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Jani Hakanpaa

Snapshots: Leafs, Kinkaid, Cristall, Brunicke

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The Toronto Maple Leafs welcomed both John Tavares and Calle Jarnkrok back to the practice rink today shares David Alter of The Hockey News. Both players have been bearing through day-to-day lower-body injuries. Tavares notably suffered his on a hit from Montreal’s Michael Pezzetta in Toronto’s Thursday night preseason action. Both he and Jarnkrok will now have two preseason games remaining before the Leafs kick off their season against Montreal on October 9th.

Both Tavares and Jarnkrok could both be headed for Toronto’s third-line amid William Nylander’s move to center and the growing presence of young prospects Matthew Knies and Nicholas Robertson. The diminishing role lines up with Tavares’ decreasing scoring, with 65 points last season falling 15 short of his 2022-23 totals. He’s finally been knocked off his streak of routine point-per-game scoring, even as his ice time saw a small uptick last year. Meanwhile, Jarnkrok has proven a utility tool in Toronto’s bottom six, recording 21 points and 65 faceoff wins in 52 games last season. Both players are pulling into their 30s and will work to bring gut-punch offense down the depth of Toronto’s lineup this year.

Alter adds that the Leafs were also joined by Jani Hakanpaa at today’s skate – the defender’s first appearance in a Maple Leaf after prolonged contract discussions this summer.

Other notes from around the league:

  • Veteran goaltender Keith Kinkaid will play in his 14th pro season this year, as he’s signed a one-year contract with the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers. Kinkaid spent last season as the backup for the independent Chicago Wolves, recording eight wings and a .880 save percentage in 24 appearances. He’s been a depth option for the last three seasons, spending them split between the Rangers, Bruins, and Avalanche organizations. Kinkaid, 35, has managed 250 career AHL games and 169 career NHL games. He’s totaled a 70-58-21 record and .905 save percentage at the top flight, though he hasn’t played in multiple NHL games since the 2020-21 campaign.
  • The Washington Capitals are open to starting top prospect Andrew Cristall in the NHL, head coach Spencer Carbery told Sammi Silber of The Hockey News. Cristall has been perhaps the top standout in Washington’s camp, and will be eligible to play in nine NHL games before he burns the first year of his entry-level contract. He’s been among the hottest scorers across the CHL for years now, totaling a dazzling 280 points across 191 career WHL games. That scoring has translated into the preseason, with Cristall boasting two goals and three points in three games so far – tied for the team-lead in Washington.
  • Not to be outdone by their rivals, the Pittsburgh Penguins are also considering promoting a rookie – with head coach Mike Sullivan telling Kelsey Surmacz of The Hockey News that defender Harrison Brunicke could also receive a nine-game trial. Brunicke has been among the best defenders in Pittsburgh this preseason, forming strong connections with the team’s star scorers in the early going. It’s a blazing return-to-form for the WHL defender, who had his 2023-24 season ended by an upper-body injury in February.

Atlantic Notes: Maple Leafs Injuries, Swayman, Pitlick, Mersch

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Injured Maple Leafs Connor Dewar, Jani Hakanpää, Calle Järnkrok, and John Tavares all skated during practice Monday, albeit in non-contact jerseys on a separate sheet of ice away from the main group (via TSN’s Mark Masters).

Dewar and Hakanpää are recovering from shoulder and knee injuries dating back to the end of last season, while Järnkrok and Tavares are dealing with lower-body injuries sustained during preseason. None of their availabilities for opening night have been confirmed, although especially in Dewar and Hakanpää’s case, the fact they’re skating means their absences shouldn’t stretch too far past the start of the regular season if they’re unable to go. Järnkrok and Tavares remain listed as day-to-day.

That could certainly throw a wrench into the Leafs’ opening night roster if neither Dewar nor Hakanpää will be out long enough to be eligible to land on long-term injured reserve. Toronto is $1.07MM over the salary cap with a full projected roster, per PuckPedia, but could easily become compliant by waiving defenseman Conor Timmins and assigning him to the minors. That doesn’t leave enough room to sign either Steven Lorentz or Max Pacioretty to league-minimum contracts off their PTOs, though.

Head coach Craig Berube said later Monday that he expects Järnkrok and Tavares to take part in the next practice, so their availability for the start of the season should be considered likely at worst (via The Hockey News’ David Alter).

