Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving Openly Admits to Big Mistake During Free Agency in 2024

Brad Treliving had himself quite the year when it came to acquisitions for the Toronto Maple Leafs after bringing Chris Tanev, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, and Anthony Stolarz into the fold during last year's free agent frenzy. He then added Brandon Carlo and Scott Laughton at the trade deadline to address glaring holes.

However, there was one move in particular that went sideways -- so much so, that even the seasoned general manager openly admitted it was a mistake.

During Treliving's press conference on Thursday, he addressed how they swung for the fences on Jani Hakanpaa despite the risks involved.

On paper, the 33-year-old defenseman was everything the Maple Leafs wanted on their back-end. He stood 6'7" and weighed in at 225 pounds, he was coming off a season with 196 hits and 123 blocked shots in 64 games for Dallas, and he averaged 19:02 TOI over his previous 2 seasons.

Unfortunately, a knee injury kept him on the sidelines for all but 2 games this season after making his debut on the 13th of November against Washington. Hakanpaa had suffered the injury the year prior that kept him out of 18 games and the Stars' subsequent playoff run.

He attempted a comeback several times this year, but never felt good enough to return, leaving the Leafs relatively shorthanded on the back-end. Fortunately for them, they got strong performances from Simon Benoit and Philippe Myers before swinging for Brandon Carlo at the deadline.

Hakanpaa made an appearance at practice near the end of the regular season and discussed the trials and tribulations he went through during the 2024-25 season.

Hakanpaa is expected to enter free agency this summer hoping to latch onto a new team. However, his health is of the utmost importance.

Treliving admitting to the mistake is important and should have him thinking twice on future signings and the due diligence that goes behind acquiring a player with a history of injuries.