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 six points in 25 games. On 28 April 2016, Vaakanainen signed a one-year deal with hometown club, JYP Jyväskylä. [1] 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 three assists in 14 post-season games before losing in seven games in the semi-finals to KalPa. [2] On 5 May 2017, Vaakanainen left JYP Jyväskylä after just one season and signed a one-year contract with his third Liiga club, SaiPa. [3] Vaakanainen's progress was recognised by the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League (NHL) as he was drafted in the first round, 18th overall, of the 2017 NHL entry draft. [4]
On 13 June 2018, Vaakanainen signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Bruins. [5] He was assigned to Boston's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Providence Bruins, to start the 2018–19 season. On 20 October, Vaakanainen was called up for the first time by Boston [6] and made his NHL debut that night in a 2–1 loss to the Vancouver Canucks. [7] He played in two games with Boston, going scoreless before suffering a concussion after being elbowed by Mark Borowiecki of the Ottawa Senators in the second game. Borowiecki received a one-game suspension for the play. [8] He was assigned to Providence and finished the regular season with 30 games played in the AHL, scoring four goals and ten points. Providence made the 2019 Calder Cup playoffs and Vaakanainen appeared in four playoff games, going scoreless. [9] In 2019–20, he began the season with Providence before being recalled by Boston on 11 November. [10] He made his NHL season debut on 12 November in a 5–4 shootout loss to the Florida Panthers, replacing the injured Torey Krug in the lineup. [10] [11] He appeared in five games with Boston, going scoreless and 54 games with Providence, adding five goals and 18 points, [9] before the season was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [12]
For the pandemic-delayed 2020–21 NHL season, Vaakanainen was loaned to his former team SaiPa of Liiga. [13] He played in two games with SaiPa, scoring one goal before returning to North America. [9] Once the NHL season began in 2021, a series of injuries depleted the Bruins' defence corps and Vaakanainen found himself on the Bruins' top defence pair alongside Charlie McAvoy. [14] He registered his first NHL point in his season debut on 21 February in the NHL Outdoors at Lake Tahoe 7–3 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers. He assisted on David Pastrňák's second period goal. [15] However, as the only member of the Bruins capable of being sent to Providence without passing through waivers [14] he split the season between the NHL and AHL. He appeared in nine games with Boston, tallying two assists, and 11 games with Providence, scoring one goal and three points. [9]
Vaakanainen began the 2021–22 season in Providence but was recalled in January 2022 due to injuries and pandemic-related absences. He was paired with Derek Forbort initially, but also saw time with McAvoy after he returned from injured and fellow call-up Tyler Lewington. He played strong in all roles and coach Bruce Cassidy claimed that he was forcing "difficult decisions when everyone gets healthy." [16] He played in 23 games with Providence, scoring one goal and eight points and 15 games for Boston, registering four assists. [9] On 19 March 2022, Vaakanainen was involved in a trade by the Bruins that sent him along with John Moore and multiple draft selections to the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for Hampus Lindholm and Kodie Curran. [17]
Vaakanainen made his Ducks debut on 29 March in a 3–2 loss to the Dallas Stars. [18] He registered his first point for the Ducks assisting on Kevin Shattenkirk's game-tying goal in the next game on 31 March, also against Dallas. [19] He played the season out on the Ducks blueline, registering two assists through 14 games. [9] On 23 July, Vaakanainen as a restricted free agent was re-signed by the Ducks to a two-year, $1.7 million contract extension. [20] During pre-season for the 2022–23 season, Vaakanainen was hospitalised after he crashed into the end boards in an exhibition game against the San Jose Sharks on 30 September. [21] Missing the first 22 games of the season, Vaakanainen returned to the Ducks after a one-game conditioning stint with their AHL affiliate, the San Diego Gulls. He made just 23 appearances with the Ducks, posting 2 assists, before suffering a season ending injury on 28 January 2023. He was later announced to have had surgery on a torn labrum in his hip on 4 March 2023, with an expected recovery time of six months. [22]
Healthy again, Vaakanainen spent the first couple of games of the 2023–24 season a healthy scratch. However, an injury to Jamie Drysdale saw his playing time increase, slotting in alongside Radko Gudas. [23] He scored his first NHL goal on 25 January 2024 in a 4–3 overtime loss to the Dallas Stars. [24] He previously had three possible goals called back, one with Boston and two with Anaheim. [23] He finished the season playing in 68 games, scoring the one goal and 14 points. [9] In the offseason he signed a one-year contract extension with the Ducks on 1 July. [25] He appeared in five games with the Ducks in the 2024–25 season, registering one assist. [9] He suffered an injury in a game versus the Vegas Golden Knights on 13 November and was placed on injured reserve on 4 December. [26]
On 6 December 2024, Vaakanainen was traded to the New York Rangers, alongside a fourth-round pick in 2025, in exchange for defenceman Jacob Trouba. [27]