Elsewhere in the Atlantic:

  • There’s still no end in sight to the contract negotiation stalemate between the Bruins and restricted free agent netminder Jeremy Swayman. But when the end arrives, all signs still point to the goalie staying in Boston. Neither side has any interest in starting up preliminary trade talks for his signing rights, even amid an unusually difficult set of talks, The Athletic’s Fluto Shinzawa relays. “Swayman wants to be a Bruin. The feeling is mutual,” he wrote.
  • Still with Boston, veteran winger Tyler Pitlick will attend their AHL affiliate, the Providence Bruins’, training camp on a PTO, reports the New England Hockey Journal’s Mark Divver. It’s quite a steep fall down the hockey ladder for the 32-year-old who appeared in 34 games with the Rangers last season on a one-way deal before landing on waivers in February and spending the rest of the season with AHL Hartford. Pitlick, a bottom-six defensive presence for most of his 10-year, 420-game career, was limited to four points with the Rangers and seven points in 22 games with Hartford last year.
  • Former Kings forward and longtime Sabres depth piece Michael Mersch announced his retirement Monday. The 31-year-old had spent the last four seasons with Buffalo’s AHL affiliate, the Rochester Americans, serving as captain since 2021. A fourth-round pick of Los Angeles in 2011, Mersch posted 188 goals, 213 assists, and 401 points in 597 AHL games in parts of 11 seasons with the Kings’, Sabres’, and Stars’ affiliates. He played 17 NHL games, all with Los Angeles in the 2015-16 campaign, recording a goal and two assists.

Injury Updates: Karlsson, Boldy, Hakanpaa

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Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson won’t skate at all this weekend due to the upper-body injury that has kept him out of training camp so far, reports Matt Vensel of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Twitter link).  That’s actually a step in the wrong direction as the veteran had been skating on his own earlier in the week.  Head coach Mike Sullivan stated that the team will assess the plan for him early next week.  At this point, it’s starting to look like the 34-year-old might not be available for the season opener which would be tough for them.  While Karlsson wasn’t able to duplicate his 2022-23 season numbers with Pittsburgh last year, he still collected 56 points in 82 games while logging over 24 minutes a night which will be hard to replace, even on a short-term basis.

Other injury news from around the NHL:

  • Wild winger Matt Boldy skated today for the first time since being injured last weekend, notes Michael Russo of The Athletic (Twitter link). Head coach John Hynes indicated that he anticipates that the 23-year-old should be able to get several full practices in before the regular season gets underway.  Boldy is coming off a career-best 69 points in 75 games last season and will be counted to play a similar role as Minnesota looks to get back to the playoffs in 2024-25.
  • The Maple Leafs hope to have blueliner Jani Hakanpaa skate with the main group next week, relays Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun (Twitter link). Toronto agreed to terms with the 32-year-old on the opening day of free agency but concerns over the state of his knee resulted in the agreement being cut to one year and getting registered more than two months later.  Thus far, Hakanpaa had been skating with the minor league group, bringing into question his availability for the start of the season.  If he’s able to get in some practices with the main squad and perhaps a preseason game, he could be cleared for opening night.

Toronto Maple Leafs Sign Jani Hakanpää

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Sunday: Toronto has officially registered the contract, per PuckPedia.  The deal contains a signing bonus of $695K and a base salary of $775K, the league minimum.  Hakanpää also received an eight-team no-trade clause.

Wednesday: Defenseman Jani Hakanpää’s eventful trip through unrestricted free agency ended after an offseason full of speculation. The Toronto Maple Leafs made public that the team has signed Hakanpää to a one-year contract worth $1.47MM.

Back at the beginning of the offseason on July 1st TSN’s Darren Dreger reported that the Maple Leafs and Hakanpää agreed to a two-year contract with Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman relaying a $1.5MM cap hit each season. Mum was the word after that as Toronto never registered the contract with the league offices as Hakanpää’s knee injury became a cause for concern. Hakanpää’s year during the 2023-24 season was cut short on March 16th as he underwent an arthroscopic procedure.

After debating whether or not Hakanpää would be healthy enough to play on Toronto’s blue line the team ultimately decided to mitigate their risk with a one-year deal. Despite the relatively low cap hit it complicates an already tight Maple Leafs’ cap structure. The team entered the afternoon with approximately $400K in salary cap room according to PuckPedia and Hakanpää’s salary will now put them in negative territory.

The risk may be solid as Hakanpää’s last three years with the Dallas Stars were more than quality. He scored a mild 12 goals and 40 points over 226 games but his 668 hits and 363 blocked shots over that span made him one of the more physically oppressive defensemen in the league. The Stars played a suffocating style on defenseman and Hakanpää was one of the reasons their structure became so restrictive for opponents.

