Confirmed with Link: Leafs sign defenceman Jani Hakanpää (1 year, $1.47M) (official)

[Stephen]

Some different looks on D. What's your favorite? Who would you pair?

Rielly Tanev
McCabe Liljegren
OEL Hakanpaa

Rielly Tanev
Benoit McCabe
OEL Hakanpaa

Rielly Tanev
OEL McCabe
Benoit Liljegren

Rielly Tanev
McCabe Liljegren
Benoit Hakanpaa

I'm guessing you might see these different combinations used throughout the season.

Feels like what this group really needs is high quality at the top. One guy ahead of Rielly down and someone out, or subtract Rielly and enter a bigger, better workhorse who does it all in his place.

 

[DarkKnight]

The fact of the matter is we don't have any D depth on the farm, so all these guys will play at various stages and we will probably need them....until we add near the deadline.

 

[Dayjobdave]

This feels like a good D corps with some good AHL-nhl depth behind it. Looking forward to some defensive structure and snarl this year.

 

[notbias]

You said that all year, and he made an ass out of you routinely. The minute Tre signed him you went full Dubas lover and twisted all his success to fit your bs narratives. Meanwhile Lil was a laughing stock who was benched in the playoffs, but you're actually arguing it was Benoit who was bad. Go find some stat to fit your narrative, there's one for every partisan. Benoit completely outplayed Lil in the playoffs, I can't find a single real hockey person who would side with you. As Chris Johnston said in the playoffs, Lil moved the puck like it's someone else's problem. That's why he was actually benched for Brodie, meanwhile Benoit flourished. Watch some hockey instead of forming a bias and trying to make everything fit later. I know you think you're brilliant, I think you're predictable and boring. Have a nice season bud.

And as aside, go look at what I said about Benoit last preseason, I literally said he was one of the worst D men I'd seen. When he was called up I said he frightened me. My opinion changed based on his evolution, give it a try sometime.

A massive wall of text with no truth, pure delusion.

I didn't say Benoit was outplayed by Liljegren in the playoffs.

Benoit has been a fine 5/6, he sucked in the playoffs.

This was the most insane rant on here I've read...

Benoit flourishing at 5v5

Did Benoit flourish by helping us with our 65% PK?

You are delusional.

Rielly, Lub, and McCabe were good, probably in that order, the rest were bad.

The fact of the matter is we don't have any D depth on the farm, so all these guys will play at various stages and we will probably need them....until we add near the deadline.

Myers, Mattinen, Kokkennen, Mermis, and Rifai could all get called up if injuries happen.

What do you expect in the AHL?

And they are carrying 2 extra NHL D currently...

 

[Budz]

Does he fight?

Edit - I searched YouTube. Found a few tilts. Nothing great. He drops the mitts and sticks up for teammates. Not a great face puncher though.

 

[notbias]

Does he fight?

Not well or often... he's just big.

He got destroyed by Seeler in his most recent fight.

 

[Dreakmur]

Should be an interesting week before camp, somethings got to give.

That something is Timmins going down, right? That puts us below the cap with a 22 man roster.

 

[seanlinden]

The fact of the matter is we don't have any D depth on the farm, so all these guys will play at various stages and we will probably need them....until we add near the deadline.

Not so sure I'd characterize it that way.

The Leafs have a pretty reasonable abundance of options that will be stashed away on the farm... they're maybe just not what one would want in a perfect world.

In a perfect world, you want more Topi Niemla's....(and ideally a bigger one) early 20s, a year of AHL experience under their belt, ready to make the jump either up or down without waivers becoming a factor.

The guys likely to join Niemla on the potential callup list -- Villeneuve, Webber, Rifai , Myers, Mermis, Mattinen, and maybe Connor Timmins. A decent little bit of NHL experience... although none of them really have much in the way of longer term upside.

Longer term, there are the makings of some interesting upside in Ben Danford and Noah Chadwick.

 

[Macallan18]

~1 million over if they carry 23 players, but assuming Benoit or Timmins are done.

Probably Timmins because we hate D that score or can make a pass.

yup, he could end up being another Jake Gardner, better ditch him now!!!!

Leafs don't want to be down to 6 NHL defensemen.

Something else has to happen, or someone will be going on LTIR day before season starts.

Sorry to break this to you, I don't think we have 6 nhl defensemen now.
Rielly, McCabe, OEL, Tanev, Lilly, the rest are plugs.

 

[Macallan18]

Lets say they trade Robertson (As Seravelli Tweeted). Since the Leafs cleared $30k, they will now have $905,333 in available cap space. Cowan's cap hit is $904,667.

