Urho Vaakanainen (born 1 January 1999) is a

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the la ...

for the

Anaheim Ducks The Anaheim Ducks are a professional ice hockey team based in Anaheim, California. The Ducks compete in the Western Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division, and play their home games at Honda Center. ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

(NHL). He was selected 18th overall by the Bruins in the

2017 NHL Entry Draft The 2017 NHL Entry Draft was the 55th NHL Entry Draft. The draft was held on June 23–24, 2017, at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. The first three selections were Nico Hischier going to the New Jersey Devils, Nolan Patrick going to the ...

Playing career

Vaakanainen played as a youth in his native Finland with the

Espoo Blues The Espoo Blues were an ice hockey team in the SM-liiga. They played in Espoo, Finland, at the Espoo Metro Areena. The club went bankrupt at the end of the 2015–16 Liiga season. History The club was established in February 1984 as Kiekko-Espoo ...

. 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 JYP is an ice hockey team playing in the Finnish top division Liiga. They play in Jyväskylä, Finland, at the LähiTapiola Areena. History JYP was founded in 1923. First it was the ice hockey section of the sports club ''Jyväskylän Palloilija ...

. 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 Kalevan Pallo (KalPa) is a professional ice hockey team which competes in the Finnish Liiga. They play in Kuopio, Finland at the Niiralan monttu, Olvi Areena. Team history Established in 1929 as ''Sortavalan Palloseura'' in Sortavala, the club r ...

. On 5 May 2017, Vaakanainen left JYP Jyväskylä after just one season and signed a one-year contract with his third Liiga club,

SaiPa SAIPA ( fa, سایپا, ''SAIPA'') is an Iranian automaker headquartered in Tehran. The SAIPAC (an acronym for the French ''Société anonyme iranienne de production des automobiles Citroën'') was established in 1965 as with 75% Iranian ownersh ...

. Vaakanainen's progress was recognised as he was drafted in the first-round, 18th overall by the

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making t ...

in the

. 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 The Providence Bruins are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL), and are the primary development team for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League (NHL). They play at the Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence, Rh ...

farm team and he made his NHL debut that night in a 2–1 loss to the

Vancouver Canucks The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference, and play their home games at Rogers Arena. Bruce B ...

. 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

in exchange for

Hampus Lindholm Hampus Lindholm (; born 20 January 1994) is a Swedish professional ice hockey defenceman for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League (NHL). Lindholm began his ice hockey career with Jonstorps IF and previously played with Rögle BK. He ...

and

Kodie Curran Kodie Curran (born December 18, 1989) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman currently playing with Metallurg Magnitogorsk of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). Playing career Before starting his professional career, Curran played fiv ...

. 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. During pre-season for the season, Vaakanainen was hospitalised after he crashed into the end boards against the

San Jose Sharks The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference, and are owned by San Jose Sports & Entertainm ...

on September 30, 2022. Missing the first 22 games of the season, Vaakanainen returned to the Ducks after a one game conditioning stint with AHL affilaite, the

San Diego Gulls The San Diego Gulls are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) that began play in the 2015–16 season. Based in San Diego, California, and affiliated with the National Hockey League's Anaheim Ducks, the Gulls play th ...

. 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.

International play

Vaakanainen represented the Finnish under-18 national team in the

2016 IIHF World U18 Championships The 2016 IIHF U18 World Championship was the 18th IIHF World U18 Championship. It was played from April 14 to 24, 2016 in Grand Forks, North Dakota, USA. Venues Top Division Officials The IIHF selected 12 referees and 10 linesmen to work the 2 ...

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 The 2017 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships was the 41st edition of the Ice Hockey World Junior Championship (WJC or WM20). The main tournament was co-hosted by the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec and the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario ...

and

2018 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships The 2018 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships was the 42nd edition of the Ice Hockey World Junior Championship, and was hosted by the city of Buffalo, New York at the KeyBank Center and HarborCenter. It opened on December 26, 2017 and closed with ...

where they finished ninth and sixth respectively. Vaakanainen would finally win gold in the

2019 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...

, 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 Joensuu (; krl, Jovensuu; ) is a city and municipality in North Karelia, Finland, located on the northern shore of Lake Pyhäselkä (northern part of Lake Saimaa) at the mouth of the Pielinen River (''Pielisjoki''). It was founded in 1848. Th ...

. 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

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vaakanainen, Urho 1999 births Living people Anaheim Ducks players Boston Bruins draft picks Boston Bruins players Espoo Blues players Finnish ice hockey defencemen JYP-Akatemia players JYP Jyväskylä players National Hockey League first-round draft picks Sportspeople from Jyväskylä Providence Bruins players SaiPa players San Diego Gulls (AHL) players 21st-century Finnish people