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Urho Vaakanainen

Urho Vaakanainen
Vaakanainen with the Boston Bruins in 2017
Born (1999-01-01) 1 January 1999 (age 25)
Joensuu, Finland
Height 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight 185 lb (84 kg; 13 st 3 lb)
Position Defence
Shoots Left
NHL team
Former teams		 Anaheim Ducks
Espoo Blues
JYP Jyväskylä
SaiPa
Boston Bruins
NHL draft 18th overall, 2017
Boston Bruins
Playing career 2015–present

Urho Vaakanainen (born 1 January 1999) is a Finnish professional ice hockey defenceman for the Anaheim Ducks of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected 18th overall by the Bruins in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft.

Playing career

Vaakanainen played as a youth in his native Finland with the Espoo Blues. He made his professional debut with the Espoo Blues in the Liiga during the 2015–16 season, contributing with 6 points in 25 games. On 28 April 2016, Vaakanainen signed a one-year deal with hometown club, JYP Jyväskylä.[1]

Vaakanainen earned a regular role within the JYP Jyväskylä blueline in the 2016–17 season, appearing in a career high 41 games, in matching his offensive output with 6 points. He registered 3 assists in 14 post-season games before losing in 7 games in the semi-finals to KalPa.[2] On 5 May 2017, Vaakanainen left JYP Jyväskylä after just one season and signed a one-year contract with his third Liiga club, SaiPa.[3] Vaakanainen's progress was recognised as he was drafted in the first-round, 18th overall by the Boston Bruins in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft.[4]

On 13 June 2018, Vaakanainen signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Bruins.[5] On 20 October, Vaakanainen was called up for the first time from the AHL's Providence Bruins farm team[6] and he made his NHL debut that night in a 2–1 loss to the Vancouver Canucks.[7]

On 19 March 2022, Vaakanainen was involved in a trade by the Bruins that sent him along with John Moore and multiple draft selections to the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for Hampus Lindholm and Kodie Curran.[8] He played the season out on the Ducks blueline, registering 2 assists through 14 games.

On 23 July 2022, Vaakanainen as a restricted free agent was re-signed by the Ducks to a two-year, $1.7 million contract extension.[9] During pre-season for the 2022–23 season, Vaakanainen was hospitalised after he crashed into the end boards against the San Jose Sharks on September 30, 2022.[10] Missing the first 22 games of the season, Vaakanainen returned to the Ducks after a one-game conditioning stint with AHL affiliate, the San Diego Gulls. He made just 23 appearances with the Ducks, posting 2 assists, before suffering a season ending injury on January 28, 2023. He was later announced to have had surgery on a torn labrum in his hip on March 4, 2023, with an expected recovery time of 6 months.[11]

International play

Medal record
Representing  Finland
Ice hockey
World Junior Championships
Gold medal – first place 2019 Canada
IIHF U18 Championships
Gold medal – first place 2016 United States
Silver medal – second place 2017 Slovakia

Vaakanainen represented the Finnish under-18 national team in the 2016 IIHF World U18 Championships with whom he won gold medals and then finished in second place in 2017 IIHF World U18 Championships. He then played for the Finnish under-20 national team in 2017 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships and 2018 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships where they finished ninth and sixth respectively. Vaakanainen would finally win gold in the 2019 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, his third time in the tournament as Team Finland was victorious against Team USA in the gold medal round.[12]

