Finland is adding two defensemen, Henri Jokiharju from the Buffalo Sabres and Urho Vaakanainen from the New York Rangers, to their roster for the 4 Nations Face-Off.
On Sunday, the Finnish Ice Hockey Federation announced that Jokiharju and Vaakanainen will replace Miro Heiskanen and Jani Hakanpaa due to injuries. Finland had only four defensemen left to choose from to fill those spots, as only 11 Finnish defensemen have played in the NHL this season; the other seven were already on the roster.
Jokiharju and Vaakanainen had the most experience out of the four remaining options. Ville Heinola from Winnipeg has played just 51 games, and Nikolas Matinpalo from Ottawa has played only 19 games since joining the NHL.
“It’s great to have Henri and Urho on board,” coach Antti Pennanen said when announcing the decisions. “Both are very motivated and looking forward to the tournament and the chance to represent their country.”
Finland had already ruled out Hakanpää on Saturday. He had played only two games for Toronto this season and has been sidelined since mid-November with a lower-body injury.
Heiskanen would have been Finland’s top defenseman, but he was injured after a hit by Mark Stone in Dallas’ game against Vegas on Tuesday.
The Stars listed Heiskanen as week-to-week with a lower body injury, and Finland confirmed he won’t be playing in the 4 Nations.
“He’s the kind of player every team would want,” Finland’s captain Aleksander Barkov said Thursday about Heiskanen. “He’s a leader on defense and is really good offensively, so he’s a huge part of Team Finland’s success. All the best to him, and we hope he gets back as soon as possible and fully healthy. Health is the most important thing.”
Finland’s first game is against the U.S. on February 13. They will play Sweden on February 15 and finish the round-robin against Canada on February 17.
Sweden has some injury concerns as well. Vegas’ William Karlsson and Minnesota’s Jonas Brodin are still out, while Boston’s Hampus Lindholm is close to returning.
Canada is still looking for a replacement for Alex Pietrangelo, the two-time Stanley Cup champion and 2014 Olympic gold medalist, who withdrew to focus on recovering from an ailment and preparing for the rest of the regular season, according to the Golden Knights.
