg was disastrous for the Maple Leafs, but it's clear from how they've handled the Jani Hakanpaa situation that they've learned from their past mistakes.
On July 1st, TSN's Chris Johnston reported that the Leafs were signing 6'7 bruising defenseman Jani Hakanpaa to a two-year deal worth $1.5M per season. As the Leafs' other signings (Anthony Stolarz, Max Domi and Chris Tanev) were announced by the club's official 'X' account, fans noticed that Hakanpaa's reported deal wasn't announced, which meant that it was not finalized.
The following day, Steve Simmons of 'The Toronto Sun' revealed that there was a concern about a knee injury that prevented the Dallas Stars from re-signing the veteran blueliner. Hakanpaa underwent surgery late last season, but reports from Simmons indicated that even with the surgery Hakanpaa may not be able to play again.
Initially, the Leafs did not seem deterred from the medical reports from Dallas, but last week, Johnston revealed on the 'SDPN' podcast that the contract won't be officially announced until Hakanpaa passes a physical/medical with the Leafs.
Given that he has been rehabbing his surgically repaired knee, the Leafs are likely giving him time to complete more extensive rehab and pass his physical so that they can announce his signing officially.
When the Leafs signed Klingberg last summer, there were concerns about his injury history, and it eventually led to him having hip surgery in December of last year, which he is still recovering from. This time around, the Leafs are not committing the cap space to a defenseman that may end up on LTIR and/or need surgery again.
Some of you may be questioning why they wouldn't just sign him and place him on LTIR if needed, well that is because the Leafs won't accrue cap space with Hakanpaa on LTIR and it has hindered their ability in past deadlines to upgrade their roster without having to use third-parties to retain additional salary, costing the Leafs valuable draft capital.
With a couple of months until training camp, the Leafs and Hakanpaa have time to figure out a plan for him, but the longer they wait, the less options they will have to replace him if things go south. This could also be the reason why the Leafs haven't yet traded Timothy Liljegren.
At any rate, with approximately 3 months remaining until the start of the season, the Leafs and Hakanpaa still have time to iron all of this out.
Source: Maple Leafs Daily: Why Hakanpaa's contract has been delayed
| POLL | ||
JUILLET 15 | 359 ANSWERS Leafs' handling of Hakanpaa shows determination to not repeat past mistakes Will Jani Hakanpaa pass his physical with the Leafs, making his deal official? | ||
| Yes | 196 | 54.6 % |
| No | 163 | 45.4 % |
| List of polls | ||
