Regular season

Urho Vaakanainen

New York Rangers · D · #18

Depth DDepth Defenseman?6 points and 26 blocks in 34 games in a supporting role

HT: 6'2"
WT: 202 lb
Age: 27
Shoots: L
From: Joensuu, FIN
Draft: 2017 BOS · R1 #18

58Alpha?

Alpha sub-scores

what drives the rating · percentile vs position group

2020pctl

4040pctl

2727pctl

3434pctl

League profile

vs. defensemen with 20+ GP

0.1822pctl

0.006pctl

0.1836pctl

0.713pctl

047pctl

027pctl

HockeyAlpha advanced

event-derived proxies · 1,312 games analyzed

1.1%5pctl

0.7814pctl

0.0832pctl

Def Suppression?

0.2425pctl

Defenseman toolkit

vs. defensemen with 20+ GP

0.765pctl

3.3123pctl

Blocks / 100 shifts?

4.115pctl

1.423pctl

0.2338pctl

0:017pctl

0:3822pctl

On-ice impact

shift charts × our xG model · 21 GP tracked · 5h TOI

On-ice xG share (5v5)?

50.8%59pctl

On-ice goal share (5v5)?

35.3%6pctl

O-zone deployment?

39%15pctl

Usage profile

assignment difficulty · higher fill = tougher job

Competition faced?

16.7 min9pctl

Support received?

15.8 min93pctl

D-zone deployment?

61%85pctl

Micro-metrics

Structural Metric Model · sequences, geometry & leverage from every shot

Cross-slot shots / GP?

0.004pctl

Net-front presence / GP?

0.104pctl

Second-chance touches / GP?

0.062pctl

Cross-slot suppressed?

0.19/gm65pctl

Pressure escape rate?

6.4%16pctl

2025-26 regular season · Percentile beams: fill = league percentile, tick = league median · hockeyalpha.com

The Blueprint

Structural Event Engine · percentile vs defensemen · center = median · 449 EV min

General Offense

2.9434

2.2725

Shot Setups/60?

0.5328

Chance Setups/60?

0.5338

Primary Contributions/60?

3.4731

Rebounds Created/60?

0.2742

Playmaking Sequences

Point Shot Setups/60?

0.0035

Center-Lane Setups/60?

0.2733

High-Danger Setups/60?

0.0023

Deflection Setups/60?

0.1379

One-Timer Setups/60?

0.0025

Offense Types

Cycle Offense/60?

1.0725

Rush Offense/60?

5.8755

Shots off HD Setups/60?

0.0019

0.1332

0.0030

Deflections/60?

0.0028

Zone Entries

Entries Started/60?

0.0035

Entries Finished/60?

0.0019

Entries w/ Chance/60?

0.0025

DZ Retrievals / Exits

DZ Involvements/60?

2.4042

0.4045

2.0042

Retrieval Success %?

17%49

Exit Involvements/60?

0.0040

Exit Success %?

0%40

Forechecking

0.1322

Dump-In Recoveries/60?

0.0049

Derived from event sequences in public play-by-play data - the ? on each metric explains exactly how it's computed. · hockeyalpha.com

Contract & market

Contract value?

beta · cap data: CapWages

$1.55M

cap hit

$1.70M

Alpha-market value

overpaidmarketsurplus

C

Fair market deal (+$0.2M)

Top comparables?

nearest profiles at the same role · match = statistical fit

Player	Alpha	Archetype	Production	Cap hit	Market	Value	Match
Urho Vaakanainen	58	Depth Defenseman	6 P · 34 GP	$1.55M	$1.70M	C+$0.2M	this player
Justin Barron	58	Depth Defenseman	9 P · 52 GP	$1.15M	$1.70M	C+$0.6M	93%
Victor Mancini	58	Depth Defenseman	3 P · 24 GP	$0.87M	$1.70M	B+$0.8M	90%
Zach Bogosian	59	Depth Defenseman	6 P · 41 GP	$1.25M	$1.91M	C+$0.7M	89%
Colton White	57	Depth Defenseman	4 P · 23 GP	$0.78M	$1.51M	C+$0.7M	88%

Chemistry

Finishes from

assisters on Urho’s goals

No credited connections yet.

Creates for

goals Urho assisted on

From official goal credits - scorer + assists on every goal, all season.

Recent form · last 10 games

2 pts · 0 G · 2 A · 7 shots in last 10Steady(+0.0 P/GP vs prior 5)

vs NYI

0P

0G 0A

vs NYI 01-29

0G 0A · 2 shots · 13:34 TOI

@ PIT

0P

0G 0A

@ PIT 01-31

0G 0A · 2 shots · 13:38 TOI

vs CAR

0P

0G 0A

vs CAR 02-05

0G 0A · 0 shots · 16:50 TOI

@ PHI

0P

0G 0A

@ PHI 03-09

0G 0A · 1 shots · 15:18 TOI

vs CGY

1P

0G 1A

vs CGY 03-10

0G 1A · 0 shots · 15:26 TOI

@ WPG

0P

0G 0A

@ WPG 03-12

0G 0A · 1 shots · 16:13 TOI

@ MIN

1P

0G 1A

@ MIN 03-14

0G 1A · 0 shots · 14:37 TOI

vs LAK

0P

0G 0A

vs LAK 03-16

0G 0A · 0 shots · 15:51 TOI

vs NJD

0P

0G 0A

vs NJD 03-18

0G 0A · 0 shots · 3:05 TOI

@ DAL

0P

0G 0A

@ DAL 04-11

0G 0A · 1 shots · 15:38 TOI

Tile tint = points that night · underline = shot volume (full bar = 8+ shots) · oldest on the left

The Territory

attacking → · every recorded touch, normalized to one end

Goal On goal Missed/blocked▲ takeaway▽ giveaway■ hit＋ block◯ faceoff dot (size = wins)97 events shown

Defensive floor: 26 blocks · 3 steals inside the d-zone

NHL career · regular season

Season	Team	GP	G	A	P	+/−
2018-19	Boston Bruins	2	0	0	0	-1
2019-20	Boston Bruins	5	0	0	0	2
2020-21	Boston Bruins	9	0	2	2	-3
2021-22	Boston Bruins	15	0	4	4	0
2021-22	Anaheim Ducks	14	0	2	2	-5
2022-23	Anaheim Ducks	23	0	2	2	-16
2023-24	Anaheim Ducks	68	1	13	14	0
2024-25	Anaheim Ducks	5	0	1	1	0
2024-25	New York Rangers	46	2	13	15	8
2025-26	New York Rangers	34	0	6	6	0
Career	3 teams	221	3	43	46	-15