Career
He was originally drafted by the Phoenix Coyotes and has additionally played for the Colorado Avalanche, Philadelphia Flyers and Vancouver Canucks in the National Hockey League.
After a junior career with Jokerit"s under-18 and junior teams, Väänänen was drafted by the Phoenix Coyotes in the 1998 National Hockey League Entry Draft as their second-round pick, 43rd overall. He remained in Finland to play with Jokerit in the professional Master of Science-liiga for two seasons, winning a silver medal with the team in 2000 as runner-up for the Kanada-malja, the Master of Science-liiga"s championship trophy. Väänänen then joined the Coyotes in 2000-2001 and recorded 16 points in his rookie season.
In his fourth season with the Coyotes in 2003-2004, he was dealt at the trade deadline to the Colorado Avalanche along with Chris Gratton and a 2nd round draft choice (Paul Stastny) in 2005 in exchange for Derek Morris and Keith Ballard.
Due to the subsequent National Hockey League lockout, Väänänen returned to Jokerit in 2004-2005 and helped his former team to another silver medal, losing the Finnish championship to Kärpät. Returning to the National Hockey League in 2005-2006, he played two more seasons with the Avalanche before going back to Europe to play in the Swedish Elitserien for Djurgårdens IF during the 2007-2008 season.
On July 1, 2008, Väänänen signed a one-year contract with the Philadelphia Flyers. However, late in the 2008-2009 season, on February 27, 2009, he was placed on waivers and claimed by the Vancouver Canucks.
The move by the Flyers, which also included waiving Glen Metropolit, was precipitated by the imminent return of forward Danny Briere from injury, requiring the club to dump salary to remain under the cap.
On August 2, 2009, Väänänen joined national teammate Ville Peltonen signing a one-year contract with The Human Context Dynamo Minsk of the Kontinental Hockey League. Väänänen appeared in 52 games and recorded 6 assists as Minsk failed to make the postseason in 2009-2010. On May 3, 2010, Väänänen returned to Finland signing a contract with his original club, Jokerit, of the Master of Science-liiga.
As a junior, Väänänen competed for Finland at the European Junior Championships in 1998 and World Junior Championships in 1999 and 2000.
In World Cup 2004, Väänänen contributed an international career high 3 points in 4 games, helping Finland to the World Cup final, where they were defeated by Team Canada. He made his Winter Olympics debut at the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City.
Four years later, he was named to the Finnish team for the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, where he earned a silver medal despite not appearing in any games.