Confirmed with Link: Canucks Trade W Vasily Podkolzin to Oilers for 2025 4th (OTT)

[sting101]

This is what I was worried about when they signed Sprong. Roster spot and player gone for a player who twice ended up benched to end his years and is a physical no show. Trade a beauty to keep a creep just because he's more talented. Don't like it. And especially to Edmonton.
Just like that 30yr old Ceci gone and Holloway Podkolzin and Broberg in to give them some young legs and energy. Would have much rather tried Kylington than Sprong and kept Pod

 

[Hoglander]

Was hoping Pod would establish himself this season, too bad. But giving him to Edmonton? Puke.

Hopefully this deal wasn't made just so we could keep Di Giuseppe. Seems like we did Edmonton a favor, more than anything.

 

[hnlnz]

I have mostly seen and heard negative reaction to the Podkolzin trade. It seems fans are frustrated with 1) the return, and 2) that we traded him to EDM.

Thought #1

If we did not trade Podkolzin, there would be a good chance he would be claimed on waivers at the start of the season, and we would lose him for nothing.

This is based on the fact that PDG & Aman are cheaper and were more impactful than Podkolzin last season. With the signing of Sprong, Podkolzin was on track to be our 15th forward and not make the team.

As you can see below, PDG & Aman take up less cap space, averaged more pts/game (offence), and had a higher PK TOI%/game (defense) than Podkolzin last season.

PDG (10pt/51gp, avg 16.07pts/82gp, 26.4 SH TOI%, 0.775M AAV)
Aman (7pt/43gp, avg 13.34pts/gp, 24.4 SH TOI%, 0.825 M AAV
Podkolzin (2pt/19gp, avg 8.63pts/gp, 0.0 SH TOI%, 1.0M AAV)

NHL Stats

Based on last season, it is safe to say Podkolzin is currently a worse and more expensive player than PDG & Aman.

Thought #2

Trading Podkolzin specifically to EDM is a good thing for the Canucks.

If we want to win the Cup, we likely need to beat EDM first. If Podkolzin plays in EDM’s lineup, then EDM will have a forward in their main lineup who is worse than both of VAN’s spare forwards. I am very okay with playing against a player who gets less than 1 point every 10 games and does not penalty kill.

Further, if PDG is 0.775M and better than Podkolzin, then you could say Podkolzin is overpaid by at LEAST 0.225M AAV. This overpayment is now with EDM. You might think that 0.225M is nothing, but 0.225M can actually become 4.086M.

0.225M = 1.0215M at the trade deadline. With 1.0215M, you can acquire a player at 25% with a 4.086M cap hit. This 4.086M can be the difference in having enough cap space to acquire a big rental player at the deadline (e.g., Jake Guentzel last season) when combined with other cap savings.

Thought #3

Considering we could have lost Podkolzin for nothing, the value that we got back is better than most people think. OTT’s 4th round pick will likely be much higher than EDM’s 4th round pick. EDM’s 4th might be close to a 5th. OTT’s 4th might be close to a 3rd.

Thought #4

The Canucks ended up trading what was once ~350 draft value for ~10 draft value. Examining the value of NHL Draft picks - Sound Of Hockey

Podkolzin was drafted 10th OA, which equals 354.44 draft value. OTT’s 4th round pick likely falls roughly in the 100-110 OA range. That is ~10 draft value.

Does this mean ALLVIN made a bad trade? No. It means Podkolzin was NOT worth a 10 OA pick. It means Podkolzin became 1/35th of the player we expected him to become when we drafted him. It means we could have had a player who got 69 points instead of 2 points last season, if we just said “Matt Boldy” instead of "Vasiliev Podslovan”.

I think the main lesson here is that HIGH 1ST round draft picks have VERY HIGH STAKES.

 

[Wisp]

This is what I was worried about when they signed Sprong. Roster spot and player gone for a player who twice ended up benched to end his years and is a physical no show. Trade a beauty to keep a creep just because he's more talented. Don't like it. And especially to Edmonton.

A beauty? A creep?

