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The Toronto Maple Leafs confirmed on Wednesday what was being widely reported this week, announcing that they will bring in veteran winger Max Pacioretty on a professional tryout contract. The fact left up in the air is whether the PTO is the preamble to a one-year contract and simply a mechanism to avoid a cap crunch as many were indicating or that there are no guarantees in place as TSN’s Darren Dreger indicated on 1050’s Overdrive.
The other move which had been in limbo since early July involved defenseman Jani Hakanpaa, who had reportedly signed a two-year free agent deal with the Leafs, but doubts began to surface after rumors of chronic knee problems and when the deal had not been registered with the NHL.
The club finally put the mystery to rest, announcing Hakanpää had signed a one-year, $1.470 million contract, which was slightly more than the $1.25 million AAV he had agreed to in July. The 32-year-old had 12 points (2 goals, 10 assists) in 64 games with the Dallas Stars during the 2023-24 season and adds size and an effective penalty killer to the Leafs defensive corps.
The question now before GM Brad Treliving is what move will be made to clear cap space before the final roster is announced in early October. With the addition of Hakanpaa, the Leafs have eight NHL defenseman on one-way deals, which could mean that they will be looking to move out blueliner Conor Timmins (making slightly less than Hakanpaa at $1.1 million this season) or possibly Timothy Liljegren’s $3 million cap hit after the club signed the 24-year-old to a two-year extension this summer.
Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • 
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