Craig Berube sheds light on the status of Jani Hakanpaa.

There have been a great many question marks surrounding the status of Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Jani Hakanpaa, questions that started before training camp even got underway, but it sounds like we are getting closer and closer to some concrete answers on this topic.

On Saturday, Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube was made available to the media following the team's morning skate and it was during that media availability that he faced questions regarding Hakanpa's status. Although Berube did not directly confirm Hakanpa's status one way or another, he did speak very positively of the big defenseman.

"Yeah we're hoping," said Berube when asked if Hakanpa would be a part of one of the groups this week. "He's done really well. There was a process when he got here and I think the process has been going well. Hopefully we've got him in our group to start here this week."

That is a very positive update from Berube when you consider the fact that there were genuine concerns about whether or not Hakanpa would be able to continue his career in the National Hockey League following a serious knee injury. Not only does it sound like Berube expects him to be on the Maple Leafs roster, but it sounds like he is likely to be working out with the team before the season gets under way.

At 6'7 Hakanpa is a towering presence on the blue line when healthy. The Finnish defenseman is coming off of a 64 game season with the Dallas Stars, one that saw him record 2 goals and add 10 assists for a total of 12 points on the season. Hakanpa finished the season with a plus minus rating of +10 over that stretch.