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

[coastal_nuck]

Good video and assessment.

He seems like he’s going to be a complimentary do everything power winger. The question is will he be a 1W, 2W, or 3W?

I like Pod as a prospect and don't dislike the pick at all given Zegras was gone at 10. But it does give me pause with the various reports questioning his creativity and his overemphasizing of straight-line play. Sounds like a Virtanen but with a better motor. Am I way off base here?

 

[HankNDank]

I like Pod as a prospect and don't dislike the pick at all given Zegras was gone at 10. But it does give me pause with the various reports questioning his creativity and his overemphasizing of straight-line play. Sounds like a Virtanen but with a better motor. Am I way off base here?

I am by no means an expert on Podkolzin, but it sounds like he's a Virtanen who drives the puck to the net, not down the walls for a low quality shot, or a drive by behind the net to the opposite wing. To simplify it drastically.

 

[Tryforthekingdom]

I like Pod as a prospect and don't dislike the pick at all given Zegras was gone at 10. But it does give me pause with the various reports questioning his creativity and his overemphasizing of straight-line play. Sounds like a Virtanen but with a better motor. Am I way off base here?

He's definitely more skilled all around than Virtanen as a prospect. Far better hands and lateral movement. Virtanen would have him on speed and shot. The biggest difference is that while Virtanen will take the puck all by himself down the wing, Podkolzin will at least try to take it right to the net. He does struggle to use his teammates effectively though and suffers from some pretty bad tunnel vision.

 

[Sergei Shirokov]

Virtanen doesnt have half the intensity Pod does

 

[CherryToke]

Virtanen also doesn't have half the offensive awareness and ability to read plays off the cycle. That's his biggest flaw to me.

 

[PuckMunchkin]

Virtanen also doesn't have half the offensive awareness and ability to read plays off the cycle. That's his biggest flaw to me.

Came to say this.

From what I understand Podz does his best work in the cycle.

 

[DFAC]

He's one of the most skilled players in the draft. Weird that you're hearing that.

That second goal was a beauty but that third one was even nicer

 

[PuckMunchkin]

He's one of the most skilled players in the draft. Weird that you're hearing that.

I dont think he is.

He does have a motor that doesnt stop tho. If he can fix his skating issues he could become a fantastic middle sixer.

 

[Icebreakers]

Everything ive read about Podkolzin says that he has a really high floor but low ceiling. Fantastic motor and work ethic. His production was really questionable this past year, especially the u18s, who many thought he would dominate. A high motor can only take you so far, you need the finesse in order to produce at a high level. At this point i think a 25-25 guy would be his realistic potential if things go well. Chris Kreider/Evander Kane basically.

 

[Love]

“Vasiliev Podsloven”

 

[Icebreakers]

I like Pod as a prospect and don't dislike the pick at all given Zegras was gone at 10. But it does give me pause with the various reports questioning his creativity and his overemphasizing of straight-line play. Sounds like a Virtanen but with a better motor. Am I way off base here?

No, you are absolutely correct. I mean his draft highlights were headbutting and stealing the puck on a faceoff lol. His production was really average for a projected top 5 pick. The thing he has over Virtanen is the two way game. But oh boy he's going to have to find different ways to produce than trying to go through 3 guys. He does not have that kind of talent to do that at the NHL level.

 

[Hyzer]

I think Pod is the real deal.

His puck protection skills are second only to Kappo in this draft to be completely honest. I think a lot of his deficiencies are overblown. This guy doesn't have an IQ level like Virtanen or Nichuskin. This guys hockey IQ is already leaps and bounds ahead. If he can work on his skating a little bit, he's going to be insanely dangerous on Bo's line with those 2 bulldogs not giving you an inch of space.

 

[Quinning]

Is he eligible to come to development camp?

 

[Icebreakers]

I think Pod is the real deal.

His puck protection skills are second only to Kappo in this draft to be completely honest. I think a lot of his deficiencies are overblown. This guy doesn't have an IQ level like Virtanen or Nichuskin. This guys hockey IQ is already leaps and bounds ahead. If he can work on his skating a little bit, he's going to be insanely dangerous on Bo's line with those 2 bulldogs not giving you an inch of space.

