LD Urho Vaakanainen (2017, 18th, BOS; traded to ANA)

[93LEAFS]

how does he compare as a prospect to Juolevi and Liljegren and what is his NHL comparable?

He's entering his draft year around where Juolevi and Sergachev were ranked. Liljegren is entering the year as the consensus #2, remember at this time last year it was Matthews then a drop off to Chychrun and Puljujarvi. So things can rapidly change. I do think it will be tough for Vaakanainen to replicate Juolevi's rise though, as he was the best defender on a WJC team, and the #1 D on the Memorial cup team, which got him a ton of exposure.

As for what he projects as, I haven't seen enough to make a firm statement. From what I can gather, his style sounds closer to Sergachev than Juolevi. Not as smooth as Juolevi (very few young D-men are), but he seems more physical and has a better shot.

 

[Hockeyfrilla]

Rumoured to come over to Sweden and join Frölunda next season.

Vaakanainen-Dahlin would be nasty.

 

[Loffer]

Is he playing for JYP now then or grinding among juniors in Blues??

 

[Noma]

Is he playing for JYP now then or grinding among juniors in Blues??

Plays Liiga in JYP.

 

[Zaddy]

Any updates on Vaakanainen? Hasn't produced much in Liiga. How has he looked lately and what is his ice time and usage like?

 

[Quethas]

Plays in 3rd pair and gets bit over 10 minutes of icetime per game. He has been pretty solid defensively. He has adapted more simple style of play this season and he has been playing very defense oriented game and he has become pretty good at it. Offensively he hasn't shown much more than pretty accurate simple passes.

 

[traffic cone]

Plays in 3rd pair and gets bit over 10 minutes of icetime per game. He has been pretty solid defensively. He has adapted more simple style of play this season and he has been playing very defense oriented game and he has become pretty good at it. Offensively he hasn't shown much more than pretty accurate simple passes.

Send the kid down already...

 

[JJTT]

Send the kid down already...

Why? He is never going to be a offensive defenseman in the NHL. His season average is closer to 15 minutes than 10 too.

 

[BusQuets]

15min in Liiga >> 20 min in junior leagues. These kind of guys are usually quite underrated in draft because of the lack of points. He could be scoring a ton of points in junior leagues but he chooses to actually learn how to defend against men in a real league.

 

[ChicagoBullsFan]

Biggest reason why Vaakanainen didn't go Windsor Spitfires was that they had already two import players ( Sergachev and Nattinen).
If Windsor would have wanted Vaakanainen they should have to give up either Nattinen or Sergachev.

 

[Loffer]

Why? He is never going to be a offensive defenseman in the NHL. His season average is closer to 15 minutes than 10 too.

And wasn't this kid gonna be the "next Lidstrom" or something and the best D man prospect from Finland since who knows when?!

 

[Noma]

Biggest reason why Vaakanainen didn't go Windsor Spitfires was that they had already two import players ( Sergachev and Nattinen).
If Windsor would have wanted Vaakanainen they should have to give up either Nattinen or Sergachev.

Vaakanainen said after the Import Draft that he hadn't even considered going to Canada nor had the team contacted him before the draft. So there was zero chance he'd go in the beginning.

 

[Icejoker]

Dont think he play that much , JYP playd 23, 25,28 feb and 2, 4, 7 mar.
Vaakanainen not in the lineup 25 and today 4.

 

[Visul]

15min in Liiga >> 20 min in junior leagues.

No need to send Urho to juniors since JYP has its farm team JYP-Akatemia in Mestis.

Vaakanainen played today for Akatemia against Jokipojat. He played decent defense and gave quality opening passes until he got game misconduct for checking from behind at the end of the second period.

 

[MardyBum]

Why? He is never going to be a offensive defenseman in the NHL. His season average is closer to 15 minutes than 10 too.

Eh? Way too early to say that.

 

[BusQuets]

Getting some "steal of the draft" vibes from Vaakanainen. Have been dropping in the mock lists the whole year it seems.

He's playing some really solid playoff hockey in Liiga atm. Is not scoring a lot of point which is probably why he's dropping but he's doing the most important job well which is defending. Reminds me of Jonas Brodin.

