Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Jani Hakanpaa ruled out of 4 Nations with injury

Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Jani Hakanpaa will not participate in the upcoming 4 Nations Face-Off for Finland due to injury. 

Hakanpaa has skated in just two games for the Maple Leafs this season due to knee issues and has not played since mid-November. 

The 32-year-old averaged 14:05 minutes of ice time and had two shots on goal, four blocked shots and one hit during those two contests. 

In early December, Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube said that Hakanpaa had a “little procedure” done on his knee. Hakanpaa had undergone season-ending knee surgery last March as a member of the Dallas Stars. 

More woes on blueline for Finland

Finland will need to add two replacements to its roster with Stars defenceman Miro Heiskanen, who was injured on Tuesday night against the Vegas Golden Knights, also ruled out as he is week to week with a lower-body injury. 

TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun wrote in The Athletic on Friday that while Heiskanen is off to see a specialist in New York on Monday for his lower-body injury, Stars general manager Jim Nill told LeBrun the team feels there’s a good chance the defenceman returns before the start of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

“We’re pretty optimistic,” Nill said Friday. “He had an MRI done, he saw our team doctor, he’s going to go see a specialist in New York on Monday. And we’ll get a better feel for things.”