With the Trade Deadline almost here, the New York Rangers announced they have extended defenseman Urho Vaakanainen for two more seasons with an average annual value of $1.55M. The signing, along with the acquisition of Carson Soucy from Vancouver yesterday, means the Rangers now have five of their six defensemen locked up for next season.
A former first round pick of the Boston Bruins (2017 – 18th overall), the 26 year old had struggled to cement a starting spot before joining the Rangers in the trade that sent Jacob Trouba to Anaheim. This season is only the second time in which he’s played over 30 games (5 with Anaheim and 30 with the Rangers), after setting a career high of 68 last season.
Used largely as a third pair defenseman in New York, the 6-2 208lb Finn has proven to be surprisingly reliable, and has even chipped in some offense with 2 goals and 7 assists since coming to New York, the 2 goals setting a modest career high.
Overall he’s now appeared in 171 NHL games registering 3 goals and 31 assists, along with 54 penalty minutes. While his career average was at 17:17 per game, he’s seen slightly less usage, clocking in just under 16 minutes with the NYR (15:59).
He has been used more as the 5th defensive option on the PK (before Jones), his average of 49 seconds a game on the PK might see a drop with the addition of Soucy to the line-up. He has unsurprisingly not seen PP time given his limited track record on offense.
The extension feels like a fair deal for a player who might otherwise have been at a career crossroads before coming to New York, and gives the team some certainty heading into the Summer
Rangers Switch Depth Players
In their only trade of the day, the Rangers exchanged defenseman Erik Brannstrom for bottom six winger Nicola Aube-Kubel. The minor league trade with Buffalo means Brannstrom will join his 4th franchise this year, having signed as a UFA with the Colorado Avalanche this Summer before being traded to Vancouver and then onto the Rangers as part of the J.T. Miller deal.
Aube-Kubel is a high energy bottom six forward who has struggled to stay in the NHL over his career. He’ll join the Wolf Pack in the short term, but could be called up in the event that the Rangers run into form or injury concerns through the remainder of the year. He’s a UFA this Summer, so his stint with the organization could be a short one.