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Bruins sign Urho Vaakanainen to a entry-level deal |
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On Wednesday, the Bruins announced that they have signed 19-year old Urho Vaakanainen to a three-year entry-level contract with a cap hit of $925,000.
The Bruins selected Vaakanainen with the 18th pick in the 2017 entry draft. The signing comes just weeks after general manager Don Sweeney broke the news that Vaakanainen was expected to sign ahead of development camp.
Vaakanainen is one of several left-shot defensemen in the Bruins system that will be fighting for a job on the Bruins blueline. Jeremy Lauzon and Jakub Zboril are also expected to make a run for the opening night roster.
“Yeah, I’m really excited just to get to the camp and show how good I am and try to be at my best every day and just have fun and enjoy,” Vaakanainen said Thursday via conference call. “You don’t get – these opportunities doesn’t happen to every guy, so you just have to try to enjoy it and be at your best when you come to the camp.”
The camp that Vaakanainen is referring to is training camp, but the six foot defenseman will have to get through development camp first. Vaakanainen joined the Bruins in development camp last summer, his first taste of North American hockey.
“Well, of course, it’s a smaller rink (in North America), and the game is a bit more physical and faster – faster, I guess,” said Vaakanainen. “I just think that the smaller rink, I think, is the biggest thing for me, and, of course, living in North America is different than in Finland, so maybe those two things.”
Last season Vaakanainen played for SaiPa of the Finnish Elite League where he had four goals and 11 assists in 43 games. He finished the season a plus-8. Vaakanainen also represented Team Finland in the 2018 World Junior Championship where he finished the tournament with just one assist.
Vaakanainen knows that he has a lot of work to do and has to focus on improving parts of his game in order to win a job on the NHL roster.
“Well, I have to get a bit stronger and just overall better in everything. Have to work on my shot a lot this summer and just playing on the offensive blue line getting shots to the net through the traffic. That’s probably the biggest thing that I have to improve,” said Vaakanainen.
With Zboril and Lauzon already signed and ready to push for a spot, the signing of the 19-year old shows the confidence Sweeney and company have in Vaakanainen. Playing with professionals in the Finnish Elite League at such a young age certainly increases his stock.
Vaakanainen says he learned how to be a pro by playing with pros.
[I] just learned how to be a professional. When I played in juniors, we didn’t care about defending much, so the first thing I learned in the Finnish league playing with pros, is how to defend and just learned the game,” said Vaakanainen.
“The game is so much more physical in the pro league than in the juniors, so I had to adjust with that. Just grew up as a person playing with older men and maybe matured a little bit, too. I think it helped me a lot.”
The Bruins have talked at length this summer about how they would like to get bigger on the left side of their defense. At 6-foot-1 and 185 pounds, Vaakanainen definitely brings size to the table. With Zdeno Chara, Torey Krug and Matt Grezelcyk already slotted in on the left side, earning a spot won’t be an easy task.
“Of course, my goal is to get a spot in Boston, but other than that, I don’t really have any expectations,” Vaakanainen said. “I’m just part of the camp trying to be as good as I just can be and play as well as I can and try to get the spot. That’s my only goal for the camp.”
Signing his entry-level deal alone is a dream come true for Vaakanainen.
"Really excited, just dream come true. I’ve been dreaming of this since I was a little kid, so it’s been an exciting few days here. Can’t wait to get there and get things started,” said Vaakanainen.
Come October, Vaakanainen hopes to have another dream of his come true.
Boston Bruins Blogger • 
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