LAS VEGAS -- After taking a twice-undrafted player in Chase Pietila with their fourth-round pick, the Penguins again turned to a player who had twice been passed over in previous drafts with their sixth-round pick: Right-handed defenseman Joona Vaisanen.
Vaisanen, who turns 20 next month, is a 6-foot-1, 174-pound blue liner from Espoo, Finland. He grew up in the Espoo Blues' system back home, playing in the U20 Finnish league in 2022-23 and racking up four goals and 24 assists in 44 games. He made the jump to North America last season, joining the USHL's Dubuque Fighting Saints. Vaisanen had nine goals and 31 assists in 53 regular-season games, with his 40 points being the fourth-most among USHL defensemen:
10:24-2nd | @fightingsaints D Joona Vaisanen cashes in after taking a nice dish from Erik Pahlsson. Makes it 2-1 in favor of Dubuque.#StarsRise | @FloHockey pic.twitter.com/LgQssoO6x9
— USHL (@USHL) November 25, 2023
The @fightingsaints extend their lead to 2-0 on this Joona Vaisanen one timer. Assists by Jake Sondreal and Noah Powell.#StarsRise | @FloHockey pic.twitter.com/rQBKhuGP1x
— USHL (@USHL) February 11, 2024
He had another one goal and two assists in 11 postseason games as Dubuque went on to lose in the Clark Cup Final.
Joona Vaisanen buries one late in the second as @fightingsaints close the gap on Fargo.#StarsRise | @flohockey | #2024ClarkCupPlayoffs | @WMUHockey pic.twitter.com/5WITIl5jo7
— USHL (@USHL) May 11, 2024
Vaisanen played for Finland in the U20 World Junior Championship, where he went scoreless in seven games. He was teammates with a pair of other Penguins Finnish defense prospects at the tournament in Emil Pieniniemi and Kalle Kangas. He often rotated in on a third pairing with Kangas.
Penguins director of amateur scouting Nick Pryor called Vaisanen a "smooth-skating defenseman who can move the puck really well on the breakout, in transition, in the offensive zone, on the power play."
"He's just a really good skater," Pryor added. "He's a good puck-mover, and he defends really well. He uses his feet, his stick to defend and close plays. We were excited to get him in the slot that we got him in."
Vaisanen also got a ringing endorsement from Kirk MacDonald -- his Dubuque head coach, now head coach of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins after being hired this offseason.
"Kirk said very, very positive things about him," Pryor said. "As a player and as a person. It only added to the information that we had, and made us feel even better about selecting Joona when we got him."
The Elite Prospects draft guide says Vaisanen "has nearly every modern defenceman skill set: He activates, shifts the defense towards him before passing, sets up chances, uses space before shooting, and closes space off the rush early. With the puck, he’s a manipulator; he fakes one way to get the opponent to chase, then accelerates in the opposite direction."
Vaisanen is one of a number of Finnish prospects the Penguins have drafted in recent years -- last year's class had Pieniniemi, Emil Jarventie and Kangas. Pryor said the Penguins aren't actively targeting Finns intentionally, they generally have a lot of attractive qualities.
"It's just their personality, their drive," Pryor said of Finnish players. "I've always found them to be extremely driven people and humble people as well. In my experience, they're people that fit into the locker room really well with their character, their ability to stay humble and be team-first players."
Vaisanen will be making the move to college hockey next season, joining Western Michigan.
