Bruins sign Urho Vaakanainen to entry-level contract
“Vaakanainen’s a bit of a wild card — for the fact that he’s played two years against men in Finland."
Although pleased with the composition of his defensive corps, Bruins GM Don Sweeney reiterated this week that Urho Vaakanainen, the team’s top pick in last year’s draft, will play in North America this year and vie for a varsity roster spot come September’s training camp.
Vaakanainen, 19, the seventh defenseman selected in the 2017 draft, signed a three-year, entry-level contract Wednesday with an annual cap hit of $925,000, plus bonuses. Selected No. 18 overall by the Bruins, Vaakanainen played the 2017-18 season in Finland’s top pro league. He will be joined in camp by at least two other top defensive prospects, Jakub Zboril (Round 1, 2015) and Jeremy Lauzon (Round 2, 2015).
“I think our group is fine,’’ said Sweeney. “But I am not going to stop. If there’s a trade to be made to improve the group, then we have to make it.’’
Free agency, which opens July 1, could be another way to add to the back-line group, said Sweeney.
Zboril (6 feet) and Lauzon (6-3) both spent all last season with the AHL Providence Bruins, unable to crack a varsity group that had Sweeney deal away prospect Rob O’Gara at the trade deadline to bring in Nick Holden (6-4) from the Rangers.
Holden, a lefthanded shot who can play both sides, helped prop up the pack late in the regular season, then was called on for only two playoff games, despite injuries to Brandon Carlo and Torey Krug. He is an unrestricted free agent, free to walk without compensation as of July 1, and the Bruins are still considering whether to offer him a contract.
Vaakanainen, Zboril, and Lauzon are all lefthanded shots, as are Zdeno Chara, Matt Grzelcyk, and Krug. Sweeney could opt to go into the new season with his same three lefties, although speculation since season’s end has had him looking to move Krug as part of a plan to add size and stouter defense on the left side.
Krug, however, has averaged 55 points of offense the last two seasons, production that no GM would be eager to surrender. Sweeney would have to be convinced that Charlie McAvoy and Grzelcyk (combined 47 points last season) could increase their production by at least 50 percent to help make up for Krug’s lost offense.
“The collective size of our group,’’ mused a lighthearted Sweeney, “I mean, everybody points to the fact that Krug [5-9] and Grzelcyk [5-9] are in the lineup together. But if you averaged out what [Chara, 6-9], Krug, and Grzelcyk are together, the average of our left side is probably OK.’’
That bit of kidding aside, Sweeney’s immediate focus is on how the prospects might factor into either supporting or altering the current cast members.
“Vaakanainen’s a bit of a wild card,’’ he said, “for the fact that he’s played two years against men in Finland. So you just don’t know.
“He skates really well and there’s been guys to make the jump. But we don’t feel we have to. Our right side isn’t lacking any size, in any way, shape, or form. Every one of those guys is over 200 pounds.’’
The right siders include McAvoy, Carlo, Adam McQuaid, and Kevan Miller. As a group, they average 208 pounds and range from 6 feet to 6-5.
“Again, in a perfect world . . . ’’ said Sweeney, on adding size at left defense. “But I think the world we have with the seven guys we have is still pretty good. Question is: Can it be improved?’’
