Maple Leafs Place Defenseman on Long-Term Injured Reserve

It didn't take long for major concerns to arise when the Leafs initially announced that they had agreed to terms on a 2-year deal with Hakanpaa at the beginning of July.

The concerns stemmed from a knee injury that he had repaired in March of last season that forced him to missed the Dallas Stars' entire playoff run.

The Leafs exercised some caution and ultimately signed Hakanpaa to a 1-year deal ahead of training camp.

Unfortunately, Hakanpaa has only played two games for the Leafs, and after returning to the ice late last week, Leafs head coach Craig Berube confirmed the 6'7 defenseman is still 'a ways away' from returning.

Hakanpaa skated with development staff for 30 minutes prior to the Leafs practicing on Wednesday, but was ultimately placed on long-term injured reserve.

After recalling Marshall Rifai, the Leafs currently have $1.36M in LTIR cap space with Hakanpaa and Calle Jarnkrok both out for the foreseeable future.

Leafs GM Brad Treliving has taken a considerable amount of heat for signing Hakanpaa despite the injury concerns, the same way he did when he signed John Klingberg last off-season.

Should Hakanpaa be able to return to the lineup ahead of the 4 Nations Face-Off, it may change how the Leafs approach the trade deadline, but with how the year has gone for Hakanpaa so far, it would be more surprising to see him play again.