There won’t be much expectation for high levels of ice time at 5on5 play for Hakanpää but he should see a healthy amount of minutes on the team’s penalty kill. He jumps from a penalty kill ranked 8th last season to one that was ranked 23rd. He also should help Toronto keep the puck out of their net. The team wasn’t horrible in that category last season by any stretch of the imagination but their 3.18 GA/G did rank 21st in the league which could be improved upon.

His benefit to Toronto’s blue line will only be important if he is available making his knee injury something to monitor. If he can play much of the regular season the Maple Leafs’ defense will certainly be nastier to play against this year, especially after factoring in the team’s free addition of Chris Tanev earlier in the summer.

Maple Leafs Still Pursuing Jani Hakanpää, Max Pacioretty

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Expect the Maple Leafs to turn their attention to finalizing contracts for unrestricted free agents Jani Hakanpää and Max Pacioretty after getting a deal done with restricted free agent winger Nicholas Robertson this morning, says Darren Dreger of TSN. With limited cap room, getting a Robertson contract finalized further before training camp was a priority for Treliving to avoid the threat of a late-summer offer sheet, Dreger added.

Hakanpää reportedly agreed to a two-year, $3MM deal with the Leafs when free agency opened on July 1, but the contract was never finalized. That’s because the 32-year-old is still dealing with the effects of a knee injury that ended his 2023-24 campaign shortly after the trade deadline.

A dispute between Hakanpää and the Leafs’ medical staff about whether he can play through the injury, which has left his knee “basically bone on bone,” led Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic to say last month that Toronto was unlikely to end up registering the contract. It appears they’re still holding out hope, though, and are trying to get the stay-at-home defender in a Maple Leafs sweater before training camp opens next Wednesday.

After signing Robertson, though, they don’t have the capacity to stomach Hakanpää’s $1.5MM cap hit as reported. They could become cap-compliant by shedding Conor Timmins’ $1.1MM cap hit, either by trade, waivers or burying him in the minors. Doing so would leave the Leafs with just $333 in cap space with an open roster spot, per PuckPedia. They currently have $400,333 in projected space with Robertson and Timmins on the NHL roster.

Hakanpää has come into his own as a valuable shutdown presence in Dallas, posting 40 points and a +29 rating in 226 appearances for the Stars over the past three seasons while averaging 17:47 per game. If signed, the right-shot defenseman projects to slot into a bottom-four role, potentially bumping Jake McCabe back to his natural left side and Simon Benoit to the press box.

They’d still need to make another move in order to add Pacioretty. The Maple Leafs were linked to the 35-year-old winger late last month, and he remains on the market in search of a guaranteed contract rather than a professional tryout.

Treliving appears willing to make that guaranteed deal work. It’ll likely end up as a league-minimum $775K cap hit before performance bonuses – which he’s eligible for with a 35+ contract. Those bonuses could result in cap pain for the Leafs down the line, but it would require minimal work to make him fit on the roster now. They could waive, trade, or otherwise demote any roster player aside from Joseph Woll and have a pathway to cap compliance with both Hakanpää and Pacioretty, assuming Timmins is off the roster as stipulated earlier.

Coming off back-to-back Achilles injuries, Pacioretty posted four goals, 19 assists and 23 points in 47 games for the Capitals last season with a -14 rating. He’s due for significant positive regression in the goal-scoring department after shooting at an abysmal 4.2%, nearly seven points south of his 11.1% career average.

Maple Leafs Unlikely To Register Jani Hakanpää’s Contract

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It doesn’t appear that the Maple Leafs will be signing defenseman Jani Hakanpää after all. After nearly two months without registering his reported two-year, $3MM agreement, TSN’s Chris Johnston said on First Up 1050 on Tuesday that “the writing doesn’t appear to be too encouraging” on the Leafs getting Hakanpää to ink a deal.

Hakanpää, 32, was still recovering from the knee injury that truncated his 2023-24 campaign with the Stars when his deal with Toronto was reported on July 1. It was his first time on the open market since 2021 when he inked a three-year, $4.5MM deal to join Dallas. The Finnish veteran still thinks he can play through the injury, which Johnston says has left his knee “basically bone on bone.” The Leafs’ medical team and some other outside medical opinions contradict that sentiment, leading to his continued free agency.

