The Toronto Maple Leafs announced a couple of lineup shuffles ahead of Wednesday night’s game against the Washington Capitals, and it features one Maple Leafs debut and one season debut. Defenceman Jani Hakanpaa will be slotting into the lineup in favour of Simon Benoit, and forward Alex Steeves will be in for Nick Robertson.
Hakanpaa, 28, was signed to a one-year contract by the Maple Leafs in September, months after the hulking defenceman was reported to have signed a two-year deal with the team. He hasn’t played a game since March of last season due to a knee injury, and a slow but steady recovery delayed the signing from becoming official. He will be skating alongside Morgan Rielly, who has had success with defence-first types in the past and will be a key player on the team’s penalty kill, which has already shown drastic improvement from last season.
Steeves’ debut may not have been as heavily anticipated as Hakanpaa’s, but he is worth keeping an eye on for other reasons. The 24-year-old was signed by the team before the 2021-22 season and has put together three solid AHL seasons in a row, but due to the excess amount of forwards the Maple Leafs have had year after year, he was limited to only three NHL games in 2021-22 and 2022-23 and only one last season.
This year has been no different for him to start the AHL season, with nine goals and 12 points in ten games to lead the team in both categories. The Maple Leafs’ depth scoring has been an issue in recent games, with Bobby McMann, Nick Robertson, Pontus Holmberg, David Kampf, and Ryan Reaves all bringing extremely limited offence. The Maple Leafs may have an excess of forwards on NHL contracts, but if he comes in and provides a spark to a bottom-six that desperately needs it, it may not be as easy to send him back as it has in the past.
The Maple Leafs will take on the Capitals before a couple of days off before hosting the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday.
