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

[F A N]

I agree with that, but I think league play is a better tool than tournaments for judging a player's true talent. We've seen amazing players go on cold streaks and poor players tear up tournaments. We've seen teams underplay gifted players and give mediocre players prime minutes.

In Podkolzin's case, I think we have to look at his numbers in context with the teams he's played on.

Draft -1

U-17 (All): He was the third-best scorer for the Russian squad with a 0.92 PPG pace. You could have hoped for a little more given the ages of the players who outscored him. That said, in a 10 game sample size I think any of Podkolzin, Gutlik, or Likhachyov could have taken the scoring lead as all were with a few points of the PPG line.

U-18 (All): Neither Gutlik nor Likhachyov joined him at this stage, likely due to their ages, but it's still a mark in his favor that he made the team. Nobody on this team was over a PPG but the players closest to the mark are all a year older the Podkolzin. Given that I and how Russia typically favors older players for these tournaments, I think a 0.58 PPg place isn't exactly unexpected.

Draft

U-18 (All): We can compare him to Gutlik and Likhachyov again as a benchmark. Remember how in the previous season Russia didn't have a PPG player? This time out Podkolzin was at a 1.27 PPG pace with the next best player only reaching 0.81 PPG.

U-20 (All): Here again we see him make the team as a younger player. Gutik and Likhackyov didn't join him so we'll have to look at them next to him this season. The players who played above him in U-18 last season are now above him at this level and scoring at or above a PPG pace while Podkolzin is hovering near a 0.5 PPG pace (I know it was technically 0.42 PPG but one more point and he's at 0.5 PPG). Given his jump at the U-18 level, we should hope to see him crest the PPG barrier and be among, if not the top scorer on his team.

I get that going PPG and then under 0.5 PPG aren't exactly sexy numbers, and that his numbers in the other 3 men's leagues aren't exactly mind-blowing. That said, how many players can really shine playing for 5 teams, against 5 different levels of competition. His longest stint with any team is 26 games for the U-18 squad with 14 and 12 being his next longest stays with any teams. That's a fairly rare situation and to see him continually being pushed up to the next level after such a short timeframe is encouraging.

TLDR; I think he's tracking well on teams where nobody is really knocking it out of the park. He's also the highest-scoring player when you combine his U-18 and U-20 stats together. That doesn't factor in games played and PPG but that's hardly a bad sign.

Aren't you suggesting that Podkolzin's international play is quite relevant here?

 

[Raistlin]

I'm not a fight fan, so I'm no expert, but that looked a bit more vigorous than a lot of what we see in the NHL, which amounts to hugs and falling over.

I thought they all fight like Alex Semin...

 

[Lindgren]

I thought they all fight like Alex Semin...

That's what I thought too.

 

[Teflon Jim]

If I had to take a couple to the head myself I would much rather it be by a guy without a glove on and I would choose to have no glove on so I could grab and defend myself... I would guess that if NHL fighters (staged fights I mean, not scrum fights) fought like that then there would be a heap of one-punch knockouts.
Eg boxers wear gloves so they can hit much harder without breaking their hands.

Disclaimer. I have had zero fights on skates.

I don't think players hold up on their punches and is the reason knuckles get busted on helmuts and hard heads with this form of bareknuckle fighting.
Picture a mma bareknuckle event where each fighter entered the ring with solid hard plastic helmuts with optional full face guards and were expected to throw bareknuckle punches at helmuts .
I expect knuckles to be broken ve3fore any tko happened and the sport rules would be short lived.
Perhaps requiring gloves to stay on would result in less onjurzies and likely less grappling and more punches thrown for more entertainment.

 

[Tables of Stats]

Aren't you suggesting that Podkolzin's international play is quite relevant here?

Not especially. I merely tried to tease out what I could from it as I lack the footage and the league knowledge to work with his data from those stretches of play. Those numbers also combine multiple tournaments and showcases into larger chunks. You'll se that there are no stats specifically for the world juniors for example.

 

[racerjoe]

A little bit off topic, but going backa few posts, Vancouver does or did have a "professional" Pillow fighting league

 

[Spectrefire]

Because with Benning's new extension they need to pump him up as much as possible. That's why we all suddenly became toxic a couple of days ago.

Suddenly?

When has this forum not been extremely toxic and miserable?

 

[F A N]

A little bit off topic, but going backa few posts, Vancouver does or did have a "professional" Pillow fighting league

Memory foam pillows allowed?

 

[racerjoe]

Memory foam pillows allowed?

Hahaha.

I don't really know the rules, I was just a road pop or two in stumbling into that. I have some photos and a couple great Videos... but not a lot of memory from that night.

 

[F A N]

not a lot of memory from that night.

Sounds like you may have suffered a concussion.

 

[canuckfan75]

The Curse of the Canucks Injury's has started already

He got hurt twice but he seems to be ok

/Cam Robinson/ (@Hockey_Robinson) | Twitter

 

[Lindgren]

The Curse of the Canucks Injury's has started already

He got hurt twice but he seems to be ok

/Cam Robinson/ (@Hockey_Robinson) | Twitter

Lots of great highlights there, including a goal by Hoglander. Thanks for posting.

