Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Jani Hakanpaa will not feature for Team Finland in the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament. The team announced on Saturday that he will not participate due to injury.
Maple Leafs D Jani Hakanpää will not participate in the upcoming Four Nations Face-Off due to injury.
— Leafs PR (@LeafsPR) February 1, 2025
No Hakanpaa in 4 Nations Tournament
The Finnish D-man has been battling a knee injury dating back to his time with the Dallas Stars last season. His last game in the 2023-24 campaign was on March 16 in a 4-1 win against the Los Angeles Kings. He didn’t feature for the rest of the regular season and missed all of the playoffs. In the offseason, Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving acquired the blueliner in free agency. Originally, the team and player verbally agreed to a two-year contract at $1.5 million. However, after learning more about the injury, the contract was cut to a one-year deal at the same AAV.
It took some time before head coach Craig Berube and Hakanpaa were comfortable to set foot on the ice for the first time. The 32-year-old played two games for Toronto back in mid-November, after a two-game conditioning stint with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies. Hakanpaa played 15:36 in his first game against the Washington Capitals. He then followed up that performance with 12:34 of ice time against the Edmonton Oilers. Since then, Hakanpaa hasn’t played a game.
Finland Running Out of Defencemen
Not only will Team Finland have to compete without Hakanpaa, but earlier in the week they lost Miro Heiskanen. The Stars’ defenceman was injured in a collision with Mark Stone of the Vegas Golden Knights, forcing him to be out week-to-week, and ultimately the tournament. Finland doesn’t have many defencemen who are active in the NHL. Aside from the names selected for the tournament, they only have four others who have featured in the NHL this season. Those are Henri Jokiharju, Urho Vaakanainen, Ville Heinola, and Nikolas Matinpalo.
Jokiharu has the most experience of those blueliners, playing 383 career games in the NHL. This season with the Buffalo Sabres, he’s scored one goal and recorded three assists in 36 games.
Main Photo Credit: Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images
