Confirmed Signing with Link: [TOR] D Jani Hakanpaa signs with the Maple Leafs (2 years, $1.5M AAV)

[Bruce Granville]

This is a better signing than Tanev.
Maybe they should get Suter, too.
Just to complete that Stars‘ set of pylons…

 

[BKarchitect]

This isn’t bad compared to what the other big pylon defenders got today.

 

[TimeZone]

Maybe they know something about his injury that others don’t

We'll see when he gets his physical in a few weeks

 

[Boomstick]

With him, Reaves and Domi, the Leafs are going to be shorthanded constantly.

 

[Jussi]

Late bloomer, has worked hard to improve his skating to a level that he's become a decent 3rd pairing physical defenseman that's capable of chipping in a few goals with his hard shot.

 

[BayStBullies]

With him, Reaves and Domi, the Leafs are going to be shorthanded constantly.

From what I've learned watching other teams, you eventually hit the max calls allowed. The refs then call an even amount the other way.

 

[Cape]

Solid signing for the Leafs. If he can stay healthy. And that's a big if.

226 regular season games played the last three seasons?

 

[3headeddragon]

Sounds like a made up name

All names are made up

 

[Smif]

With him, Reaves and Domi, the Leafs are going to be shorthanded constantly.

Reavo is quite conservative. All his penalty minutes are fighting majors, not many minor penalties at all.

 

[Legion34]

226 regular season games played the last three seasons?

There’s a weird article about his knee.

 

[Former Referee 68]

Hate the leaf's But Great signing!

 

[SeanMoneyHands]

Awesome signing. Brad is just on a roll right now, keep em coming.

 

[yzerman]

Sounds like a made up name

It is ask his parents

 

[Pucklington]

I'm laughing at all the comments not knowing who he is. Clearly don't watch or know anything about the half the league that plays after Bedtime...

This is a very good and underrated signing.

He is better than OEL at this stage.

 

[Azzuri]

I'm laughing at all the comments not knowing who he is. Clearly don't watch or know anything about the half the league that plays after Bedtime...

This is a very good and underrated signing.

He is better than OEL at this stage.

Dallas fan who watched him every game - strong disagree. He's cooked,

 

[Turbonium]

I'm laughing at all the comments not knowing who he is. Clearly don't watch or know anything about the half the league that plays after Bedtime...

This is a very good and underrated signing.

He is better than OEL at this stage.

I'm laughing at privileged people who use the word expat instead of immigrant.

 

[ShootIt]

Good deal. 1.5mil is nothing.

 

[elmaco]

This is a better signing than Tanev.
Maybe they should get Suter, too.
Just to complete that Stars‘ set of pylons…

Bring Phaneuf out of retirement.

 

[Pucklington]

I'm laughing at privileged people who use the word expat instead of immigrant.

That's a weird unrelated comment, with undertones of xenophobia.

 

[Pucklington]

Dallas fan who watched him every game - strong disagree. He's cooked,

Unfortunate - didn't realize the injuries impacted him that much.

Well, then the Leafs are running back with the same D with different names...

 

[jfhabs]

Solid depth under 2 M

 

[johnnybbadd]

I remember watching him play a few games last year and he was baaaad. Like worse than Suter bad. Always caved in and couldn’t make a pass or clearance to save his life. Didn’t know his knee was that bad though. If he recovers to full health he could be a contributor but it is risky.

 

[SeanMoneyHands]

He may do well under Berube's system. Adds size to the Leafs blueline and makes them tougher to play against.

Tanev, OEL, Hakanpaa make them a lot better.

 

[account deactivated]

Dallas fan who watched him every game - strong disagree. He's cooked,

He may be alright if he's not being fed top PK minutes and playing almost 19 min a night. Keep him to 15 or below and he could work out just fine. Hard to say since we haven't seen him since the injury though.

 

[LaMasquerade]

Yep. He's huge guy that played maybe a few too many minutes per game. I also thought that his game declined a little bit this season.

About the name. Hakanpää means fenced pasture's end in Finnish, i.e., it is old agriculture term. Haka is fenced pasture in Finnish and pää means head (and also end of something, like tienpää is road's end (tie = road)).