Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Jani Hakanpaa recently got a minor procedure on his knee, according to head coach Craig Berube.
During a scheduled off-day for the team as they rest in anticipation of a back-to-back this weekend, the bench boss spoke with reporters to provide a state of the union. One of the questions brought up was on the towering blueliner who is currently unavailable but was able to crack Finland’s roster at the 4 Nations Face-Off.
Berube said this procedure should allow Hakanpaa, who has not played since November 16th against the Edmonton Oilers, to hopefully be back in action soon once he is on the other side of the recovery process.
“He got something done, a little procedure done, like, to help himself out a little bit,” he said via the Toronto Sun’s Terry Koshan. “He just needs a few days and then he’ll be back on the ice and get up to speed again and be ready to go.”
As with anything the Leafs say regarding a player’s health, it remains to be seen when exactly that return will be. After all, Berube said part of the reason why Hakanpaa was not in the lineup after factoring in for two games was because he liked the makeup of the third pair, only for the team to later retroactively place him on IR due to him managing his knee.
In fairness, this was always going to be the case for Hakanpaa, given the severity of the injury that his knee endured, especially because it nearly threatened to prematurely end his career. He said as such when he was in the middle of his conditioning stint with the Toronto Marlies.
“It’s probably something we’ve got to keep managing throughout the year,” he said regarding his knee on November 5th. “We found a good routine in how to deal with it. We learned a lot even the time, but obviously through the whole rehab process, even just being here, we’ve been loading it more and more each week, each day. It’s something we’re just gonna keep managing, doing the right things, and stay on top of it.”
Regardless of how much longer it takes before he is back in the mix, it is good to see that he is continuing to make strides in his recovery and is getting one step closer to putting this major setback behind him. Hakanpaa brings a lot to the table on the defensive end and on the penalty kill, which was one of the reasons why the Leafs went through all the trouble to bring him on board despite the hurdles at play.
Because his IR was retroactive to November 16th, Hakanpaa is eligible to be cleared at any time and therefore propel the Leafs to clear a roster spot for him. It is really up to him and the medical staff to make the final call on when he can return to the fold, so we shall see how things play out in the coming week.
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