Urho Vaakanainen entered the 2025-2026 season as the Rangers’ 6D, and that looked like the job he’d keep for most of the year. Instead, Matthew Robertson emerged as a surprise and moved ahead of him on the depth chart, taking over that spot and pushing Vaakanainen into a smaller role.
That squeeze showed up in the numbers. Vaakanainen got into just 34 games and finished with six assists in third-pair minutes.
The production was modest, but the bigger story was that he wasn’t really being outplayed so much as passed over. These things happen.
There’s also a real case that he should have been used more than some of the other defensemen above him. His metrics were stronger than Braden Schneider’s, Carson Soucy’s, and Will Borgen’s.
The sample was small - only 471 minutes at 5v5, which is why he doesn’t show up in Evolving-Hockey’s player card rankings - but the underlying work was encouraging. Vaakanainen was especially effective moving the puck out of the defensive zone and advancing play up ice. He held up well in his own end, too, limiting both the quality and the volume of chances against.
At the same time, usage matters here. Vaakanainen was often a healthy scratch while the Rangers were flat-out awful from November through January, so the context around when he played has to be part of the evaluation.
Even with the stronger numbers, the situation seemed to become a numbers game for the Rangers. They kept looking for ways to get other players more ice time, and Vaakanainen paid the price.
There’s a clear reason Mike Sullivan went with other options, and even after the trade deadline he still couldn’t lock down a regular spot. The Rangers may have had a use for his defensive and transitional game, but that chance looks like it’s gone.
2025-2026 Urho Vaakanainen report card grade: C+, needed more games with these numbers to move up a grade
In Other News...
Rangers May Have Just Dodged Their Worst Free Agency Mistake
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For New York, the miss looks a little less painful because the club moved quickly to address the same need by trading for Pavel Dorofeyev and locking him in on a seven-year contract. The Rangers were clearly shopping for a major addition, and while Tuch would have brought name value, the combination of term and risk attached to his new deal makes this one of those rare free-agent near-misses that can feel like a break instead of a setback. [Read more 🡒]
Marcus Pettersson Already Sounds Like Exactly What Rangers Needed
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Pettersson also has wasted little time getting acquainted on the player side, saying he has already had conversations with Mika Zibanejad and J.T. Miller since the trade. For the Rangers, that matters as much as the on-ice fit, because integrating a defenseman quickly is about more than systems and pairings. The bigger question now is how smoothly all of those connections translate once he gets into the room and onto the ice. [Read more 🡒]
Sean Durzi Feels The Pressure Of Fixing A Rangers Problem
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Durzi also made clear that the trade came with some added motivation, even if it landed as a bit of a surprise. That matters in New York, where every new defenseman gets measured not just by fit, but by whether he can help solve a long-running problem on the back end. The Rangers are counting on him to bring stability and a little urgency to a role that carries real pressure, and the first public signs suggest he understands exactly what is at stake. [Read more 🡒]