Leafs' Jani Hakanpaa not worried about knee injury, excited to play
The newest member of the Toronto Maple Leafs’ blueline is ready to roll after a tumultuous offseason.
Veteran defenceman Jani Hakanpaa met with the media for the first time since signing a one-year deal with the Leafs last week. Whispers of Hakanpaa coming to Toronto have been present since the onset of free agency on July 1, but complications and uncertainty surrounding a knee injury prolonged the process by a few months.
At one point, it was reported that Hakanpaa may be unable to continue his career because of the injury. Yet the 32-year-old had a much more positive outlook, saying he does not have a lot of concerns about the injury.
“It’s just a little knee issue that we just got to manage throughout the year,” Hakanpaa said. “I think it’s more of finding ways to stuff off the ice to support it the best we can and cut out the bunch of stuff that isn’t good for it.”
Hakanpaa will be joining a veteran-laden Toronto blueline that includes Morgan Reilly, Chris Tanev, Oliver-Ekman-Larsson, and Jake McCabe. In the 64 games he played with the Dallas Stars last season before he got injured, Hakanpaa put up two goals and 12 points.
He wasn’t brought here to score points, and he told reporters that he won’t be letting up on his physical play just because of his knee.
“I think I bring a lot of physicality and some good solid defence play and some PK specialties with me,” Hakanpaa said. “It’s something I take a lot of pride in and I think that’s for sure going to help the team as well.”
Despite all the injury concerns, Hakanpaa did have interest from other teams outside of Toronto and chose to leave a Stars team that had made it to the Western Conference Final in two straight seasons.
Apart from talking about the injury and his style of play, the veteran Finn also gave some insight into his decision to sign with the Maple Leafs.
“For me, it always becomes a gut decision at the end,” Hakanpaa said. “It’s kind of hard to describe; it’s just a good feeling about it… It’s one of the clubs with great history, so I’m really excited to be part of it.”
It’s not exactly clear how involved Hakanpaa will be when the Leafs’ training camp opens up later this month, but it does appear the player is hopeful that he can jump right into things as soon as possible.