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Boston Bruins: Urho Vaakanainen deserves shot at starting job

By Sam Minton

STATELINE, NEVADA - FEBRUARY 21: Urho Vaakanainen #58 of the Boston Bruins warms up before the 'NHL Outdoors At Lake Tahoe' against the Philadelphia Flyers at the Edgewood Tahoe Resort on February 21, 2021 in Stateline, Nevada. The Bruins defeated the Flyers 7-3. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
STATELINE, NEVADA - FEBRUARY 21: Urho Vaakanainen #58 of the Boston Bruins warms up before the 'NHL Outdoors At Lake Tahoe' against the Philadelphia Flyers at the Edgewood Tahoe Resort on February 21, 2021 in Stateline, Nevada. The Bruins defeated the Flyers 7-3. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /
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The Boston Bruins blue line is being decimated by injuries. While this might seem like a bad thing it could help cement Urho Vaakanainen’s spot as an NHL defenseman.

The latest casualty for Boston is Jeremy Lauzon. He will now be out of commission for four weeks.

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Lauzon joins the likes of Matt Grzelcyk, Jakub Zboril, and Kevan Miller who have banged up in recent games. These guys should be making a return soon, but Miller and Grzelcyk have had issues staying on the ice.

To his credit, Lauzon is doing a decent job alongside Charlie McAvoy. In 16 games, Lauzon has three assists and a personal rating of -2.

While this might seem like a strictly negative course of events for the Bruins, there is one thing that could end up helping the team.

Urho Vaakanainen finally gets his shot with the Boston Bruins in 2021.

With the Bruins racking up injuries this has allowed for the Vaakanainen to get called up from the AHL and get his shot with the B’s. So far he hasn’t disappointed.

Urho got to play in Lake Tahoe and he looked great on the ice. He was able to notch an assist in his first game in 2021.

This seems to be his chance to cement his spot in the NHL. As a first-round pick in the 2017 NHL Draft, his time is starting to run out.

At 22 years old, Vaakanainen should be beginning to enter his prime. Just look at what Charlie McAvoy is doing. He is Boston’s best defenseman and is just a year older than Urho.

Hopefully, the Bruins will put Vaakanainen alongside McAvoy to replace Lauzon. This will allow Bruce Cassidy and the front office to see just what he is capable of doing.

Vaakanainen brings some side but also some skill to the blue line. He was an interesting selection in the first round and there was a lot of hype when he finally came to the United States to play for the Bruins organization.

So it’s now or never for Urho. He needs to start playing well and making sure that the Bruins would have to seriously consider the ramifications of sending him down to the AHL. He got off to a great start with his performance against the Flyers.

Bruins fans should be hoping that he continues to play well and that Vaakanainen ends up staying in the NHL. He has the potential to be a key part of the Boston Bruins roster moving forward and usher them into the future.

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So it’s time to see what Vaakanainen is made of. Will he sink or will he swim?

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