Constructing Bruins roster: Does Bruins’ blue line have any space for Urho Vaakanainen?

With the dog days of the NHL offseason now upon us, we’re going to spend the next couple of weeks taking a deeper dive at a number of players on the Bruins’ roster (or on the cusp of a roster spot) who could make a major impact on the club’s hopes of putting together another Cup run.

Here are our previous breakdowns of B’s players this summer: 

Part 1: F Danton Heinen

Part 2: F Peter Cehlarik

Part 3: F Charlie Coyle

Part 4: F Anders Bjork

Part 5: F Zach Senyshyn 

Next up, let’s take a look at the B’s most intriguing prospects on the blue line in Urho Vaakanainen: 

Player: Urho Vaakanainen
Age: 20 (turns 21 on January 1)
Position: Defenseman
Height/Weight: 6-foot-1 / 185 pounds
2018-19 Stats: (NHL) 2 games played – 0 goals, 0 assists, 9:06 ATOI / (AHL) 30 games played – 4 goals, 14 assists

Season in Review:



After wrapping up his third season in the Finnish Elite League and more than holding his own against much older competition in 2017-18, Vaakanainen — Boston’s top pick (18th overall) in the 2017 NHL Draft — was ready to make the jump over to North America, with the B’s most promising blue-line prospect expected to get a steady dose of playing time down in Providence in 2018-19. 

But due to early-season injuries on Boston’s D corps — and Vaakanainen’s poised play during reps in training camp and the preseason — the Finnish skater managed to crack a spot on the Bruins’ roster at the start of October. 

While his promotion was largely made out of necessity with a regular like Torey Krug out of commission to start the year, Bruce Cassidy noted a number of times during training camp that Vaakanainen stood out from the rest of the pack: pretty hefty praise for a 19-year-old defenseman.  

“I think, as (Don Sweeney) alluded to, he did play against men, so we figured that he would be a little bit ahead in that regard in terms of not being intimidated in that environment, but I think his ability to get back on pucks and his composure and poise in a smaller rink, in a more physical game has been very good,” Cassidy said of Vaakanainen back on October 1. “We’ve used him in a few offensive situations. He’s made good decisions with the puck, so maybe there’s a little more to his game there than what he was able to show overseas that you’d like to see out of a top pick.”

While he was eventually sent back down to Providence in October, Vaakanainen rejoined the NHL club later that month when the injury bug struck again — but the stint up with Boston did not last very long. In just his second career NHL game, Vaakanainen only logged 5:46 of ice time before an elbow from Ottawa’s Mark Borowiecki halted the prospect’s season due to a nasty concussion. 

By the time he eventually got the green light to return to game action, it was late December, but his recovery allowed Vaakanainen to join Team Finland in the U-20 World Junior Championships. Despite the rust that came with close to two months on the shelf, Vaakanainen dominated in the tournament against competition more in line with his age group — averaging 23:07 of ice time and leading his team in TOI in five of the tournament’s seven games while adding four assists. 

With Vaakanainen anchoring the blue line, Finland only surrendered seven goals in the entire tournament en route to a Gold Medal.  

While his stock continued to soar after his performance at World Juniors, Vaakanainen remained down in Providence for the remainder of the 2018-19 season, with most of Boston’s D-corps depth options filled by way of John Moore and right-shot skaters in Connor Clifton and Steven Kampfer. 

Still, Vaakanainen remained around the Bruins during their run to the Stanley Cup Final, serving as one of the club’s “Black Aces”.

At one point, with Zdeno Chara’ status uncertain after suffering a broken jaw in Game 4 against the Blues and Matt Grzelcyk out with a concussion, Vaakanainen was under consideration for a potential starting role in Game 5 and beyond. But with Chara cleared to play and more veteran options available, Boston opted to avoid dropping Vaakanainen into the middle of a Cup-Final slugfest. 

“That would be a big ask. A real big ask,” Cassidy said of playing Vaakanainen in the Cup Final. “But if that’s the way we’ve got to go then that’s the ask we’re going to make. But right now, like I said, that’s a longshot, that we would go that way. … I don’t know about the inexperience, it’s just the stage we’re in now. We’re in Game 5, this type of series. Earlier in the playoffs maybe it would be a little bit different for a guy to get acclimated, but we’re so far along now it would be difficult. You’re almost to the point where maybe you just ask guys to play more.”

Even though Vaakanainen’s reps up in the NHL ranks were rather limited in 2018-19 due to a number of circumstances, his overall track record, progression as a player and his standing as the next man up among the Black Aces signals that the promising defenseman should be ready for a much larger role in 2019-20.

The question is — will there be a spot for him?

Expectations for next season: 

While he may not live up the comparables that the Bruins tossed out about him back in 2017 — with assistant GM Scott Bradley likening his effortless skating ability to that of one Scott Niedermayer — there is indeed an awful lot to like about Vaakanainen's game. 

Even if he doesn’t figure to be an offensive dynamo from the blue line, Vaakanainen is a versatile presence on the blue line, with his skating and overall poise with the puck allowing him to log heavy minutes and see time on both a penalty kill and power play if his career continues to map out as the Bruins expect it to.

Much like other youngsters that have hit the ground running up in the NHL like Grzelcyk and Charlie McAvoy, Vaakanainen doesn’t lose his composure around the puck, even when evading an aggressive forecheck or leading his team through the neutral zone. That’s awfully hard to teach for a young player, and makes Vaakanainen a valuable commodity in a changing NHL that is valuing jack-of-all-trades skaters operating from the blue line. 

On a team with a much more dire situation on the blue line, Vaakanainen would likely already be penciled into a starting role up in the NHL going into the 2019-20 season. Hell, on some putrid clubs, Vaakanainen could have logged 50-60 games last season, had he been healthy.

But on the 2019-20 Bruins, Vaakanainen is definitely looking at a bit of an uphill battle when it comes to playing time.



Not an awful lot of room there for Vaakanainen to earn a spot out of camp, nor would the Bruins want their top prospect to only serve in a depth role up in the NHL when top-pairing minutes are all but guaranteed down in Providence.

Of course, there stands a chance that a few of the names in front of Vaakanainen on the depth chart could be moved ahead of October.

While McAvoy and Brandon Carlo remain in a bit of flux as RFAs, one figures that the Bruins will be able to navigate their cap situation and have both promising talents back in the fold come October. But on the third pair, Vaakanainen could earn a spot next to Grzelcyk, who has the ability to switch to his weak side when needed.

Of course, veterans like Moore and Miller stand in the way of Vaakanainen, but it wouldn't come as much of a surprise if one of the two is moved at some point this offseason as a cap-relief route — with the pair accounting for about a $5.2 million cap hit this season.

Of course, injuries to both Miller (fractured kneecap) and Moore (shoulder surgery) could tank their value in terms of serving as a trade chip, but these ailments could open the door to one or both skaters starting the season on long term injured reserve (LTIR), once again opening up a spot for Vaakanainen for at least the start of the year.

Even if one of Miller/Moore is moved or still on the shelf to start the season, Vaakanainen would still likely face some heavy competition from other depth options in Clifton and Kampfer, who more than held their own during last year's Cup run. But with another year under his belt and with NHL minutes potentially up for grabs, one has to think that Vaakanainen should be able to close any gap between him and other depth pieces with another strong camp and preseason, much as he did last year.

While I still think that Vaakanainen will see some reps down in the AHL as Boston sorts out its bodies up on the blue line, Vaakanainen's potential is going to start to force the Bruins' hand very soon. Don't be surprised to see him start earning valuable minutes up in the NHL ranks as the season progresses.