MAPLE LEAFS REVEAL JERSEY NUMBERS OF FOUR FREE AGENT SIGNINGS
On Friday afternoon, the Toronto Maple Leafs quietly revealed on their website the numbers that their offseason additions will wear for the upcoming NHL season.
This list does not include Max Pacioretty and Steven Lorentz, as both are currently signed to a PTO, though their numbers from their last teams of #67 and #18, respectively, are available for use should both make the team.
Chris Tanev returns to his usual #8 that he has used for the majority of his career after briefly switching to #3 when he was traded to the Dallas Stars at the deadline. He will be the 39th player in franchise history to don #8 and the first to do so since Jake Muzzin who wore it for parts of five seasons. That could be either a good or bad omen depending on how things fare for Tanev health-wise.
Jani Hakanpaa will go with #28 after spending the past three seasons going with the #2 as a member of the Stars. The last time he wore his current number was during his early days in the NHL while a member of the Ducks for parts of two seasons. Considering the bizarre saga that transpired this summer before he finally signed this week, it will be nice to see the focus shift to what he can do on the ice.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson decided to go with #95, due to his usual #23 is being taken up by Matthew Knies and the #91 he wore last season with the Panthers currently belongs to John Tavares. As a result of this, he will become the first Leaf to wear #95 and simultaneously make every number in the 90s being worn at least once in franchise history.
The last notable offseason addition listed in the above tweet is Anthony Stolarz, who has decided to go with #41. He has worn the vast majority of his career, save for his lone season with the Oilers tenure (#32) and his first year with the Ducks (#31). He will be the first goalie in team history to wear this number and the ninth overall, the most recent player to do so being Dmytro Timashov.
Not mentioned in this above tweet are the numbers for three offseason signings the Leafs made on the same day. Dakota Mermis opted to use #36, Philippe Myers will wear #51, and Cedric Pare chose #56. Some other ones worth mentioning are Ben Danford who is listed on the website as #38, Jacob Quillan at #61, and Nicolas Mattinen at #54.
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2024-09-13T20:48:01Z dg43tfdfdgfd