Even if he doesn’t sign with Toronto, Hakanpää’s options will likely be limited if he elects to play through the injury. Only a few, if any, teams will sign him if he can’t pass a physical. The 6’6″, 225-lb right-shot defender was a valuable presence on the Dallas blue line for the past few seasons, averaging north of 18 minutes per game and totaling 40 points, a +29 rating, 136 PIMs, 363 blocks and 668 hits in 226 games. He had decent possession quality numbers, controlling 47.7% of expected goals at even strength despite being used heavily in shutdown situations.

It’s a tough break for the Leafs, who were hoping to either utilize Hakanpää as a defensive anchor on a pairing with Morgan Rielly or Oliver Ekman-Larsson, or potentially even in a stay-at-home pair with Jake McCabe. They would have needed to clear cap space to add him to the roster, though. Toronto has just over $1.25MM in projected cap space with a roster size of 21, not enough to fit Hakanpää in at his reported $1.5MM cap hit.

Atlantic Notes: Hakanpaa, Sandin Pellikka, Beecher

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While committing to signing defenseman Jani Hakanpaa on the opening day of free agency, the Maple Leafs have yet to formally register a contract; GM Brad Treliving indicated earlier this week that they’re still working through things.  Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic reported on his podcast (video link) that the blueliner believes that he can play with his current condition on his knee but that the viewpoint isn’t exactly unanimous when it comes to medical opinions.  The 32-year-old played in 64 regular season games with Dallas last season before undergoing knee surgery that kept him out for the rest of the year and playoffs.  With the uncertainty about his health becoming more widely known, this may be a situation where the two sides ultimately settle on a one-year deal after agreeing to terms on a two-year pact originally.

Elsewhere in the Atlantic:

  • Despite recent speculation to the contrary, Red Wings prospect Axel Sandin Pellikka will not attend training camp with Detroit next month, relays Norran’s Robin Lindgren. The 19-year-old was the 17th pick in the 2023 draft and is coming off a solid showing with SHL Skelleftea, notching ten goals and eight assists in 39 games, impressive numbers for a young blueliner.  Sandin-Pellikka noted that while he was invited to camp with Detroit, the decision has already been made that he’ll remain in Sweden for the season.  Accordingly, he has decided that it makes more sense for him to stay with Skelleftea instead of missing the first few games of the SHL season to participate in some exhibition games in North America.
  • Despite being drafted as a center and spending most of last season down the middle, Steve Conroy of the Boston Herald suggests that John Beecher will line up primarily as a winger for the upcoming season. Boston picked up Mark Kastelic from Ottawa as part of the Linus Ullmark trade and the sense seems to be that he will anchor the fourth line with Beecher lining up on the wing with him.  The 23-year-old had 10 points in 52 games with the Bruins last season in his first taste of NHL action.  He’ll be a restricted free agent next summer.

Maple Leafs Notes: Tavares, Marner, Hakanpaa

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John Tavares’ concession of the captaincy today doesn’t mean he’ll be phased out of the Maple Leafs’ leadership group entirely, general manager Brad Treliving told reporters (via David Alter of The Hockey News). Tavares will serve as an alternate captain this season, exactly as he did during his first campaign with the club in 2018-19.

The rest of Toronto’s leadership group outside of Tavares and star goal-scorer Auston Matthews, who’s taken the reins as the franchise’s 26th captain, has yet to be determined, Treliving said. One of the Leafs’ two alternate slots last season was held by defenseman Morgan Rielly, the team’s longest-tenured player. The other was split between Matthews and Mitch Marner. While Reilly will likely reprise the alternate role that he’s held since 2016, it’s unclear whether they’ll make Marner a full-time alternate, name another player for him to split duties with, or strip him of the ’A’ entirely as he enters the final season of his contract without an extension.

The last player outside the quartet mentioned above to wear a letter for the Leafs was defender Jake Muzzin, who was a part-time alternate during the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season.

There’s more from the Maple Leafs:

  • Speaking of Marner, the maligned winger had ex-teammate Zach Bogosian go to bat for him on a Tuesday episode of “The Cam & Strick Podcast.” Bogosian, who was a member of the Toronto squad that was upset by the Canadiens in the first round of the 2021 playoffs, called Marner “a good leader” and said that “he’s always trying to take care of everyone around the locker room.” Marner ended last season on an exceptionally disappointing note, limited to a goal and two assists in Toronto’s seven-game exit at the hands of the Bruins in the first round. “I’ve played with a lot of guys; he is as good of a person and a teammate as I’ve ever seen,” Bogosian continued. “A lot of people give him s**t about this and that and we haven’t done this, and it’s, like, well, he’s trying everything.“
  • During his media availability today, Treliving had no update when asked about the contractual status of defenseman Jani Hakanpaa (via Alter). He reportedly inked the stay-at-home Finn to a two-year, $3MM contract on July 1, but the deal still hasn’t been officially registered with the league. He’s still recovering from a knee ailment that sidelined him for the last few weeks of the season and the entirety of the Stars’ run to the Western Conference Final. The Leafs are still “working through” making him an official member of the club, but Treliving had no comment beyond that.

