Maple Leafs Make Intriguing Announcement Regarding Connor Dewar, Jani Hakanpaa

Hakanpaa and Dewar have been on LTIR since the beginning of the season as they recovered from their respective surgically repaired injuries. Dewar had off-season shoulder surgery, while Hakanpaa recovering from a knee surgery that has many questioning whether he'll be able to continue his career much longer. The concern led to Hakanpaa signing a 1-year deal worth $1.47M instead of the initial 2-year deal that was reported on July 1st.

On Saturday morning, The Hockey News' David Alter reported that Hakanpaa and Dewar travelled with the Leafs on their two game road-trip to Boston and Winnipeg (Monday). Neither is eligible to return from LTIR for another three games, but given the fact that they're travelling with the team, it likely means that both will be activated next week at some point.

The combined salary of Dewar and Hakanpaa is $2.65M, which means the Leafs will have to move a significant amount of salary to activate them both. The most obvious move would be to trade Timothy Liljegren, who reportedly requested a fresh start earlier this season. Liljegren carries a $3M cap hit for this season and next.

The Swedish defenseman has had a difficult time cracking the Leafs' lineup under Craig Berube and has now found himself behind both Conor Timmins and even Philippe Myers on the depth chart. At this point, it appears more likely than not that his tenure in Toronto is coming to an end.