Boston Bruins: Does Urho Vaakanainen replace Zdeno Chara for Game 5?

Stanley Cup Final roster decisions are never easy, let alone ones like the Boston Bruins look likely to have to make ahead of Game 5. With their captain Zdeno Chara likely out, they need to decide whether they promote Urho Vaakanainen to the starting line-up.

Any time of year that you’re giving a relative NHL rookie a shot, it’s a little risky. We’re talking next level though, Urho Vaakanainen has two games of regular-season NHL experience and we’re talking stepping onto a Boston Bruins blue line that is two wins away from the Stanley Cup. Not only that, but doing so in place of Zdeno Chara, a guy almost guaranteed to have his number retired in Boston some day.

This is a decision we doubt Boston Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy is taking lightly. Now it’s fair to say a player is never ready until they’re given the chance to be ready. Maybe Urho Vaakanainen steps into the line-up and surprises us all.

After all, Connor Clifton wasn’t expected to be a regular but yet here we are – he now has 16 playoff appearances and five post-season points to go with it in his rookie year.

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Obviously the Boston Bruins will miss Zdeno Chara, that pretty much goes without saying; the guy is the team’s undoubted leader.

Look at the way he reacted to breaking his jaw, he went back to the room but then returned to the bench, full face shield, just to pat his teammates on the back as they completed shifts. You barely saw movement from his mouth, so it was purely a moral support role, not even a vocal one!

But with injury comes opportunity. This is the perfect chance for Urho Vaakanainen to show us why he went in the first round (18th overall) in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft. He has shown that he can play in important games, evidenced by his role in Finland’s World Junior Championship win in Vancouver late last year. Whether he’s ready for the intensity of Stanley Cup Final hockey, we shall see.

Given the cards that the Boston Bruins have been dealt, it seems likely it will not be a straight swap between Urho Vaakanainen and Zdeno Chara; John Moore will likely absorb the larger majority of minutes and there’s been talk of suiting up a seventh defenseman, Steven Kampfer.

In doing that, Bruce Cassidy would at least be able to take some of the burden off the young defenseman. It might also give his offensive groupings the shake-up they need, especially with the first line looking off their game at even-strength and the second line just seemingly not there at all.

Who sits out?

That’s the part you can’t say with any certainty. Various members of the line-up have been scratches across the year and you’d normally predicate that a fourth-liner is the one dropped, but the Boston Bruins fourth line is seeing the most even-strength ice-time of any!

There’s clearly going to be some head-scratching and a big decision to be made by the Boston Bruins; for Urho Vaakanainen, it’s a case of waiting to see whether he makes his NHL debut, wins World Junior gold and makes his playoff debut, in the Stanley Cup Final no less, all within the same season.