 

[ihaveyuidonttouchme]

great game from podz
Czechs, a little/quite outmatched vs russia but who cares need to hype this guy up
no points but it was a fun highlights
blocked and hurt x3 times the worst at 111:10 in 3rd but came back for one shift..looked ok
lots of breakaways, drives the net

 

[VanJack]

A bit of a no-hitter game out there, but nothing the matter with Podkolzin's wheels in these highlights.....seems to have breakaway speed through the neutral zone....and protects the puck very well. Of course it'll be a lot different playing against men in the KHL.

But from these highlights the kid is a key cog on both the pp and pk, and definitely drives offense. So far so good. Another solid winger-add for the prospect pool.

 

[TomP24684]

Oh yes this. A thousand times this!

Should have recognized the blatant foreshadowing I guess. Shame BenningNtheJets twitter had to be the first casualty though. I'm going to miss that.

What happened to benningnthejets?

 

[The Iron Goalie]

A bit of a no-hitter game out there, but nothing the matter with Podkolzin's wheels in these highlights.....seems to have breakaway speed through the neutral zone....and protects the puck very well. Of course it'll be a lot different playing against men in the KHL.

But from these highlights the kid is a key cog on both the pp and pk, and definitely drives offense. So far so good. Another solid winger-add for the prospect pool.

He's a power two-way forward, and as you've pointed out he effects all areas of the game.

 

[logan5]

Can't find anything on line about a "4 nations tournament", like it says at centre ice there. I assume this is a U20 tournament?

I like these highlight packages showing all his shifts. I hope we can get these continuously through his KHL season. Hoglander too, maybe.

 

[Megaterio Llamas]

What happened to benningnthejets?

His twitter account disappeared a few days before the new posters coming here to defend Benning and complain about the toxicity, which itself preceded Benning signing his new three year contract extension by just a couple of days. It was kind of an interesting sequence of events I thought.

 

[MarkusNaslund19]

I see Landeskog. I'm not saying he'll be as good. Landy was a number 2 and almost a number 1 in a mediocre draft class. Podkolzin may not reach his heights.
But watching, the main criticism I see is occasional decision making. But it's in the way where you can see that it may be due to quality of teammate. I find he passes sometimes when I wish he would shoot, and shoots when I wish he would pass, but he gets himself into space in a very unique way.
He's super instinctive in the way that he picks up the puck and disguises his intentions to create space. That's something you can't teach, and he has it. And he's deceptive enough to beat guys 1-on-1. And you saw points where he did really creative passes. He's not a guy who is 100% sure to be a star. But I will go on the record here and throw my lot in with Benning. I wanted Boldy or Zegras (who went the pick before), but was really happy with Pod. If Pod isn't good, i revoke my ability to criticize Benning on this move in the future, cause I'm down with it

 

[VanJack]

Re-watched the entire highlight package, and must say that unlike a lot of flashy Russian players, Podkolzin is a definitely a bull-dog along the wall. Didn't see him lose any puck battles. My guess is he'll break in with the Canucks at around 6'2" and 205-210. Could be a serious load to handle along the boards in the offensive zone.

 

[Frankie Blueberries]

His twitter account disappeared a few days before the new posters coming here to defend Benning and complain about the toxicity, which itself preceded Benning signing his new three year contract extension by just a couple of days. It was kind of an interesting sequence of events I thought.

It’s crazy that ownership and management are wasting time and/or money on damage control online (sock propaganda accounts here, getting BenningntheJets’ twitter account deleted). Like shouldn’t they be focused on the hockey operations side of things since they have iced a garbage roster for 4 straight years?

 

[I in the Eye]

It’s crazy that ownership and management are wasting time and/or money on damage control online (sock propaganda accounts here, getting BenningntheJets’ twitter account deleted). Like shouldn’t they be focused on the hockey operations side of things since they have iced a garbage roster for 4 straight years?

Maybe they hired Cambridge Analytica...

 

[The Vasili Jerry]

From watching Podkolzin's games at this 4 Nations tournament I'm surprised he hasn't put up points. He makes some really nice plays to set up teammates but never seems to get rewarded. I just love his hustle and work ethic too.

 

[VintageBure]

I see Landeskog. I'm not saying he'll be as good. Landy was a number 2 and almost a number 1 in a mediocre draft class. Podkolzin may not reach his heights.
But watching, the main criticism I see is occasional decision making. But it's in the way where you can see that it may be due to quality of teammate. I find he passes sometimes when I wish he would shoot, and shoots when I wish he would pass, but he gets himself into space in a very unique way.
He's super instinctive in the way that he picks up the puck and disguises his intentions to create space. That's something you can't teach, and he has it. And he's deceptive enough to beat guys 1-on-1. And you saw points where he did really creative passes. He's not a guy who is 100% sure to be a star. But I will go on the record here and throw my lot in with Benning. I wanted Boldy or Zegras (who went the pick before), but was really happy with Pod. If Pod isn't good, i revoke my ability to criticize Benning on this move in the future, cause I'm down with it

I like the pick, I think he brings an element that this team doesn't have, and could be a very effective power forward. But its more than possible that Pod becomes a bottom 6 forward and Caufield becomes a 40 goal scorer.

 

[Lindgren]

I believe that Podkolzin was pointless in yesterday's U20 1-0 win over Sweden (and, obviously, so was Hoglander).