Yeah Lehterä was indeed praising one of his players. So you don't think the pre-hype is at all warranted?
Vaakanainen is an early developer, he grew height early and his physique and conditioning are comparable to the top 98-born Finnish defensemen. Taking that into consideration, he didn’t look like a generational talent in Jr.A this season. There were quite a few 98-born defensemen who either matched his level of performance or outdid it. Vaakanainen has a January birthdate, so Välimäki and Salo are only 3 months older than him, and even the top dog Juolevi is only 8 months older than him.
1. Olli Juolevi (Jokerit), 44gp 6g+26a=32p, +0
2. Tarmo Reunanen (TPS), 42gp 8g+22a=30p, +16
3. Robin Salo (Sport), 45gp 10g+16a=26p, -5
4. Juuso Välimäki (Ilves), 44gp 5g+15a=20p, +22
5. Markus Niemeläinen (HPK), 39gp 2g+14a=16p, +24
6. Urho Vaakanainen (Blues), 30gp 4g+8a=12p, +20
The ISS article mentions that Vaakanainen had a nice plus-20 rating during regular season. That’s all well and good, but on the other hand even Veeti Vainio who plays like boiled spaghetti half the time had a plus-22 rating on that strong Blues squad. Not that the plus-minus stat matters much, but the article fails to mention that Vaakanainen finished the playoffs with a minus-2 rating and had a minus-3 rating at the latest U17 national team tournament in Russia.
Vaakanainen has a good balance, footwork and overall mobility, but I wouldn’t say that he’s among the fastest players on the ice. Overall his puck skills are pretty good, but he still mishandles the puck occasionally and could be more thorough with his passes. He shoots the puck well from the point, it’s an asset when he manages to get it through traffic. He has good work ethic and shows up to play every night. He plays the body, but doesn’t usually use much force and isn’t particularly tough to play against. Likely won’t have the size or the attitude to regularly overpower opponents along the boards at NHL level. Displays some poise moving the puck and usually makes heads up plays, but his decision making and play under pressure needs to improve. There's inconsistency in his defensive anticipation and positioning, a few too many lapses and bad reads considering the level of competition he plays in.
I see an interesting all-around type defensive prospect, but the talk about him being the most promising Finnish D ever is just silly. If his development continues on a good path he might or might not be a 1st rounder two years from now. Everyone has the right to rank him wherever they see best, but I believe there’s a good chance you’re setting yourself up for failure if you think he’s a top-10 kind of talent.
Some recent video of him if you're interested: