Boston Bruins: What can we expect from Urho Vaakanainen?

After an injury to Torey Krug, the Boston Bruins called up Urho Vaakanainen from their minor league affiliate, the Providence Bruins.The Boston Bruins face yet another injury in the aftermath of the shootout loss to Philadelphia. Defenseman Torey Krug left the game early with an upper-body injury, and he’s set to miss the next game against Florida. To fill Krug’s role on the left side of the defense, the Bruins called up Urho Vaakanainen from Providence.

The Bruins drafted Vakkananien in the first round of the 2017 NHL Draft, and he made his professional debut in 2018. He immediately became one of Boston’s top prospects on defense.

He played 30 games in Providence that first season, and he had 14 points in 30 games. Vaakanainen also saw two games of NHL action, but he didn’t even get 20 minutes of total ice time.

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Given his play last year and his first-round pedigree, the Bruins expected Vaakanainen to make a big jump this season. After a strong training camp, however, he got off to a slow start in Providence.

He only had two points in 15 AHL games, well below his average from last year. What was more concerning, however, was his up-and-down play on the defensive end.

Vaakanainen looked out of place at times on defense. He was loose in coverage, and he looked overmatched against, to put it frankly, inferior competition.

Fortunately, Vaakanainen turned his play around over the last few games in Providence. He played his best hockey of the season recently, and that’s the reason why he got the nod over someone like Jakub Zboril.

Based on the lines at Boston’s Monday practice, Vaakanainen, if he suits up against Florida, will play with Connor Clifton on the third pair. What can we expect from Vaakanainen in this role?

First off, don’t expect him to get a ton of ice time if he plays against the Panthers. Over the past few games, Bruce Cassidy showed a reluctance to rely on young players, and Vaakanainen will be no exception.

When he does get out there, look for Urho Vaakanainen to impact the game with his skating. He has decent size, but he’s not overly physical. Instead, he uses his quickness and lateral movement to win the puck and start the breakout.

Here’s a play from Providence’s recent game against Hartford. You can see how Vaakanainen retrieves the puck, quickly starts a breakout, and then jumps up into the play to create a chance.

Plays like this are when Urho Vaakanainen is at his very best. He can takeover a shift from the defensive end and single-handedly create scoring chances for his teammates.

Urho Vaakanainen, like most 20-year-old defensemen, isn’t quite ready for full-time NHL action. As such, he probably won’t get much of a chance to earn consistent playing time. He still needs to develop and prove himself to the organization.

Nonetheless, Vaakanainen has tremendous upside, so it’s great to see him get the callup to Boston. Nobody should be surprised to see him become a stalwart on Boston’s defense relatively soon.

And look: we all know Zdeno Chara’s age and Torey Krug’s contract situation, so this could be sooner rather than later.