Introduction
Urho Vaakanainen (born 1 January 1999) is a Finnish professional ice hockey defenceman currently playing for the Providence Bruins of the American Hockey League (AHL) as a prospect to the Boston Bruins 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.
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. 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 as he was drafted in the first-round, 18th overall by the Boston Bruins in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft.
On 13 June 2018, Vaakanainen signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Bruins. On 20 October, Vaakanainen was called up for the first time from the AHL's Providence Bruins farm team and he made his NHL debut that night in a 2–1 loss to the Vancouver Canucks.
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 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 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| Liiga totals | 111 | 8 | 16 | 24 | 46 | 23 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 2 | ||||
| NHL totals | 16 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
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 | WJC18 | 
|
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 |
|
7 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 6 | |
| Junior totals | 45 | 5 | 12 | 17 | 30 | ||||