Prospect Info: 10th overall: Vancouver selects Vasili Podkolzin (RW, SKA St. Petersburg)

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thefeebster

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Mar 13, 2009
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Feebs, still think Podkolzin is a top5 talent? Outside of the Russian factor of course.

I see the talent in this kid. I don’t think his earlier ranking was primarily based upon his complete game, though it helped. The skill level is there.
Yes, in a way. His total package is a top 5 talent, but still not without flaws. However, with adding in the production risk (there are very, very, very few successful cohorts, based on my review, i wonder where the Potato GM had him), this hurts him for me.

To take any player top 5, i think production has to be there; otherwise its too risky. At 10, i can come around to production concerns if everything else is there. But then add another layer (Russian) and i hesitate.
 
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Horse McHindu

They call me Horse.....
Jun 21, 2014
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Seriously, I don't get the concerns about production at all. Pod was a 17 year old forward playing men's leagues last season. There isn't a single professional level hockey coach that's going to give a 17 year old any significant ice time, let alone place them in productive scoring situations.




I'm really curious about Seider, for a guy who was projected to go in the mid to late 1st round, there have been a lot of teams that have been talking about snatching him up much earlier, enough so that Yzerman felt he had to take him at 6.

He's going to be an interesting player to watch for sure.

Re - Seider:

Unlike previous years, I only started paying attention to the prospects in the draft one week before the event. Out of my initial observation, Seider was one of the first guys to catch my attention.

My “boys” in this draft were as follows:

- Kakko (he will be better than Jack imo).
-Podkolzin
-Boldy
-Krebs (my realistic choice at #10. I figured the names above this would be gone).
-Cozens
-Soderstrom
-Seider
 

Peen

Rejoicing in a Benning-free world
Oct 6, 2013
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I don't follow prospects anymore.

Relative to Virtanen in their draft years, how does he compare?

Virtanen had speed, a shot, and delivered some big hits. Had no ability in puck battles, any vision whatsoever, and a lack of a two way game. He also seemed unlikely to hit his potential.

What's the base level scouting report for Pod? How likely is it he reaches his potential?
 

JanBulisPiggyBack

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Dec 31, 2011
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We haven’t seen a Russian like him in a while, the grit is quiet appealing and two years of development against men is gonna be beneficial, I wonder what his KHL contract looks like if he gets dropped down to the minors over there??

We should get a good look at him against his age brackey at the next world juniors to gauge what his production is like, but given a full season in the KHL it would look good on him to produce at a .65-.7 PPG pace I would expect
 

Nomobo

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Feb 20, 2015
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I don't follow prospects anymore.

Relative to Virtanen in their draft years, how does he compare?

Virtanen had speed, a shot, and delivered some big hits. Had no ability in puck battles, any vision whatsoever, and a lack of a two way game. He also seemed unlikely to hit his potential.

What's the base level scouting report for Pod? How likely is it he reaches his potential?
From what I’ve seen since we picked him is that he has everything that Virtanen didn’t. Could very well be second or third best player to come out of this draft.
 

F A N

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Aug 12, 2005
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Were there production concerns with William Nylander at the time? I forget. I think most of the focus was on his attitude and him playing for multiple teams which was rare for a Swedish player.

Podkolzin does lack the ability to disguise his intentions and shot the way Pettersson can but obviously Pettersson does that at an elite level. But I wonder if that would become a factor in terms of his goal scoring potential down the line of his skating ends up being good enough.
 

Love

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Feb 29, 2012
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Were there production concerns with William Nylander at the time? I forget. I think most of the focus was on his attitude and him playing for multiple teams which was rare for a Swedish player.

Podkolzin does lack the ability to disguise his intentions and shot the way Pettersson can but obviously Pettersson does that at an elite level. But I wonder if that would become a factor in terms of his goal scoring potential down the line of his skating ends up being good enough.

No Nylander had awesome production both for his club team and at U18s.
 
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racerjoe

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Jun 3, 2012
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It's a tough one because Podkolzin wasn't on the radar. Would you classify his stick handling and zone entries as those of a lesser skilled player? I'm not sure I would.

For me, the production is the worry. He 'looks' skilled. He looks like he has a motor and that he can deke 1 on 1. He did not produce like a future potential 1st liner though. It's the opposite of Cozens, who produced very well, but did not apparently look to be as skilled while doing so.

Polarizing pick. I think I'm trying to rationalize it. Caught me off guard.

The production is huge. Not even looking at his KHL stats, but lower levels he wasn’t producing. I see why scouts liked him. He is an absolute bulldog. He has some great individual skills. It is him putting them together, that is the concern. The pieces he has don’t seem to fit. I think it is probably in his head, he doesn’t have the mind for it.

The Scouching video people have referenced it a couple times without knowing it. It’s his poor shot selection and safe passing. It’s why he isn’t scoring now, and if he isn’t scoring now I don’t see that improving as he moves up levels.


Were there production concerns with William Nylander at the time? I forget. I think most of the focus was on his attitude and him playing for multiple teams which was rare for a Swedish player.

Podkolzin does lack the ability to disguise his intentions and shot the way Pettersson can but obviously Pettersson does that at an elite level. But I wonder if that would become a factor in terms of his goal scoring potential down the line of his skating ends up being good enough.

In comparison Nylander put up huge numbers. It wasn’t huge point totals, but it dwarfs what podzkolzin was scoring at this season.
 

Nomobo

Registered User
Feb 20, 2015
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On that note, Mythbusters tested this out: bulls in a China shop actually does very little if any wrecking.
:thumbu:

Not sure why I think this is important but hey there it is.
Believe it or not but myths are still important in the age of robots. Just my opinion though.
 
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Horse McHindu

They call me Horse.....
Jun 21, 2014
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LOTS of hockey pundits are saying that this guy should have gone top 5.........some of which are even saying #3.

This is the 2nd year in a row now where a guy who I expected to be drafted much higher fell directly into our laps.

I can’t say what will happen this season and next, but I feel extremely confident that we will have two very dangerous scoring lines in two years.
 

ahmon

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Jun 25, 2002
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Podkolzin is actually a safe pick.

He has a high floor but I question his ceiling.

Hard to see how a player with that kind of work ethic and grit will not at least carve out a NHL career as a bot 6 forward.

The question is most of his production seems to come from very individualistic plays.

I think he sees the ice ok. But he certainly didn't display super high hockey IQ in the offensive zone, whenever I watch him.

But then with his combination of decent size, hands, and will, and you hope for a player like Landeskog.
 
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LickTheEnvelope

Weird time to be a Canucks fan 2024
Dec 16, 2008
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I don't follow prospects anymore.

Relative to Virtanen in their draft years, how does he compare?

Virtanen had speed, a shot, and delivered some big hits. Had no ability in puck battles, any vision whatsoever, and a lack of a two way game. He also seemed unlikely to hit his potential.

What's the base level scouting report for Pod? How likely is it he reaches his potential?

If you watch him the closest comparison I can make is Horvat. Both try to go straight through dmen and are tough to play against.
 

Quinning

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Mar 18, 2008
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He’ll have an NHL career in some respect. He’s got all the tools. Reminds me of Virtanen, although I’d say he’s got higher IQ. Not quite the skater Jake is though.

If he tops out at Evander Kane, that’s a win at 10 IMO. Every team in the league could use a 50-60 point PWF.

I’d say he compares favourably to Timo Meier.
 
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iceburg

Don't ask why
Aug 31, 2003
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Everyone should watch the video in post #230. It is an excellent report on Podkolzin. In short: tenacious to a high level, straight ahead speed, limited finesse (compared to other top end picks).
 
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