6'5“ defenceman Jani Hakanpaa signs with a different NHL team than the one that drafted him!

One National Hockey League organization who's season is already over has apparently been pretty busy. 

In a very interesting report from Finnish publication Hameen Sanomat earlier this morning we learned that 27 year old Finnish defenseman Jani Hakanpaa would finally be making his way over to the National Hockey League for the upcoming 2019 -2020 NHL regular season. It marked the end of a long journey for Jani Hakanpaa who was drafted all the way back at the 2010 National Hockey League Entry Draft, but who has as of yet never played a a single game for an NHL team. 

Hakanpaa was selected in the 4th round of that draft by none other than the ST. Louis Blues organization and although he would come over to North America and spend some time in the American Hockey League with the Peoria Rivermen and the Chicago Wolves, he never did manage to crack an NHL roster. Naturally you would expect that given his history in the draft and in North America that the Blues would be the first team to get a crack at Hakanpaa, but that does not appear to have been the case this time around. 

Unquestionably the most interesting detail of today's report is the revelation that Hakanpaa will in fact not be signing on as a member of the St. Louis Blues organization but will instead be joining the Anaheim Ducks organization. It is unclear at this time how the Ducks intend to use Hakanpaa moving forward, but given how badly the team struggled down the stretch this season I would be shocked if he did not get at least a shot at cracking the main roster next season. It is unclear if the Blues were still interested in bringing him to North America now nearly 9 years after he was first drafted, but it may be that he never felt that he was given a proper opportunity by the Blues during his first stint in North America. 

The 6'5 Hakanpaa is well respected because of his powerful physical play on the ice as well as his defense first approach to playing on the blue line. An important piece for what will likely be a Ducks team looking to significantly retool their current roster over the summer.