Maple Leafs Defenseman Drops Out of Four Nations Faceoff
Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Jani Hakanpaa has removed himself from Team Finland's roster for the Four Nations tournament.
The Four Nations tournament is just a couple of weeks away now and most NHL teams only have a few games left on the schedule before the break.
That includes the Toronto Maple Leafs, who play four games this month before the break including tonight against the Edmonton Oilers.
The team will be without one of their top-six defensemen for tonight's contest and for the foreseeable future in Jani Hakanpaa.
Hakanpaa, 32, underwent Knee surgery last March and had another procedure done in December.
The veteran blueliner has been rehabbing the injury since then but still does not appear to be close to returning to the lineup.
Today the team officially announced that he will not be participating in the Four Nations tournament.
Hakanpaa had previously been selected for team Finland despite his ongoing injury problems this year.
He has played just two games for the Leafs this season, most recently on November 16th.
Leafs head coach Craig Berube spoke about him recently, saying that he does not have a timeline for his potential return.
The Four Nations tournament begins on February 12th and will go through the 20th.
The Leafs first game back from the break will be on the 22nd, so that would seem like the earliest possible return date for Hakanpaa.
How likely he is to be ready by then remains a mystery.
The 32-year-old has appeared in 290 career NHL games recording 15 goals and 45 points in the process. He has zero points in 2 games with the Leafs this season.
| POLL | ||
2 HOURS AGO | 2 ANSWERS Maple Leafs Defenseman Drops Out of Four Nations Faceoff Who do you think should replace Jani Hakanpaa for Team Finland at the Four Nations tournament? | ||
| G | A | PTS | ||
| David Pastrnak | 3 | 1 | 4 | |
| Sam Reinhart | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| J.T. Miller | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Carter Verhaeghe | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Pavel Zacha | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Aleksander Barkov | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Brad Marchand | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Matthew Poitras | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Jonny Brodzinski | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Charlie Coyle | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jonah Gadjovich | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Charlie McAvoy | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Evan Rodrigues | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Landon Slaggert | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Matthew Tkachuk | 1 | - | 1 | |
| William Borgen | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Brandon Carlo | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Ryan Donato | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Aaron Ekblad | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Morgan Geekie | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 53 | 36 | 14 | 3 | 75 | |
Capitals | 51 | 34 | 11 | 6 | 74 | |
Oilers | 51 | 32 | 15 | 4 | 68 | |
Hurricanes | 52 | 32 | 16 | 4 | 68 | |
Golden Knights | 52 | 31 | 15 | 6 | 68 | |
Stars | 51 | 33 | 17 | 1 | 67 | |
Wild | 52 | 31 | 17 | 4 | 66 | |
Devils | 53 | 29 | 18 | 6 | 64 | |
Panthers | 52 | 30 | 19 | 3 | 63 | |
Maple Leafs | 51 | 30 | 19 | 2 | 62 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||