Vaakanainen Aiming to Make Most of Latest Opportunity

BOSTON - One by one, Urho Vaakanainen watched his fellow Bruins defense prospects get their chances with the big club.
As Jeremy Lauzon, Jakub Zboril, and Connor Clifton all made an impact in Boston over the season's first six weeks, the 22-year-old was skating with the B's taxi squad and, eventually, found himself in Providence once the AHL season commenced in early February.
But Vaakanainen opted not to sulk, instead embracing what he termed as a "positive mindset" as he worked to improve his game and, hopefully, get his own shot with the Black & Gold.

"Just trust that you're gonna get your chance, and whenever you get your chance, just play your best game," said Vaakanainen. "Been working hard keeping that positive mindset, being patient and waiting for my chance. Here I am right now."
Here he is, indeed.
With injuries piling up on the B's back end, the 2017 first-round pick got the call for Sunday's outdoor game at Lake Tahoe and will likely remain in the lineup on Thursday night when the Bruins visit the New York Islanders.
Vaakanainen put forth a strong showing against the Flyers, picking up an assist for his first career NHL point in 23:28 of ice time with the Bruins' blue line shorthanded after Jeremy Lauzon exited just minutes into the contest.
"Felt pretty good, got better as the game went on," said Vaakanainen, who was paired with Charlie McAvoy during Wednesday's practice at Warrior Ice Arena. "Obviously when Lauzy went down we only had five D so you're pretty much on the ice all the time and didn't have much time to think. It was a solid game, pretty good game. Just keep going from that."
Vaakanainen is now in the midst of his third stint with Boston, following brief appearances in October 2018 (two games) and November 2019 (five games). After what he admitted was a subpar training camp in 2019, the 6-foot-1, 192-pound left shot spent the majority of last season in Providence working to shore up his game, particularly his offensive skills.
The Finland native managed five goals and 14 points, to go along with a plus-18 rating, in 54 games for the P-Bruins, and when Vaakanainen returned for this year's abbreviated camp in January, it was evident that his game had matured.
"A little more engaged, and by that I mean a little more involved in the play, joining the rush, first in line in some of the drills," Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said of the changes he noticed. "I think in the past his practice habits…it took him a while to get the engine revved up.
"At this level you're only out there for 30-35 minutes. You need to be ready to go when the first whistle goes for practice so that you can maximize the time that you're out there."

Cassidy believes that is all part of the natural progression that a young player goes through on his way to becoming a mainstay at the NHL level.
"His original games were a long time ago," said Cassidy. "This is a little bit different animal for him. He's been around for a few years and should have a better understanding of the game, been around our group here…that part of it, I hope, will come around quickly and playing in a game like that should help."
Cassidy was referring to Sunday's win in Tahoe, during which Vaakanainen trailed only Charlie McAvoy (23:59) in minutes played and matched McAvoy with three shots on goal, which ranked second behind Jake DeBrusk and David Pastrnak (four each).
"He did a good job…got on the scoresheet, played big minutes," said Cassidy. "That's definitely in his DNA, but make sure the nights that he's playing 15-16 minutes they're a real good 15-16 minutes at top pace. That's the balancing act we'll have to do with Urho…a good first look at him."

On the Injury Front

Following Wednesday's practice at Warrior Ice Arena, Cassidy laid out the latest on the Bruins' injury front, and it was a mixed bag. The positive news was that Jakub Zboril - sidelined for the last two games with an upper-body injury - practiced in full and is likely to play on Thursday night on Long Island, while Matt Grzelcyk - out since Feb. 10 - skated on his own before practice and was set to make the trip to New York with his teammates.
"Grizz is close," said Cassidy. "He's another guy that shouldn't be too far out. Let's hope that we put him in when he's ready and not because it's necessary because we're running out of bodies."
The bad news started mid-morning when the team announced that Lauzon would be out for approximately four weeks after undergoing surgery for a fractured left land suffered on Sunday in Tahoe.
"He plays hard. He puts himself in harm's way," said Cassidy. "We know sometimes that that will result in injuries for any player like that. But this is tough. It seemed like a harmless play when did get hurt. He's injected himself into much more violent or physical situations, but he'll work hard. He'll get back.
"It sounds like it will be about four weeks or so. There's lots of hockey left when he gets back. He'll have to keep his conditioning up. Of course, I feel for him, but he'll be back."
The news was not much better for Kevan Miller, who initially was expected to miss just Sunday's game in Tahoe as part of "load management" on his surgically repaired knee. But after returning to the ice for Tuesday's skate, Miller did not feel enough improvement, prompting the Bruins to keep the blue liner out of game action for at least the start of the road trip.
"He went on yesterday and obviously didn't feel great today from his surgery. He stayed off. He's not gonna travel right away," said Cassidy. "We may need to give him a little more time than originally anticipated. That's it with Kevan. We knew there would be a little bit of an unknown.
"So far, it's been really good for him, been able to play his style, play hard, not miss much time. But the last few days haven't cooperated as much as he'd like, or we'd like. We're gonna be cautious with it."
While the news on Lauzon and Miller was certainly disappointing, Cassidy tried to take a more optimistic view.
"Opportunity for a guy like Urho or someone else. As a coach, you look at it that way - the positives in it. No positives for him, obviously, Lauzy," said Cassidy. "But he'll watch a few games and maybe get something out of that, being up top and seeing how the game slows down a little bit up there. Hopefully he benefits a little bit from that part of it.
"But we're gonna miss him. We've got some other young guys that we'll plug in and hopefully keep on trucking here."

Wednesday's Practice Lineup

FORWARDS
Brad Marchand - Patrice Bergeron - David Pastrnak
Nick Ritchie - Charlie Coyle - Craig Smith
Anders Bjork - Jack Studnicka - Jake DeBrusk
Trent Frederic - Sean Kuraly - Chris Wagner
Greg McKegg/Karson Kuhlman
DEFENSEMEN
Urho Vaakanainen - Charlie McAvoy
Jakub Zboril - Brandon Carlo
John Moore - Connor Clifton
Steven Kampfer
GOALIES
Tuukka Rask
Jaroslav Halak
Callum Booth