It’s still unclear when New York Rangers defenseman Urho Vaakanainen will return from an upper-body injury.
The Rangers acquired Vaakanainen last week along with a 2025 fourth-round pick in exchange for Jacob Trouba.
However, he came to New York on injured reserve..
During Wednesday’s practice, the 25-year-old was still skating with a green non-contact jersey while his eventual return remains a mystery.
When asked about it over the weekend, Peter Laviolette did not put a timeline for when Vaakanainen will be ready to play, but was happy to see him out on the ice.
“He’s out there, so that’s good, he’s starting to mix in.” Laviolette said. “The fact that he’s out there, that’s good.”
Laviolette also left the possibility of sending Vaakanainen down to the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League open as he didn’t say whether or not he would stay with the Rangers after making a full recovery.
Vaakanainen is eager to start his next chapter with the Rangers.
“First thought is like awesome. Rangers is an Original Six team,” Vaakanainen said. “Obviously, a big team and I’m super excited to be here. First thoughts were obviously a big shock. You don’t really expect to get traded but when I heard the Rangers, I was hype.”
Vaakanainen was selected in the first round by the Boston Bruins back during the 2017 NHL Draft. He has been with the Ducks since being traded by Boston in 2022.
He has tallied one assist in five games with the Ducks this season while averaging 13:36 minutes.