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The Toronto Maple Leafs focused their attention on the blueline on July 1, signing veteran free agents Chris Tanev and Oliver Ekman-Larsson to multi-year contracts, and it appeared that they added some size and depth in the form of Jani Hakanpaa.
The 32-year-old Finn reportedly agreed to a two-year, $3 million deal ($1.5 million AAV), which appeared to be an excellent value for the 6’7” blueliner who played the last three seasons in Dallas as a bottom-pairing defenseman and penalty-killer, but there may be some complications with the signing, as the club has not officially announced it more than 48 hours after it was initially reported.
Hakanpaa missed the last month of the regular season and all of the playoffs with a knee injury, and Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun reports that the injury may be the crux of the situation. Sources said that the knee problem was bone-on-bone and they would be surprised if the defenseman would ever play again, but the Leafs indicated that he had been medically cleared before being signed.
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Until the signing is officially announced, it has to be considered a possibility that the deal agreed to could be voided. If the knee issue is still present and the Leafs go through with the deal, Hakanpaa could end up on LTIR until he is healthy enough to play, but Toronto is already over the $88 million salary cap three days into the offseason with other areas of need yet to be addressed.
Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • 
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