He was also one of the few bright spots in the Finnish wjc squad. Really interesting where he will end up. I think someone's going to get really solid defenseman in the 2nd round.

 

[Jyssy]

Getting some "steal of the draft" vibes from Vaakanainen. Have been dropping in the mock lists the whole year it seems.

He's playing some really solid playoff hockey in Liiga atm. Is not scoring a lot of point which is probably why he's dropping but he's doing the most important job well which is defending. Reminds me of Jonas Brodin.

He was also one of the few bright spots in the Finnish wjc squad. Really interesting where he will end up. I think someone's going to get really solid defenseman in the 2nd round.

Funny you bumped this thread when he just had a horrible first period against HPK.

 

[Quethas]

My short report can be found from Finnprospects
https://finnprospects.com/player/urho-vaakanainen/

Getting some "steal of the draft" vibes from Vaakanainen. Have been dropping in the mock lists the whole year it seems.

He's playing some really solid playoff hockey in Liiga atm. Is not scoring a lot of point which is probably why he's dropping but he's doing the most important job well which is defending. Reminds me of Jonas Brodin.

He was also one of the few bright spots in the Finnish wjc squad. Really interesting where he will end up. I think someone's going to get really solid defenseman in the 2nd round.

This is something I can agree to. He has been solid defensively in Liiga and World U18 Championship has shown just how good he actually is against other junior players. He is playing extremely smart and solid defensive game and someone is going to get reliable future NHL defender from Vaakanainen.

 

[JJTT]

Really liked his game as the season went on. Was great during the playoffs and has only continued his solid defensive game during the U18's.

 

[LastWordArmy]

29 on our board.

http://lastwordonhockeyprospects.com/2017/04/28/urho-vaakanainen-scouting-report-2017-nhl-draft-29/

 

[Grant McCagg]

Really liked his game as the season went on. Was great during the playoffs and has only continued his solid defensive game during the U18's.

NHL scouts agree. Don't be surprised if he's the third dman off the board on Friday night. He's climbed ahead of Valimaki, Timmins, Brannstrom and Liljegren on some scout's lists.

 

[jnk96]

NHL scouts agree. Don't be surprised if he's the third dman off the board on Friday night. He's climbed ahead of Valimaki, Timmins, Brannstrom and Liljegren on some scout's lists.

I like his defensive game and tools, but does he have offensive upside? I don't see much of that. Would prefer someone with offensive upside like basically all of the players you listed, except for maybe Timmins.

 

[Hockeyisl1fe]

I like his defensive game and tools, but does he have offensive upside? I don't see much of that. Would prefer someone with offensive upside like basically all of the players you listed, except for maybe Timmins.

He has a good shot, but lacks somewhat in vision and skill. A solid middle pairing guy is his realistic upside in my opinion.

 

[Grant McCagg]

I like his defensive game and tools, but does he have offensive upside? I don't see much of that. Would prefer someone with offensive upside like basically all of the players you listed, except for maybe Timmins.

He showed some offensive skills at the U-18. Seeing just as much offence as Liljegren..smarter and more vision for me. Skates a lot better than Timmins and Valimaki..being mobile and making a good first pass so important in today's NHL.

Points are just a portion of what makes a defenceman valuable..if he gets 15 less points than Valimaki but is way better in his own end...I'll take him.

 

[jnk96]

He showed some offensive skills at the U-18. Seeing just as much offence as Liljegren..smarter and more vision for me. Skates a lot better than Timmins and Valimaki..being mobile and making a good first pass so important in today's NHL.

Points are just a portion of what makes a defenceman valuable..if he gets 15 less points than Valimaki but is way better in his own end...I'll take him.

I think he did a lot of things to like at the U18s, but I didn't really see offense that would translate. His O-zone play is often simple with little creativity. He dishes passes left and right but nothing really dangerous; he often leaves that to the other guys he's on the ice with. As to the breakout aspect, I agree he's an excellent skater who can carry the puck and play accurate passes. But at the U18s he often just went up to the red line or blue line and dumped it in because he neither found an open teammate nor could he execute the entry himself.

In a way, the draft is about adding as many future NHL players as possible. But at the same time, you probably want the prospects with the highest upside and I just see more of that in guys like Liljegren or Brannstrom.