This doesn't factor in Pacioretty though.

Seravelli is an idiot, Robertson is not going anywhere.
I've thought this all along, all the leafs had to do is wait and he had to sign.
He still has very little trade value, and a massive upside.
I don't think Treliving wants to appear more foolish than he already does by trading him and having him score 30 goals elsewhere.

Lil is the 7 for me, cap hits will be out the window when the play dictates. When we signed him I wasn't sold it was too keep him, but given how the D depth didnt fill out, he provably sticks, until we add at TD again. Berube will love Benoit and he only got better and better last year.

I don't know, he may like guys who can skate and pass? That would be Lilly.

 

[Fogelhund]

The fact of the matter is we don't have any D depth on the farm, so all these guys will play at various stages and we will probably need them....until we add near the deadline.

Timmins can be waived, and if clears, can be sent down and fully buried.
Mermis - 47 NHL games last year. 74 total, 31 years old. 431 AHL games.
Phillipe Myers - 158 NHL games total
Niemela - excellent AHL campaign last year, probably ready for a taste of NHL games.
Rifai - 2 NHL games last year for us, played quite well when needed.
Mattinen - DEL player of the year last year, 6'6"

plus Kokkonen, Villeneuve and Webber.

It's really only Webber at this point, that I wouldn't feel comfortable with giving him a NHL game.

The reality is, this might be the deepest our farm has ever been.

 

[Macallan18]

I'm guessing you might see these different combinations used throughout the season.

Feels like what this group really needs is high quality at the top. One guy ahead of Rielly down and someone out, or subtract Rielly and enter a bigger, better workhorse who does it all in his place.

Absolutely right, this and the gamble on goaltending are Trelivings two biggest fails.

 

[rumman]

For me Lilly is in before Benny

One plays RD, the other plays LD, so I don’t think it’s either/or. One makes twice as much as the other and isn’t as good………

 

[conFABulator]

Absolutely right, this and the gamble on goaltending are Trelivings two biggest fails.

I don't really understand these posts. How is not getting someone better than Rielly and not getting rid of Reilly a big fail for Tre? Do we just ignore Reilly's NMC that Tre inherited? How does he acquire someone better than Reilly exactly? Trade Marner and his NMC? Sign Brady Skjei? He MIGHT be better, maybe, and was certainly more expensive. Sign him instead of Tanev and OEL?

Your opinion on goaltending is an opinion I don't agree with and I don't see a lot of better options than what we did. Markstrom? Show me how we fit $6M in and how we acquire him without a first round pick in 2025 or a similar prospect?

 

[DarkKnight]

Not so sure I'd characterize it that way.

The Leafs have a pretty reasonable abundance of options that will be stashed away on the farm... they're maybe just not what one would want in a perfect world.

In a perfect world, you want more Topi Niemla's....(and ideally a bigger one) early 20s, a year of AHL experience under their belt, ready to make the jump either up or down without waivers becoming a factor.

The guys likely to join Niemla on the potential callup list -- Villeneuve, Webber, Rifai , Myers, Mermis, Mattinen, and maybe Connor Timmins. A decent little bit of NHL experience... although none of them really have much in the way of longer term upside.

Longer term, there are the makings of some interesting upside in Ben Danford and Noah Chadwick.

I don’t think Niemla is a realistic option, and I’m saying Hak is still a maybe long term, so take that away and it get thin. This is why I think we keep Lil. Recall prior to his new deal plenty of talk the Leafs weren’t happy with him, then he signs as insurance, we can’t get swing any deals and he’s now a likely piece.

As an aside, Benoit can skate, everyone was pleasantly surprised at how he closed gaps and moved.

 

[thusk]

A massive wall of text with no truth, pure delusion.

I didn't say Benoit was outplayed by Liljegren in the playoffs.

Benoit has been a fine 5/6, he sucked in the playoffs.

This was the most insane rant on here I've read...

Benoit flourishing at 5v5

View attachment 906508

Did Benoit flourish by helping us with our 65% PK?

You are delusional.

Rielly, Lub, and McCabe were good, probably in that order, the rest were bad.



Myers, Mattinen, Kokkennen, Mermis, and Rifai could all get called up if injuries happen.

What do you expect in the AHL?

And they are carrying 2 extra NHL D currently...

Benoit played on top shutdown pair vs top offensive weapon vsLiljegren was playing in 3rd pair. Benoit played played 33% more than Liljegren ice time vs boston top 6

He started close got 80% of defensive faceoff vs 35% for liljegren

So more time against better matchup, more defensive faveoff ( meaning is youre losing it, you will probably need to defend the next 15 to 45 second in your zone every time you step in a faceoff. Brnoit had been put in a pretty hard situation to succes and did a pretty good job at the end... but we all know he was not in the good chair

 

[DarkKnight]

Benoit played on top shutdown pair vs top offensive weapon vsLiljegren was playing in 3rd pair. Benoit played played 33% more than Liljegren ice time vs boston top 6

He started close got 80% of defensive faceoff vs 35% for liljegren

So more time against better matchup, more defensive faveoff ( meaning is youre losing it, you will probably need to defend the next 15 to 45 second in your zone every time you step in a faceoff. Brnoit had been put in a pretty hard situation to succes and did a pretty good job at the end... but we all know he was not in the good chair

Benoit wasn’t on the bench during the playoffs, Lil was benched and nobody watching was surprised. Benoit got more ice time, played tougher matchups, D zone starts, every metric he had the more important gig. Anyone who claims Lil was better in the playoffs is a joke….oh wait.

 

[Nineteen67]

Seravelli is an idiot, Robertson is not going anywhere.
I've thought this all along, all the leafs had to do is wait and he had to sign.
He still has very little trade value, and a massive upside.
I don't think Treliving wants to appear more foolish than he already does by trading him and having him score 30 goals elsewhere.


I don't know, he may like guys who can skate and pass? That would be Lilly.

Liljegren’s downside is his skating.

 

[DarkKnight]

Just to bring it back on topic, this guy is an absolute cap hit steal if he stays healthy. Obviously our doctors think he can play, so a good day for Leafs nation.

 

[4thline]

Assuming no d is traded, and Hakanpaa is ready Day 1 this is how I see our depth chart:

Rielly	Tanev
McCabe/OEL	McCabe
OEL/McCabe	Liljegren
Benoit	Hakanpaa

Assuming Rielly-Tanev is a lock, I see two battles shaping up in camp, each impacting the other. OEL vs. Liljegren to be McCabe's PMD partner in the top 4, Benoit vs. Hakanpaa to be the physical bottom pair PK guy. Depending on who wins the top 4 spot it puts handedness pressure on the bottom pair.

Different looks assuming Berube wants the classic PMD + DFD on each pairing

OEL-McCabe
Benoit-Liljegren
Hakanpaa

McCabe-Liljegren
OEL-Hakanpaa
Benoit

 

[rumman]

Just to bring it back on topic, this guy is an absolute cap hit steal if he stays healthy. Obviously our doctors think he can play, so a good day for Leafs nation.

This……..

 

[SprDaVE]

Assuming no d is traded, and Hakanpaa is ready Day 1 this is how I see our depth chart:

Rielly	Tanev
McCabe/OEL	McCabe
OEL/McCabe	Liljegren
Benoit	Hakanpaa

Assuming Rielly-Tanev is a lock, I see two battles shaping up in camp, each impacting the other. OEL vs. Liljegren to be McCabe's PMD partner in the top 4, Benoit vs. Hakanpaa to be the physical bottom pair PK guy. Depending on who wins the top 4 spot it puts handedness pressure on the bottom pair.

Different looks assuming Berube wants the classic PMD + DFD on each pairing

OEL-McCabe
Benoit-Liljegren
Hakanpaa

McCabe-Liljegren
OEL-Hakanpaa
Benoit

I don't see McCabe playing RD if everyones healthy with finally 3 RHD on the team. McCabe with Liljegren and OEL with Hakanpaa feels like distributing quality across the pairings.

Benoit is in a weird spot but seems to be the defacto #7 if everyone is healthy. Hakanpaa might see the IR early and regularly though so who knows.

 

[4thline]

I don't see McCabe playing RD if everyones healthy with finally 3 RHD on the team. McCabe with Liljegren and OEL with Hakanpaa feels like distributing quality across the pairings.

Comes down to who earns it IMO. Hakanpaa is the only one I'd cap as the 6-7. I wouldn't be surprised at any of OEL/Liljegren/Benoit showing as top 4 this year

 

[Evilhomer]

Absolutely right, this and the gamble on goaltending are Trelivings two biggest fails.

You are going to end up being wrong when it comes to goaltending.

 

[rumman]

Comes down to who earns it IMO. Hakanpaa is the only one I'd cap as the 6-7. I wouldn't be surprised at any of OEL/Liljegren/Benoit showing as top 4 this year

There’s a rumour the Leafs are interested in Fowler, would swapping Lilly plus for a couple of years of a retained salary Folwer be a better option to rounding out the top four?