Stars sign Jani Hakanpaa to three-year, $4.5M contract

July 29, 2021 - 2:25pm

Carolina Hurricanes defenceman Jani Hakanpaa (58). (Gerry Broome/AP)

The Dallas Stars added some toughness to their lineup with the addition of depth defenceman Jani Hakanpää.

Hakanpää, 29, agreed to a three-year, $4.5 million contract with the Stars in free agency.

Hawk, yeah! Welcome to #TexasHockey, Jani Hakanpaa.

We have signed Jani Hakanpaa to a 3-year contract through the 2023-24 season.

https://t.co/7V6CTbRqFi pic.twitter.com/WRFzhq9zYL

— Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) July 29, 2021

Last season in 57 regular season games split between the Ducks and Hurricanes, where he had four points and 215 hits, which was the third-most in the NHL.

“Jani is a big, physical defenceman that sees the ice well and skates at a high level for a man of his size,” general manager Jim Nill said in a statement. “He is a reliable penalty killer and will help balance out our backend.”