 

[Brock Boeser Laser Show]

If you draft a winger and they can't secure a roster spot 5 years later it probably means they are trending towards bustville/depth player status. Best case scenario is 5-10 goals in a 4th line role but the Canucks already have established players that can do that. How does Podz help you win next year? Fans have a soft spot for him because He gives 100%. Unfortunately A lot of the time he will be very spastic and put himself out of position.

4th round pick is an solidified asset that will never lose value throughout the year. If Podz doesn't crack the top 12 he's pretty much useless and valueless at that point. 4th round pick has guaranteed trade value and I expect this is just one of many moves to come.

 

[David71]

I think this is a precursor to something else that is coming... specifically a Poolman trade perhaps?

Anyone feel like doing the math. Assuming we get rid of Poolmans contract, how much cap space to we have to play with at the trade deadline.

If we're able to package this 4th with the Poolman contract and bring in a big ticket piece with the saved cap space over that time, we'll be looking back at this as a genius move.

And lets be honest, if we kept him and he got claimed in waivers, everyone here would be saying "WTF... WE COULDN'T EVEN GET A 4th FOR HIM??? WTF MAN! Terrible Asset management!!! Fire Allvin!!!"

it sorts feels like when anthony beviller was dealt to chicago to get rid of his entire caphit and they got a 4th. they then used that 2 days later to flip it to calgary to get zadorov. we could see something familiar. get rid of poolmans 2.5 more space to add someone else. maybe not in free agency though.

I'm going to try to answer my own question. The Canucks now have 23 players on the roster (Inc Poolman). If they trade Poolman this frees up 2.5m. Assuming they sign someone to replace him on the 23 man roster or bring someone up to the roster this leaves them with around 2m in cap space.

Accrued over the coarse of the season, this should be roughly 8m in cap space. Assuming they also remove someone from the roster in trades, this likely means they can bring in someone worth upwards of 9m as a rental.

If this is Allvin's endgame and he pulls it off, this trade will be looked at as a pretty shrewd move if we bring in a true #2 defender or first line winger.

alvin has a plan. us fans gotta be patient. if they bring in both a number 2 defender+another winger/center maybe a right handed centerman to win draws would be nice.

 

[Vector]

I’m pretty sure they’re counting Mynio’s ELC which slides? It should be 47.

This is correct. I brought it up in a previous post.

 

[PuckMunchkin]

He's a Russian version of Puljujarvi. You could ask AI to show you one of them and with the funny little mistakes and differences those AI generators spit out it'd just as likely show you the other guy. And not really be wrong.

Horrific comparison. Sorry. But just an awful take.

 

[iceburg]

It also sounds like it may have to do with contract slots:

https://x.com/i/web/status/1825317438931832973

Like I questioned earlier in the thread I think it’s this plus simply a decision to move on from the player and lock in some form of return. It’s still odd in the overall context.

 

[Jyrki21]

I kind of expected something like this… I thought maybe during training camp though, and like others I don’t love that it’s the Oilers.

I didn’t have strong feelings about the 2019 draft, but like most people here I thought Boldy/Caufield sounded good…

 

[Canucker]

Can't say I'm a fan of the trade, but I'm guessing this will be a move that allows them to bring in a PTO or two they might get on the cheap who will provide more value...so, I understand it and depending on the PTO I'm pretty ok with it. Just sucks that Pod never really became what we had hoped he would...at least not here.

 

[ChilliBilly]

Prior to the trade, we would have needed to send Aman down waivers to remain cap compliant. With Podkolzin now traded, Aman can be included in the 23 man roster, if he makes the team obviously. So we have about $190k in cap space. If you send Aman down anyway, we have just over $1M in cap space with a 22 man roster.

If Aman and Poolman are gone/sent down (assuming you clear Poolman’s $2.5M without taking back any cap), we can have as much as $2.5-3.5M in cap space depending on if you run a 22 or 23 man roster. Would result in crazy amounts of cap at the TDL from accrual ($8-10M+) assuming no one goes on LTIR/trades/player movement which we will likely see.

I’m positively certain we see Poolman moved, probably within the next 2-3 weeks.

