Well, it’s official. After many test and discussions, the Toronto Maple Leafs have signed defenseman Jani Hakanpää to a one-year contract worth $1.47 million.
Hakanpää, who stands at a staggering 6’6”, 220-pounds, is a Finnish defenseman who joins the Toronto Maple Leafs after spending the last few seasons with the Dallas Stars.
Known for his physical presence, Hakanpää brings a unique depth and a defensive style that could help strengthen Toronto’s penalty kill and overall blue line.
Then again. here's a quote from the same article linked above: "Never in his career has his team had possession of the puck more than the opposition. He is going to get hemmed in his own zone and outshot. His teams almost always lose their minutes, and only once in his career where they expected to win them, and even then, it was 50.19% so basically he broke even."
Toronto Maple Leafs officially sign Jani Hakanpää
Many people (including myself) are a tad worried about lingering knee injuries that supposedly almost ended Hakanpaa’s career a few months ago. This hesitation to sign Hakanpaa may have fans worried, however, according to team doctors everything seems okay. The positive of this contract is the term. At the very worst case scenario, Hakanpaa will only be with the Leafs for one season. Also, his $1.47 million salary is more than the league minimum, but not by much.
Injuries aside, his offensive contributions are modest to non-existant. Over 226 games with the Stars, Hakanpaa recorded a total of 12 goals and 28 assists. He cannot move the puck, which is why he tends to get hemmed in his own zone.
Not the best numbers but fortunately for Toronto, they did not sign him for his offensive contributions. Instead, what Hakanpaa lacks in offensive prowess he makes up for significantly in the defensive side of the game. In this 226 games, he has blocked a total of 363 shots and recorded 668 hits. That’s about 3 hits per game which may not sound like a lot, but it’s a lot more physical than the Leafs have been in years prior. Hakanpaa’s defensive ability will surely help add stability to Toronto’s blue line and especially their Penalty Kill.
This is the type of player that does well when defending, but whose value is questionable becaues of how much time he spends defending. A lot of worse defenders get the puck up the ice and make their teams play less defense overall. There is some trade off, but in the right spots a player like this can be very valuable.
Overall, this signing is what you make of it. Looking on the bright side, this is a fairly cheap deal for a player that has plenty of opportunity to add physicality and depth to the Leafs blue-line. The worst outcome, even the likeliest, is that Hakanpaa is even less mobile and posts even worse numbers than he did last year, but in that case he can easily be cut, due to the cheap cap hit.
It doesn't really cost the Leafs anything here and if he is healthier and used in the right role, he could potentially help the team. If he doesn't, his cheap cap hit and one-year deal means he can easily be cast aside. A potentially decent reward, with no risk, means this is a good signing.