Maple Leafs Defenseman Drops Out of Four Nations Faceoff

PUBLICATION

Graham Montgomery
February 1, 2025  (4:00 PM)

SHARE THIS STORY

Photo credit: NHL

Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Jani Hakanpaa has removed himself from Team Finland's roster for the Four Nations tournament.

The Four Nations tournament is just a couple of weeks away now and most NHL teams only have a few games left on the schedule before the break.

That includes the Toronto Maple Leafs, who play four games this month before the break including tonight against the Edmonton Oilers.

The team will be without one of their top-six defensemen for tonight's contest and for the foreseeable future in Jani Hakanpaa.

Hakanpaa, 32, underwent Knee surgery last March and had another procedure done in December.

The veteran blueliner has been rehabbing the injury since then but still does not appear to be close to returning to the lineup.

Today the team officially announced that he will not be participating in the Four Nations tournament.

Hakanpaa had previously been selected for team Finland despite his ongoing injury problems this year.

He has played just two games for the Leafs this season, most recently on November 16th.

Leafs head coach Craig Berube spoke about him recently, saying that he does not have a timeline for his potential return.

The Four Nations tournament begins on February 12th and will go through the 20th.

The Leafs first game back from the break will be on the 22nd, so that would seem like the earliest possible return date for Hakanpaa.

How likely he is to be ready by then remains a mystery.

The 32-year-old has appeared in 290 career NHL games recording 15 goals and 45 points in the process. He has zero points in 2 games with the Leafs this season.

Warning: include(/home//inout/pub_inline.php): failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /home/marqueur/public_html/news/auto/blogs_id/471512.php on line 37

Warning: include(): Failed opening '/home//inout/pub_inline.php' for inclusion (include_path='.:/opt/cpanel/ea-php74/root/usr/share/pear') in /home/marqueur/public_html/news/auto/blogs_id/471512.php on line 37

Previously

Vancouver Canucks Place Player on Waivers After Making Two Trades Last Night

San Jose Sharks Trade Star Center Mikael Granlund

Elias Pettersson Comments on the JT Miller Trade After Months of Controversy

POLL
FÉVRIER 1   |   104 ANSWERS Maple Leafs Defenseman Drops Out of Four Nations Faceoff Who do you think should replace Jani Hakanpaa for Team Finland at the Four Nations tournament?
Ville Heinola	32	30.8 %
Urho Vaakanainen	50	48.1 %
Nikolas Matinpalo	22	21.2 %
LIST OF POLLS

MUST READ

Feb 28  |  By Tom Banks Vancouver Canucks' Contract Offer to Brock Boeser Leaks Publicly

Feb 28  |  By Tom Banks Montreal Canadiens Star Undergoes Season-Ending Knee Surgery

Feb 28  |  By Daniel Lucente Philadelphia Flyers Officially Looking to Trade Former 39-Goal Scorer

Feb 28  |  By Daniel Lucente Evander Kane May Be in His Final Days in Edmonton After Friedman Reveals New Information

Feb 28  |  By Mike Whitaker Maple Leafs Forward Pulls Back Trade Request

Feb 27  |  By Mike Whitaker Brad Marchand Goes Viral for Passionate Video Ahead of Four Nations Faceoff Final

Feb 27  |  By Mike Whitaker David Pastrnak's Latest Comments Suggest Bruins Will Be Big Sellers at the Deadline

Feb 27  |  By Julien Trekker 6-Foot-6 Winger Linked to the New York Rangers at the Trade Deadline

MORE STORIES