Vaakanainen, Jokiharju added to Finland roster for 4 Nations Face-Off

Urho Vaakanainen of the New York Rangers and Henri Jokiharju of the Buffalo Sabres have been added to the Team Finland roster for the 4 Nations Face-Off as injury replacements for defensemen Miro Heiskanen of the Dallas Stars and Jani Hakanpaa of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Vaakanainen has six points, all assists and a plus-two rating in 26 games for the Rangers and Anaheim Ducks this season. The 26-year-old has 30 points (one goal, 29 assists) in 162 NHL games for the Boston Bruins, Ducks and Rangers. He was traded to the Rangers by the Ducks for Jacob Trouba on Dec. 6, 2024.

Jokiharju has four points (one goal, three assists) and is plus-6 in 36 games for the Sabres this season. The 25-year-old has 91 points (17 goals, 74 assists) in 383 NHL games with the Chicago Blackhawks and Sabres.

The two join Esa Lindell (Stars), Olli Maatta (Utah Hockey Club), Niko Mikkola (Florida Panthers), Rasmus Ristolainen (Philadelphia Flyers) and Juuso Valimaki (Utah Hockey Club) on Team Finland’s defense.

The 4 Nations Face-Off is a best-on-best tournament of teams from Canada, Finland, Sweden and the United States made up of NHL players. It will run from Feb. 12-20 and will take place at Bell Centre in Montreal and TD Garden in Boston.

Each team will play three tournament games in a traditional round-robin format, with teams getting three points for a win in regulation time; two points for a win in overtime/shootout; one point for a loss in overtime/shootout; and no points for a loss in regulation time. The two teams with the best tournament record will then advance to a one-game Final on Feb. 20 in Boston.

Finland opens the tournament against the United States in Montreal on Feb. 13 (8 p.m. ET; ESPN, ESPN+, SN, TVAS).

Heiskanen, the top Finnish defenseman in the NHL, sustained a knee injury in a 4-3 overtime win against the Vegas Golden Knights on Jan. 28. He is out week to week. The 25-year-old leads Dallas defensemen in points with 25 (five goals, 20 assists) in 50 games this season and is ninth in the NHL in ice time per game (25:10). He is also second on the team with 85 blocked shots.

Hakanpaa has not played since Nov. 16 because of a knee injury. The Maple Leafs announced on Saturday he would also miss the 4 Nations Face-Off.

For complete 4 Nations Face-Off information, go here.