Personal life

Vaakanainen was born in Joensuu. His father Harri Vaakanainen played ice hockey in the Finnish 2. Divisioona, which is the fourth highest level in Finland.[13]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2014–15 Espoo Blues Jr. A 30 4 8 12 34 9 2 0 2 0
2015–16 Espoo Blues Jr. A 18 2 11 13 8 2 0 0 0 2
2015–16 Espoo Blues Liiga 25 1 5 6 8 — — — — —
2016–17 JYP Jyväskylä Jr. A 1 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
2016–17 JYP Jyväskylä Liiga 41 2 4 6 12 14 0 3 3 2
2016–17 JYP-Akatemia Mestis 3 0 1 1 29 — — — — —
2017–18 SaiPa Liiga 43 4 7 11 24 9 0 1 1 0
2018–19 Providence Bruins AHL 30 4 10 14 10 4 0 0 0 2
2018–19 Boston Bruins NHL 2 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
2019–20 Providence Bruins AHL 54 5 9 14 18 — — — — —
2019–20 Boston Bruins NHL 5 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
2020–21 SaiPa Liiga 2 1 0 1 2 — — — — —
2020–21 Boston Bruins NHL 9 0 2 2 2 — — — — —
2020–21 Providence Bruins AHL 11 1 2 3 6 — — — — —
2021–22 Providence Bruins AHL 23 1 7 8 20 — — — — —
2021–22 Boston Bruins NHL 15 0 4 4 4 — — — — —
2021–22 Anaheim Ducks NHL 14 0 2 2 6 — — — — —
2022–23 San Diego Gulls AHL 1 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
2022–23 Anaheim Ducks NHL 23 0 2 2 0 — — — — —
2023–24 Anaheim Ducks NHL 68 1 13 14 26 — — — — —
Liiga totals 111 8 16 24 46 23 0 4 4 2
NHL totals 136 1 23 24 38 — — — — —

International

Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
2014 Finland U17 4th 6 0 1 1 2
2015 Finland U17 5th 5 0 0 0 6
2016 Finland U18 1st place, gold medalist(s) 7 1 2 3 6
2016 Finland IH18 6th 4 0 1 1 2
2017 Finland U18 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 5 3 3 6 2
2017 Finland WJC 9th 6 1 0 1 4
2018 Finland WJC 6th 5 0 1 1 2
2019 Finland WJC 1st place, gold medalist(s) 7 0 4 4 6
Junior totals 45 5 12 17 30

References

  1. ^ "JYP recruit hometown prospect Vaakanainen" (in Finnish). JYP Jyväskylä. 28 April 2016. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  2. ^ "Tilastot – #13 Vaakanainen, Urho". Liiga. 16 May 2014. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
  3. ^ "Urho Vaakanainen to SaiPa" (in Finnish). SaiPa. 5 May 2017. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
  4. ^ "Bruins select Urho Vaakanainen with 18th overall pick". NESN. 23 June 2017. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  5. ^ "Bruins Sign Urho Vaakanainen To 3-Year Entry-Level Contract". NHL.com. 13 June 2018. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  6. ^ "Bruins Recall Urho Vaakanainen on an Emergency Basis". nhl.com/bruins. Boston Bruins. 20 October 2018. Retrieved 20 October 2018. Boston Bruins General Manager Don Sweeney announced today, October 20, that the team has recalled Urho Vaakanainen from the Providence Bruins (AHL) on an emergency basis.
  7. ^ Russo, Eric (21 November 2018). "Vaakanainen Debuts in Bruins OT Loss to Vancouver". NHL.com. Retrieved 27 November 2018.
  8. ^ "Report: Bruins land top-four defenseman in trade with Ducks". nbcsports.com. 19 March 2022. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
  9. ^ "Ducks sign Vaakanainen to two-year contract extension". Anaheim Ducks. 23 July 2022. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
  10. ^ "Vaakanainen released from hospital". National Hockey League. 3 October 2022. Retrieved 3 October 2022.
  11. ^ "Vaakanainen of Ducks out for season after hip surgery". National Hockey League. 4 March 2023. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  12. ^ Boston Bruins [@NHLBruins] (5 January 2019). "Congrats to #NHLBruins prospect @UVaakanainen on capturing the gold medal with Finland at the 2019 #WorldJuniors!" (Tweet). Retrieved 6 January 2019 – via Twitter.
  13. ^ "Harri Vaakanainen player profile". eliteprospects.com. 3 April 2017. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
Awards and achievements
Preceded by Boston Bruins first round draft pick
2017 		Succeeded by
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