With Hakanpaa, Dewar returning from injuries soon, Maple Leafs will have some roster decisions to make
The Toronto Maple Leafs are starting to get healthier and GM Brad Treliving is going to have some tough decisions to make in the coming days.
On Friday, the Leafs sent defenseman Jani Hakanpaa and forward Connor Dewar to the AHL’s Toronto Marlies for a conditioning stint. Both players are working their back to the lineup after starting the season on LTIR.
The towering 6-foot-7 Hakanpaa signed with the Maple Leafs this past offseason for $1.47 million, and after some back and forth with the organization on clarifying medical records, the veteran blueliner is getting close to game shape, and certainly will be in the mix for head coach Craig Berube. Hakanpaa plays a no-nonsense game, is an effective penalty killer, and a big-body who loves to lean on people.
As for Dewar, the versatile depth forward also plays an in-your-face style, which could appeal to Berube. Dewar’s signed for $1.18 million this season and is a pending restricted free agent. He’ll be in tough to become a regular up front for the Maple Leafs, but could leverage his defensive-first approach and aggressiveness to get into Berube’s good books.
On Friday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Tyler Yaremchuk and Frank Seravalli discussed the tough decisions that await Treliving and just how this Maple Leafs’ roster could shake up in the coming days.
Yaremchuk: Free-agent signing Jani Hakanpaa for the Leafs hasn’t played yet this season, Frank, but is reportedly close to making his season debut. That is going to create a roster crunch in Toronto, how are they going to wiggle their way through this?
Seravalli: Yeah, that remains to be seen because Hakanpaa and Connor Dewar both sent to the AHL’s Toronto Marlies today on LTIR conditioning loans. The rules for that are a little bit different because you get six days or three games maximum before you essentially have to be activated and put on the roster.
The Leafs want to see how Hakanpaa gets through that. They’re excited to add a guy who’s a true defender in every sense of the word to their lineup. But, if you look at their lineup, they were able clear the cap space required to activate him by virtue of Timothy Liljegren trade, which is also why that also happened then, because they had the Sharks on the line and interested and wanted to complete that deal.
So, they got the cap space but they don’t have the roster space. They are chalk-full at 23 players, the maximum right now. So, when you look at their roster and you realize that the only player who is waiver exempt in that group is Matthew Knies, and he ain’t going anywhere, that means the Leafs either need to waive players to make room for both, or they need to make a trade.
I’ve said it before, Leafs fan can continue to hate, or whatever it might be, Nick Robertson was a healthy scratch this week and remains a candidate to be moved if the Leafs can find the right value in return for him. He’s been unable to be elevated in that Leafs lineup for any sustained period of time. Look for a trade, or waivers, or something. Keep an eye on the Leafs, the other shoe has to drop on these guys if they are healthy on the other end of this conditioning stint.
For more on the Maple Leafs roster, and all the latest buzz from across the NHL, watch the full episode here.