If his offensive IQ was that good he would have produced more. Im not saying hes dumb as Virtanen but he needs to find other ways to produce besides driving to the net going through 2 defenders. Bo Horvat can drive to the net. Bo Horvat can also score some of the most garbage goals in the NHL and gets in the right positions. Nichushkin even out produced Podkolzin at every level in his draft year. Not saying that means anything but Podkolzin has a long way to go before becoming a top 6 impact forward on the offensive end (consistently).

 

[Icebreakers]

Is he eligible to come to development camp?

No, he won't be at development camp. He went back to Russia the day after the draft.

 

[UK Canuck]

just thinking 2 years down the line, with the KHL season ending in mid-April, will Vasily be able to join us for our Stanley Cup run in 2021? or do KHL contracts end in the summer?

 

[Caser]

Any Russian-speaking people in here? Was his name pronounced correctly when cheat-sheet-guy announced him? Something like Podstroveeh.

Of course it wasn't, I laughed pretty hard at that.

 

[Orca Smash]

No, you are absolutely correct. I mean his draft highlights were headbutting and stealing the puck on a faceoff lol. His production was really average for a projected top 5 pick. The thing he has over Virtanen is the two way game. But oh boy he's going to have to find different ways to produce than trying to go through 3 guys. He does not have that kind of talent to do that at the NHL level.

Not just the two way game, but I also think his stick handling is better. But the other frustrating thing about virtanen is his motor and lack of consistency, which does not seem to effect podkolzin.

The interesting thing about his production is caser broke it down here on post 536

RW/LW Vasili Podkolzin - SKA-Neva St.Petersburg, VHL (2019, 10th, VAN)

The other thing that gives me hope is he is still 17, when you factor in his low TOI, getting bounced around leagues, and the fact he was 17 all year playing some games in men's leagues.

With that said that only factors in as something to consider if he produces this year, he will still play his entire khl season as an 18 year old, but we do want to see some production. There was talk about him prior to the draft similar to brady tkachuk given point production but scout's had him ranked high, and like many brady was not my type of draft choice, and he missed the prior draft by a day or two if memory serves me, where podkolzin played his draft year as a 17 year old and not getting a ton of toi . I dont harp on birthdays like some unless they are extreme one way or the other.

 

[Quinning]

The big worry here is that he flourishes in the KHL over the next two seasons and SKA opens the vault to keep him in Russia.

We will need a couple Russians in the lineup to help insulate him when he does come over. He doesn’t know a word of English. If I were the Canucks, I would hire a consultant to work with him on and off over the next two years to teach him English and acclimatize him to the North American game, so that when he does come over it won’t be a Tryamkin-like culture shock.

Tryamkin is almost certainly coming back so that should help things.

 

[Addison Rae]

just thinking 2 years down the line, with the KHL season ending in mid-April, will Vasily be able to join us for our Stanley Cup run in 2021? or do KHL contracts end in the summer?

Yes. Tryamkin was able to do it.

 

[nowhereman]

“Vasiliev Podsloven”

It's the same thing with the old man Galardi pick for Dallas. You would think they would take the 10 seconds to learn the player's name, before announcing it on national television. At least have the name of the player written out phonetically. It's insulting and lazy to do anything otherwise.

 

[Luck 6]

One thing I see different from Virtanen to Pods is that Pods never floats, he is always engaged looking to get the puck back. The guy doesn’t quit. He seems to have a rare combination of skill, drive, and unmatched effort levels. You would think that would at least propel him to a 2W power forward role, I think that’s a fine pick at 10 if he makes it there.

 

[VanJack]

Sportsnet's Sam Cosentino favorite pick in the first round.....definitely a top-five draft talent who fell because of the perceived 'Russian factor' and his two-year contract in the KHL.

Exactly the kind of talent the Canucks should be rolling the dice on. Obviously Boldy, Soderstrom or Krebs might have been 'safer picks". But Canucks need size and top-end talent more than anything.

I'm totally on-board with the pick.

 

[Pip]

Why do people act like the Russian factor isn’t a very real thing

 

[CanaFan]

Why do people act like the Russian factor isn’t a very real thing

Cause it’s hard to quantify would be my guess. How would you approach it? Avoid all Russians, all the time? Knock their value down X%?