Urho Vaakanainen

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Born
1999 (26 years old)
Shiny National flag

Joensuu, Finland

Position
Defenceman

Status
Active

Ethnicity
White

Team Number
5

Height
6 ft 1 in (185 cm)

Weight
185 lb (84 kg; 13 st 3 lb)

Outfitter

Kit
Wage Year

Player Cutout
No Cutout thumb

Archive

Full Body Render

Sport

Ice Hockey

Team
New York Rangers

2nd Team
San Diego Gulls

League
NHL

Creative Commons Artwork
No

Description

Urho Vaakanainen (born 1 January 1999) is a Finnish professional ice hockey defenceman. 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.

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.

On December 6, 2024 he was traded to the Rangers, along with a 2025 4th round draft pick, for Jacob Trouba.

Trophies

Milestones

Former Youth Teams