BOSTON – One of the real bright spots for this very unconventional Bruins training camp has been the overall play from 2017 B’s first-round pick Urho Vaakanainen.
The Finnish D-man was a bit of a mystery before stepping foot in North America for his first NHL training camp this fall, aside from a reputation as a diligent defender and an efficient D-man with some good skating wheels. His offense was very much in question given the modest numbers as a teenager playing in the Finnish Elite League, but Vaakanainen has shown in this camp to be a pretty decent prospect with a strong game in Wednesday night’s 3-2 overtime loss to the Detroit Red Wings at TD Garden.
The 19-year-old Vaakanainen finished with a big 20:37 of ice time, was a plus-1 for the game and finished with four shot attempts, a takeaway and a couple of blocked shots as well. Bruce Cassidy has gotten his first close look at the former first rounder over this past month, and has left a good impression if he is indeed sent down to Providence over the next few days.
“I like him,” said Cassidy. “I thought he was very good [against Detroit]. He joins the rush effectively, at the right times, is pretty smart and gets through there clean. He’s probably figuring out some of the guys and what plays are there to be made.
“He moves well at the offensive blue line. I think he doesn’t look like he gets many shots blocked, so I think he does a good job of finding the lane. It’s not always on net, but at least it’s through to the area. [He’s a] good defender with his feet and stick. Like a lot of young guys, he’ll have to get harder on those small-area battles, but I think that’s normal. I think he’s been really good [in training camp].”
Vaakanainen did show a little more of an ability to push the envelope offensively than maybe he did during World Junior play for Team Finland in the last couple of seasons, and that starts to put to rest the all-defense/no-offense reputation he carried a bit coming out of the draft. That’s a good thing given the feeling that perhaps he was a little bit of a reach for the Bruins in the first round a couple of summers ago, and his performance in camp should be a confidence booster for the youngster.
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“[I have] kind of mixed feelings. I mean, I had some bad shifts and then had some good shifts, so kind of mixed feelings. I think I can do a lot better,” said Vaakanainen, who paired with Steve Kampfer during the game as he might in the AHL with the P-Bruins. “I feel a lot more comfortable. I think I played well in the [rookie camp tournament], and in China at the one game, and I think played well in Philly too, so I feel pretty comfortable. I feel good.”
The Bruins should also start feeling even better about the future prospects of Vaakanainen after watching him look the efficient minutes-muncher he’s supposed to be once he hits the NHL in the near future.