Morning Notes: Red Wings, Hakanpää, Smith

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The Red Wings may have the third-most projected cap space in the league three weeks into free agency (PuckPedia), but that’s an artificially high number. That’s because left winger Lucas Raymond and right-shot defenseman Moritz Seider, each the top RFAs remaining at their respective positions, still need new deals and could take up almost all of their $17.65MM left to spend. In a Tuesday morning mailbag, The Athletic’s Max Bultman examined why the duo remain unsigned.

Long-term deals are likely the preferred outcome for both, Bultman writes, but a lack of solid recent comparables could be plugging up the works. That’s because many of their peers signed long-term extensions in a flat-cap environment, while Raymond and Seider are presumably pushing for increased cap hits with more certainty regarding a rising upper limit over the life of their deals. Bultman writes there’s “still some potential for sticker shock on the team side,” a reasonable prediction considering Evolving Hockey projects eight-year deals for both to fall in the $8MM range.

Other things worth keeping an eye on as the NHL’s offseason continues:

  • Out of the flurry of signings reported on July 1, a notable one has yet to be made official. That’s defenseman Jani Hakanpää, who presumably has a two-year, $3MM deal agreed upon, per multiple reports. But the Finnish blue-liner is still dealing with the effects of a knee injury that sidelined him for the last month of the regular season plus the entirety of the Stars’ playoff run. It required arthroscopic surgery, which Dallas general manager Jim Nill confirmed the defender underwent before reaching the open market. There hasn’t been anything new on the Hakanpää front since a report from TSN’s Darren Dreger two weeks ago that there were “growing concerns” about his health. Expect more clarity on his contractual situation closer to training camp.
  • After a tough season with the Penguins, veteran winger Reilly Smith could find himself in a top-line role with the Rangers come opening night, writes NHL.com’s David Satriano. The defending Presidents’ Trophy winners have a demonstrable hole at right wing in their top six and were on the hunt for a more offensively-inclined partner for Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad at even strength. Smith, 33, was limited to 13 goals and 40 points in 76 games last season in Pittsburgh. That’s likely not the high-octane punch the Blueshirts are looking for, but it would be an upgrade over the rotating cast of Kaapo Kakko, Jack Roslovic and Blake Wheeler that held the role last season. Smith “probably will be given the first chance” to fill that vacancy after being acquired via trade, Satriano posits, but it could end up being their top trade deadline wish list item should he fail to make an impact.

Maple Leafs To Sign Jani Hakanpää

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The Maple Leafs are expected to land UFA defenseman Jani Hakanpää, TSN’s Darren Dreger reports. It’s a two-year deal, Dreger adds. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports it’s a $1.5MM cap hit.

Hakanpää is the final item in a Toronto defense shopping list today that also includes Chris Tanev and Oliver Ekman-Larsson. Now 32, the defensively stout Finn heads to his fourth NHL team since arriving from Europe in 2019.

Last year was a tough ending for Hakanpää. His season ended around the trade deadline due to injury, and he wasn’t able to suit up in postseason action for the Stars as they advanced to the Western Conference Final. Much like he has the past few years in Dallas, he logged fringe top-four minutes in the regular season, also contributing 12 points and a +10 rating in 64 games. He was among the Stars’ most frequent hitters, using his 6’6″, 225-lb frame to lay the body 196 times.

Used almost exclusively in defensive situations, Hakanpää will be a steady and perhaps more competent replacement for depth players like Joel Edmundson and Ilya Lyubushkin who signed elsewhere for much more money today. In that sense, it’s an extremely shrewd pickup by GM Brad Treliving for a player who could prove to be the right kind of third-pairing partner for the more offensively-inclined Ekman-Larsson.

With their signings today, the Leafs now have a chance to ice a reliable puck-mover on each pairing in Ekman-Larsson, Timothy Liljegren and Morgan Rielly, paired each with Hakanpää, Jake McCabe and Tanev on their flanks. That’s a much more balanced composition than the D-core that largely failed to hold its weight in their first-round loss to the Bruins, plagued by a lack of competent puck-moving defenders.

After today’s moves, the Leafs are fully capped out with a 23-man roster.

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