The Toronto Maple Leafs were primed to make some sort of moves as a couple of players are ready to come off long-term injured reserve. Toronto Maple Leafs forward Connor Dewar and defenseman Jani Hakanpaa are nearing a return to the NHL. The Maple Leafs loaned the two players to the Toronto Marlies on Friday morning for a conditioning stint in the AHL. Dewar is recovering from offseason shoulder surgery while Hakanpaa is healing from his arthroscopic knee surgery in the spring. Each player must consent to the conditioning loan. Dewar and Hakanpaa can remain with the Marlies for up to six days and three games. In some cases, the conditioning loan can be extended as well. Reports earlier this week suggested this could be the case with Dewar and Hakanpaa specifically. The 6-foot-7 defenseman said on Wednesday that he's excited to finally get back to playing hockey games after being on the sidelines for so long. "I'll get out there and I'll just play the game, right," said Hakanpaa. "Off the ice, there are things we've got to stay on top of it. So, I think it's more just outside of the ice where you've just got to be smart about it." When the two players are set to be activated from long-term injured reserve, the Maple Leafs will need to clear two roster spots since they're at the 23-man roster limit. On Thursday's Insider Trading, TSN's Darren Dreger reported that Toronto could waive a player or potentially flip Matt Benning, who they acquired in a trade for Timothy Liljegren, to make room. Hakanpaa signed a one-year, $1.47 million contract on Sept. 11 after a summer filled with question marks about whether he'd play with the Maple Leafs after reportedly agreeing to a deal earlier in the summer. The 32-year-old defenseman played 64 games with the Dallas Stars last season, scoring two goals and 10 assists while averaging 18:39 of ice time. Dewar signed a one-year, $1.18 million deal with the Maple Leafs in July, avoiding arbitration. Toronto acquired Dewar from Minnesota in March for a 2026 fourth-round pick and prospect Dmitry Ovchinnikov. He scored one goal and four assists in 17 games with the Maple Leafs last season.
