Urho Vaakanainen

Urho Vaakanainen (born 1 January 1999) is a Finnish professional ice hockey player who is a defenceman for the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected 18th overall by the Boston Bruins in the 2017 NHL entry draft. He also played for the Anaheim Ducks.

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 six points in 25 games. On 28 April 2016, Vaakanainen signed a one-year deal with hometown club, JYP Jyväskylä. 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 three assists in 14 post-season games before losing in seven games in the semi-finals to KalPa. On 5 May 2017, Vaakanainen left JYP Jyväskylä after just one season and signed a one-year contract with his third Liiga club, SaiPa. Vaakanainen's progress was recognised by the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League (NHL) as he was drafted in the first round, 18th overall, of the 2017 NHL entry draft.

On 13 June 2018, Vaakanainen signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Bruins. He was assigned to Boston's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Providence Bruins, to start the 2018–19 season. On 20 October, Vaakanainen was called up for the first time by Boston and made his NHL debut that night in a 2–1 loss to the Vancouver Canucks. He played in two games with Boston, going scoreless before suffering a concussion after being elbowed by Mark Borowiecki of the Ottawa Senators in the second game. Borowiecki received a one-game suspension for the play. He was assigned to Providence and finished the regular season with 30 games played in the AHL, scoring four goals and ten points. Providence made the 2019 Calder Cup playoffs and Vaakanainen appeared in four playoff games, going scoreless. In 2019–20, he began the season with Providence before being recalled by Boston on 11 November. He made his NHL season debut on 12 November in a 5–4 shootout loss to the Florida Panthers, replacing the injured Torey Krug in the lineup. He appeared in five games with Boston, going scoreless and 54 games with Providence, adding five goals and 18 points,

For the pandemic-delayed 2020–21 NHL season, Vaakanainen was loaned to his former team SaiPa of Liiga. He played in two games with SaiPa, scoring one goal before returning to North America. He registered his first NHL point in his season debut on 21 February in the NHL Outdoors at Lake Tahoe 7–3 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers. He assisted on David Pastrňák's second period goal. However, as the only member of the Bruins capable of being sent to Providence without passing through waivers He played in 23 games with Providence, scoring one goal and eight points and 15 games for Boston, registering four assists.

Vaakanainen made his Ducks debut on 29 March in a 3–2 loss to the Dallas Stars. He registered his first point for the Ducks assisting on Kevin Shattenkirk's game-tying goal in the next game on 31 March, also against Dallas. He played the season out on the Ducks blueline, registering two assists through 14 games. During pre-season for the season, Vaakanainen was hospitalised after he crashed into the end boards in an exhibition game against the San Jose Sharks on 30 September. Missing the first 22 games of the season, Vaakanainen returned to the Ducks after a one-game conditioning stint with their AHL affiliate, the San Diego Gulls. He made just 23 appearances with the Ducks, posting 2 assists, before suffering a season ending injury on 28 January 2023. He was later announced to have had surgery on a torn labrum in his hip on 4 March 2023, with an expected recovery time of six months.

Healthy again, Vaakanainen spent the first couple of games of the 2023–24 season a healthy scratch. However, an injury to Jamie Drysdale saw his playing time increase, slotting in alongside Radko Gudas. He scored his first NHL goal on 25 January 2024 in a 4–3 overtime loss to the Dallas Stars. He previously had three possible goals called back, one with Boston and two with Anaheim. He appeared in five games with the Ducks in the 2024–25 season, registering one assist.

On 6 December 2024, Vaakanainen was traded to the New York Rangers, alongside a fourth-round pick in 2025, in exchange for defenceman Jacob Trouba. He made his Rangers debut on 17 December in a game against the Nashville Predators.

International play

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.

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.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 2013–14 Blues FIN U18 41 8 25 33 48 5 0 3 3 2 2014–15 Blues FIN U18 — — — — — 1 0 0 0 0 2014–15 Blues FIN U20 30 4 8 12 34 9 2 0 2 0 2015–16 Blues FIN U20 18 2 11 13 8 2 0 0 0 2 2015–16 Blues Liiga 25 1 5 6 8 — — — — — 2016–17 JYP FIN U20 1 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 2016–17 JYP 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 — — — — — 2024–25 Anaheim Ducks NHL 5 0 1 1 2 — — — — — 2024–25 New York Rangers NHL 46 2 13 15 16 — — — — — 2025–26 New York Rangers NHL 34 0 6 6 14 — — — — —Liiga totals 111 8 16 24 46 23 0 4 4 2NHL totals 221 3 43 46 70 — — — — —

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 WJC18 7 1 2 3 6 2016 Finland IH18 6th 4 0 1 1 2 2017 Finland WJC 9th 6 1 0 1 4 2017 Finland WJC18 5 3 3 6 2 2018 Finland WJC 6th 5 0 1 1 2 2019 Finland WJC 7 0 4 4 6 2025 Finland 4NF 4th 3 0 0 0 0 2026 Finland WC 7 0 2 2 4 Junior totals 45 5 12 17 30 Senior totals 10 0 2 2 4