CHICAGO — Don Sweeney had one thing in common with every general manager and front office staff from the majority of the 31-team National Hockey League.

All of them held on to their first round pick in 2017.

When little to no moves happen, it signals that the prospect field is so strong that teams covet their first round pick and select a hot up and comer or it’s so weak that teams are forced to keep the selection. The best example of the former happened in 2003 in what was arguably the best draft class in recent memory. In 2017, the latter happened and Sweeney elected to stay put.

Though names like Marco Scandella were rumored to be available with Sweeney and the Bruins having an interest, and with an eye perhaps on trading down in hopes of getting Boston University netminder Jake Oettinger late in the first round, the B’s kept Pick No. 18 intact. With the selection, the Bruins chose Urho Vaakanainen, a 6-foot-1 defenseman from JYP of the Finnish Elite League.

“I was on record beforehand saying that I would be offering my first round pick to target specific players, and we did do that,” Sweeney said about trying to trade his first round pick before deciding to add to his pool of blueline prospects already in the organization. “Other teams, I don’t blame them for not wanting [to make a trade], so we went with the pick and we were comfortable with adding to what we think is a good group of guys.”

Even with a couple of significant trades that happened earlier in the day – highlighted by the draft host Blackhawks moving Niklas Hjalmarsson and Artemi Panarin – the lack of moves by Sweeney and the other GMs in the first round came to little surprise. The only pick that was swapped was from the same hometown Blackhawks, who swapped first rounders with the Stars so they could select Oettinger.

The Bruins pick, however, came as to a surprise to Vaakanainen, who only had one interview with Sweeney and company at the Draft Combine earlier in the month.

“My expectation was to go in the first round. I wasn’t expected to go to Boston, but the first round was my expectation,” said Vaakanainen, whose father once coached Tuukka Rask overseas. “I met [the Bruins staff] at the combine, but that was it. That was my only meeting in person.”

So what should Bruins fans know about Vaakaninen? For one, he expects to stay in Finland next season to continue his development overseas. The Finn also likes to model his game after Roman Josi and considers himself a “complete package.”

“I think I’m a good skater and I’m pretty good with the puck,” Vaakanainen, donning the Bruins’ modified Adidas Jersey, said in his first meeting with the Boston media. “I have a great first pass. I’m a complete package and a two-way defenseman, steady guy.”

They only had one meeting, but there was one thing that stood out to Sweeney when scouting Vaakaninen on film – playing with older players.

Unlike juniors where players are skating with guys the same age, Vaakaninen has already gone up against guys who are older while playing for JYP and Blues – both of SM-Liiga. In some cases, significantly older.

“Confident kid,” Sweeney said about Vaakaninen, who also represented his country during the 2017 World Junior Championships. “I think he understands what his strengths are in describing himself as a very, very good skater, and he’s got confidence because he’s played against men for the last year and a half as a 17, 18-year-old player.”

He may have some swagger in him, but Vaakannien, who only tallied six points in 45 games with JYP in 2016-17, is still a few years away from even being considered as a potential regular on the Bruins blue-line. Many mock drafts pegged him anywhere between the middle of the first and second rounds.

A lanky defenseman with a good reach, Vaakaninen is pretty skilled in his own end. His offensive traits need some work.

From Kirk Luedeke’s scouting report in the New England Hockey Journal’s draft preview

“Lanky Finn, is smooth and doesn’t panic under pressure. You’re probably not getting a top two or three ‘D,’ but you’re getting a smart, capable guy who has the skill-set required of the modern NHL blue-liner. Central scouting’s eighth-ranked European skater.”

He may not have been a stretch pick per se, but Sweeney made what scouts called a “projection pick.” Instead of eyeing what they see in Vaakaninen in his current stature, the Bruins see him as what he could be with a few years of development.

In the days ahead, however, Sweeney needs to fill the Bruins biggest holes: a top-six left winger and a top-four left shot defenseman.