Jani Hakanpaa continuing to work towards return to Maple Leafs despite lingering knee issue

Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Jani Hakanpaa is having a rough time trying to push past his lingering knee injury and return to the lineup.

Hakanpaa has been forced to work on his schedule separately from the rest of the team in an attempt to rehab his knee back to full strength, appearing in two games this season. There are times he is at practice skating on the extra pair, while on other days he is absent from the rink.

Hakanpaa joined the Leafs on the road in November when they faced the Washington Capitals, but he has primarily remained at home when the team leaves town. There have been no indications from Craig Berube or Brad Treliving on when the towering blueliner could be back in the mix which leaves one to wonder if Hakanpaa’s season could be in jeopardy.

“I really thought I could come in, give it a little time to get up to speed, and then start playing,” Hakanpaa said to The Athletic’s Jonas Siegel. “I knew (I) would have to manage it throughout the year. But obviously in my head, by now I would’ve been playing for many, many games already. It just wasn’t meant to be this year. But there’s still a lot of time and we’re all hopeful of still having a lot of hockey games left.”

Hakanpaa told reporters back when he was doing a conditioning stint with the Toronto Marlies that all parties would need to stay on top of keeping an eye on his knee all season long. At the time he said that he presumed that he would have been well integrated into the fold by now and perhaps part of the rotation for conditioning purposes. And while there was some clear rust in the two games he played, it was expected that he would slowly work his way back up to game speed and the offseason saga would be just a memory.

He explained that the troubles began last season while with the Dallas Stars, which at first was manageable enough for him to play. But around March, things started aching up in ways Hakanpaa had never experienced before to the point he had to step away and deal with the issues.

“It was feeling really good almost the whole year and then it just flared up pretty bad. I think we all kinda got blindsided by it a little bit. Because I felt we were doing a really good job of managing it,” he said. “I was feeling pretty good. And then, just within a few weeks, it kinda went downhill pretty quick. And then we figured we’d just give it a little time and then work our way back and then it just didn’t happen as fast as we thought it would. We tried to find different ways to get back.”

As a result, he was ruled out for the rest of the season and subsequently had to undergo surgery to repair his degenerative knee that was said to be ‘bone-on-bone’. It resulted in uncertainty about his career continuing though the Leafs medical staff gave management the green light to sign him which did not become official until months after free agency opened.

Since undergoing what Berube described as a ‘little procedure’ on his knee in December, things have hit a snag for Hakanpaa in terms of his recovery. Not because he is not skating because he has been around for practices in recent weeks, but the fact that he still has not been able to get back into the lineup.

Hakanpaa missed the 4 Nations Face-Off, after being initially named to Finland’s roster, despite working so hard to get a chance to represent his country for the first time since 2019. And Hakanpaa has missed out on the chances to bond with his teammates on the road, which is one of the things he has missed most throughout this season.

While going through an experience like this one is sure to crush someone’s spirit, Hakanpaa is not deterred by the major obstacle that continues to be a thorn in his side. He continues to work on getting to a place where he feels comfortable on the ice without the pain in his knee getting in the way. He has support at home from his daughter who has helped bring calmness during an uncertain time in his career. Hakanpaa even adjusted his goals of aiming to be a factor on Team Finland for the 2026 Winter Olympics.

“Even now just going through it, obviously it’s not the way I wanted it to go, but at the same time, you appreciate it still,” he said. “You’re doing your best and then you hope things fall in place and then you just gotta trust it. I think that’s really been a big thing too, to just learn to trust the universe to guide you.”