Jani Hakanpää Explained

Jani Hakanpää
Birth Date:31 March 1992
Birth Place:Kirkkonummi, Finland
Height Ft:6
Height In:11
Weight Lb:285
Position:Defence
Shoots:Right
League:NHL
Team:Toronto Maple Leafs
Former Teams:Oulun Kärpät
Anaheim Ducks
Carolina Hurricanes
Dallas Stars
Ntl Team:FIN
Draft:104th overall
Draft Year:2010
Draft Team:St. Louis Blues
Career Start:2011

Jani Hakanpää (born 31 March 1992) is a Finnish professional ice hockey defenceman for the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League (NHL). Hakanpää was selected by the St. Louis Blues in the fourth round (104th overall) of the 2010 NHL entry draft.[1]

Playing career

Hakanpää played in his native Finland for the Espoo Blues of the SM-liiga during the 2011–12 and 2012–13 seasons.

On 22 May 2012, Hakanpää was signed to a three-year, entry-level contract with draft club, the St. Louis Blues, who had drafted him 104th overall in the 2010 NHL entry draft.[2]

After attending the Blues training camp, Hakanpää was returned to the Espoo Blues on loan to begin the 2012–13 season.[3] He contributed with 5 points through 34 games on the blueline in Finland before returning to North America to play out the 2012–13 season with the St. Louis Blues' AHL affiliate, the Peoria Rivermen. He registered one goal and three assists in fourteen games.[4]

At the completion of his entry-level deal with the Blues, Hakanpää opted to return to Finland signing a two-year contract with the Liiga club Oulun Kärpät on 2 July 2015.[5]

In the 2017–18 season, Hakanpää helped Oulun Kärpät claim the Kanada-malja as Finnish champions, enjoying a career season where he posted 6 goals and 24 points in 58 games. He continued to show a developing two-way game with 7 points in 16 playoff appearances.

Hakanpää led Liiga defensemen in Plus–minus in back-to-back seasons and tied for second among league defensemen with a career best 11 goals while compiling 23 points in 52 games for league leading Kärpät in the 2018–19 season. He featured in 17 playoff contests, registering 4 points as Oulun Kärpät failed to defend the Championship in the finals against HPK.On 3 July 2019, Hakanpää returned to North America, signing as a free agent to a one-year, $850,000 contract with the Anaheim Ducks.[6]

In his first full season in the NHL, during the pandemic-delayed 2020–21 season, Hakanpää recorded one assist in 42 regular season games, while leading the Ducks and placing third in the league in hits. On 12 April 2021, Hakanpää, and a sixth-round pick in the 2022 NHL entry draft, was traded to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for Haydn Fleury.[7]

On 29 July, Hakanpää signed a three-year, $4.5 million contract with the Dallas Stars.[8] In the 2021–22 season, Hakanpää had his first multi-point game, and recorded four goals and eight assists for a 12-point season.[9]

As a free agent following completion of his three year tenure with the Stars, Hakanpää was reported to have signed a two-year, $3 million contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs on 2 July 2024.[10] Although the Maple Leafs later acknowledged the addition to the roster, Hakanpää's agreement was delayed and revealed to be never formally signed due to ongoing knee injury concerns.[11] The club officially signed him to a 1-year contract on 11 September.[12]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Team League GP GP G A Pts PIM
2010–11Espoo BluesJr. A36 3 20 23 6112 3 2 5 10
2011–12Espoo BluesJr. A5 0 4 4 0
2011–12Espoo BluesSM-l41 5 7 12 30
2012–13Espoo BluesSM-l34 2 3 5 34
2012–13Peoria RivermenAHL14 1 3 4 6
2013–14Chicago WolvesAHL54 4 4 8 333 0 1 1 0
2014–15Chicago WolvesAHL64 1 7 8 474 0 1 1 6
2014–15Quad City MallardsECHL2 1 0 1 0
2015–16Oulun KärpätLiiga60 1 11 12 4014 1 5 6 8
2016–17Oulun KärpätLiiga53 0 5 5 612 0 1 1 2
2017–18Oulun KärpätLiiga58 6 18 24 4416 3 4 7 18
2018–19Oulun KärpätLiiga52 11 12 23 9417 1 3 4 6
2019–20San Diego GullsAHL47 1 12 13 24
2019–20Anaheim DucksNHL5 1 0 1 2
2020–21Anaheim DucksNHL42 0 1 1 31
2020–21Carolina HurricanesNHL15 2 1 3 411 0 0 0 4
2021–22Dallas StarsNHL80 4 8 12 437 0 2 2 4
2022–23Dallas StarsNHL82 6 10 16 6015 1 1 2 16
2023–24Dallas StarsNHL64 2 10 12 33
Liiga totals298 25 56 81 30349 5 13 18 34
NHL totals288 15 30 45 17333 1 3 4 24

International

YearTeamEventResultGP G A Pts PIM
2010FinlandU186 1 1 2 6
2012FinlandWJC4th7 1 2 3 6
2019FinlandWC10 1 1 2 4
Junior totals 13 2 3 5 12
Senior totals 10 1 1 2 4

Awards & honors

AwardYear
Liiga
Best P Plus–minus2018, 2019
Kanada-malja champion2018

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Palomäki . Ilkka . Näkökulma: Suomen NHL-taivaalla musta aukko . Yle Urheilu . 28 November 2022 . fi-FI . 26 October 2011.
  2. Web site: Blues sign 2010 draft pick Jani Hakanpaa . . 22 May 2012 . 22 May 2012.
  3. Web site: Blues assign 25 players to Peoria . . 15 September 2012 . 15 September 2012.
  4. Web site: Blues Recall Hakanpaa from Peoria . . 23 April 2013 . 23 April 2013.
  5. Web site: Aittokallio ja Hakanpää täydentävät Kärppien ensi kauden kokoonpanoa . Aittokallio and Hakanpää will complete the line-up of Karpat . . 2 July 2015 . 2 July 2015 . Finnish . https://web.archive.org/web/20150703212817/http://www.oulunkarpat.fi/fi/uutiset/artikkeli/aittokallio-ja-hakanpaa-taydentavat-karppien-ensi-kauden-kokoonpanoa.html . 3 July 2015 . dead.
  6. Web site: Ducks sign Stolarz, Hakanpaa to contracts . . 3 July 2019 . 3 July 2019.
  7. Web site: Canes Acquire Hakanpaa From Ducks . . 12 April 2021 . 12 April 2021.
  8. Web site: Stars sign F Raffl, D Hakanpaa to contracts . . 29 July 2021 . 29 July 2021.
  9. Web site: Now settled in Dallas, Jani Hakanpaa is hitting his stride . NHL.com . 5 December 2021 . 19 October 2022.
  10. Web site: Maple Leafs sign D Jani Hakanpaa . . 2 July 2024 . 2 July 2024 .
  11. Web site: Injury concerns continue to hold up Jani Hakanpaa signing . . 2 July 2024 . 2 July 2024 .
  12. Web site: Maple Leafs Sign Defenceman Jani Hakanpää. NHL.com. 11 September 2024. 13 September 2024.