If we move Poolman, its going to cost us a fair deal. More than our new 4th. It would be nice to get rid of the dead weight, but it will be expensive. And there is a good chance that 4th will only be 5 - 6 picks later than an Edmonton 3rd. And Poolman's contract is gone after this year, perhaps we should just ride it out.

 

[mathonwy]

Top 10 pick tracking to become a late blomer being traded for a bag of pucks (4th) to an organization with a track record of not caring about an employee's non-hockey related stuff whatsoever.

Canucks dumping all of their Russians within the span of a few months.

Sigh Matthew Boldy. f*** Benning.

 

[TruGr1t]

Like I questioned earlier in the thread I think it’s this plus simply a decision to move on from the player and lock in some form of return. It’s still odd in the overall context.

Agreed. I’m not sure it’s a precursor to something else, though it’s weird they flipped on the player that quickly after signing the contract. I’m guessing they ended up signing more UFAs than expected and wanted to clear out a contract and get some type of return.

 

[WetcoastOrca]

The right move. There was 0% chance he would pass through waivers as Edmonton just paid a 4th for him. He was going to get claimed.

 

[drax0s]

Not really a fan of this trade, but probably because I was personally invested in Pod. I am surprised this happened before training camp though. Thought they'd at least see what he could bring this year. Wonder if he wanted out.

It's weird - ever since his draft there has been this "why can't he finish?" vibe to him - like puljujaarvi in a way. The compete, tools and skill all seem to be there but the points aren't for some reason.

 

[iceburg]

Agreed. I’m not sure it’s a precursor to something else, though it’s weird they flipped on the player that quickly after signing the contract. I’m guessing they ended up signing more UFAs than expected and wanted to clear out a contract and get some type of return.

Sprong for under $1M was probably one they didn’t expect to do. It likely changed their thinking about the mix going in to the season.

 

[JanBulisPiggyBack]

I will always remember the Russians being down in the third period of the world Juniors and Podz just demanding the boys don't give up and went out there giving it everything

I guess there is no room in the NHL anymore for pure character if you don't have big league finish.

I want to cheer for him but damn, success for him means success for Edmonton

 

[Phrasing]

Don't mind the trade, just mind the team traded to. Doubt it comes back to bite the Canucks though.

 

[tantalum]

In the end, Podz simply got passed by too many forwards the last couple of season and fell on the depth chart --> Aman, Bains, Hoglander, add Lekk and Raty. He was no longer truly in the running for a role in the NHL. As a waiver eligible guy with a bit of trade value they got something for him.

 

[Bgav]

Only wish he got traded literally anywhere else so we could cheer for him lmao

 

[cc]

At the very least, pods could have developed into a Sherwood type player who clearly has value. I guess they felt it wasn't really worth the time and effort to develop Pods

I would have tried to move pdg over Pods easily except the tocchet seem to love him on the pk. I believe Pods could have developed into that role too if they had some patience

 

[Tables of Stats]

We don't have to watch him play for the fing oilers!
Also we won't have potentially done the oilers a favour.

What are the chances that a guy who couldn't make our 4th line moves the needle for the Oilers?

For everybody lamenting us losing Podkolzin what evidence did you see for him being an impact player after the end of his rookie season? Most of the takes I'm seeing here wanting us to keep him or trade him to a different team seem to be based solely in what posters wish hecoukd be rather than anything he's shown on the ice.

 

[Diversification]

It's a disappointing ending as I had high hopes for Pod. Really liked his motor and ability to disrupt plays and win back possession at the lower levels. I was hopeful that that aspect would translate at the higher levels but alas.

I wish him the best but so far there isn't any plus attribute that pops in his game that indicates he'll break through as an NHL regular.

 

[Bitz and Bites]

I kind of expected something like this… I thought maybe during training camp though, and like others I don’t love that it’s the Oilers.

I didn’t have strong feelings about the 2019 draft, but like most people here I thought Boldy/Caufield sounded good…

Yeah, I thought Boldy was the pick to make as well although I didn’t see Podz falling to 10 but I likely would have picked Boldy between the two anyways. I remember thinking at the time that Podz floor was an impact third liner, and maybe it still is, but five years later he’s made virtually no impact in any pro league outside of a few flashes here and there.