Ya it sounds like Oilers are pretty happy with him even though his offensive production isn't there. I wonder if he will eventually get some more PK time.
Confirmed with Link: Canucks Trade W Vasily Podkolzin to Oilers for 2025 4th (OTT)
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Ya it sounds like Oilers are pretty happy with him even though his offensive production isn't there. I wonder if he will eventually get some more PK time.
Still struggling to understand why Allvin gave up on Podkolzin.....I mean surely the guy brings as much or more to the table than the likes of Di Giuseppe, Heinen, Aman, Karlsson or anyone else they kept around.
And before they shipped him out, they'd just signed him to a two-year contract for basically $1m a season.....so he was cheap, this year and next.
Not unlike the team on the ice, Allvin isn't have a very good year either.
They did him a solid. I'm sure the development staff and coaching staff talked it over with management, and they felt he wasn't going to make the team with all the new acquisitions they got over the summer, i.e. Heinen, Sherwood, DeBrusk, etc. He'd now have to go through waivers to be sent to the AHL, so he’d be lost for nothing should he not make the team.
Could argue that they could have kept Podz over Sprong or something, but they were looking for something specific out of Sprong that Podz wasn't offering. Podz had plenty of opportunity to succeed here, and he didn't seize it.
Why they did him a solid, is that they could have run Podz through camp and then cut him and sent him through waivers, leaving him to be picked up by awful teams in god knows where. Instead, they trade him to a rival within Canada, a short flight away to Edmonton, causing minimal impact on his family. It also so happens Edmonton was absolutely starving for a young, cheap hardworking winger, and probably the best opportunity for Podz to get a footing in the NHL on a top team. And look what has happened, he's playing with Draisaitl and doing well, and will probably have an NHL career now. If they didn't like him as a person, there is no chance they trade him to a rival.
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I get your point.....at the start of the season, who knew that their bottom-six forward group would basically implode?
But with the benefit of hindsight, Podz would have been far better than the guys they've had shuttling back and forth down Highway One from Abbotsford to Vancouver. And he'd have certainly brought a lot more to the table than Heinen imo.
But it's a moot point--because they sold 'low' on him. And although he's not moving needle all that much in Edmonton, he's still a regular in a lineup that is far better than the sad-sack Canucks right now.
Mr. Canucklehead
Kitimat Canuck
I can see why we would still want Podkolzin around, but not getting the shade on Heinen. Basically the same offensive output while playing 3rd/4th line minutes vs. Podkolzin riding shotgun to one of the best players in the world. And Heinen does a lot of PK work.
I do think the Canucks worked with Podkolzin a lot, and tried to give him an opportunity somewhere new. I wish it was anywhere but Edmonton, but he’s a good, hard working kid and I’m glad he’s finding some success. I think finally getting a goal after whatever that stupid length of time was (a year and a half?) broke the dam and allowed his confidence to surge a bit.
Some people just need a change of scenery, when they thrive elsewhere isn't proof that they'd have thrived here if we kept them. Sucks but it happens, and sometimes we're on the recipients of those deals.
Thought Podkolzin had a decent game last night for Edmonton. Comes pretty much as advertised.....hard on the puck and an effective fore-checker. And his passing is actually quite good.
But absolutely zero finish. Glad he's found a home in Edmonton. Just wish the Canucks could have gotten more for him than a fourth round pick.
But absolutely zero finish. Glad he's found a home in Edmonton. Just wish the Canucks could have gotten more for him than a fourth round pick.
Cancuks
Former Exalted Ruler
Canucks always wait until the asset has diminished in value, before trading it. They'll do the same with Pettersson, Miller, Demko. Like stocks or crypto, buy low sell high. Not the opposite. Why they need to sell high on Sherwood, Lankinen. Maybe Hughes too if this shitshow continues.
Well management are paid to make the right decisions. We could have easily made room for Pods. Look at who was in the lineup tonight. Sasson (waiver exempt), Karlsson (waiver exempt) and PDG (history of clearing waivers). The idea that oh there's a good chance he would be lost to waivers is only if the team made it so. His contract at 2x$1M and his pedigree makes him the type of player you can extract value from. We shouldn't be like the Oilers and have replacement level vets block their young players and then think their young players might not be good enough.
Allvin talks about work ethic, tenancity, motor, physicality, speed, and Pods possesses that. Limited sample size but if you look at the combination of hitting, takeaways vs not giving away the puck, Pods is right up there as best on the team and you're telling me Pods doesn't have an NHL future? I'm not sure about how he did in Abbotsford, I'm only basing it on the games I watched him play in the NHL. When I watched him play last season I saw a player who can easily play a 4th line role in the NHL.
Change of scenery situations typically apply to players who have been given every opportunity but continues to underperform or players who feel entitled to a greater role than what has been given. That doesn't apply to a player like Pods who has only reached his first year of waiver eligibility and is willing to just work hard every day to earn a spot. There's zero entitlement from Pods and he isn't a top 6 or bust player or a poor fit for what the HC wants to do. If you listen to Tocchet's comments about Pods he seem to love him.
I like a poster alluded to above, if we drafted Podkolzin with a 4th round pick and he was being developed as a bottom 6 winger we would have been pretty happy with the results.
Yeah I don't think Podkolzin has an entitlement or any kind of attitude problem, the guy genuinely gave everything he had, maybe the expectations were misplaced from the beginning. Tthere were more than a few scouts and people here who were worried about his production in his draft year, so maybe he's just not got the offensive touch and expecting that from him is where we got off on the wrong foot.
But where a change in scenery might have helped with him might just be going to a team that doesn't remember him as a high draft pick that had all kinds of high expectations, so the pressure was off and he could re-invent himself with a fresh start.
Selfishly for us I didn't want to trade him especially for the return we got, but if he starts to out-perform over there I wouldn't assume the same would have happened if he'd stayed.
It’s not do you want him on your team today, but would he have made the opening day roster, and I don’t see it at all.
I think the analysis a bit more nuanced. The Canucks signed Pods to a 2x$1M AAV contract in April. It was a quick week long discussion to get it done. We can pinch pennies and say that's above the league minimum but I think the majority of us consider this routine.
Then UFA hit and we signed the forwards we signed including Sprong who pretty much everyone on here expressed their surprise at the signing. The point here is that the Canucks could have made room for Pods.
So then to answer your question of whether Pods would have made the opening day roster, the answer is Yes.
Ultimately Aman (who was later waived and cleared), Raty (who wasn't expected to put up a strong performance but was waiver exempt), PDG (who was waived and cleared) and Sprong (who was soon jettissoned and later waived and cleared) made the opening night roster. I acknowledge that Joshua was then expected to be healthy and be on the opening day roster.
I think in terms of asset management, there's room for Pods. There's no reason to keep PDG over Pods. I like PDG but clearly the guy has no future. Aman can play C so I can see him beating out Pods but as I am not a fan of Aman I obviously would think the right move is to keep Pods. Raty wasn't expected to make the opening night roster but regardless he was waiver exempt as are Karlsson and Bains. Sprong would be expected to make the team if we signed him.
Don't forget that Pods is one of the hardest workers around. He is also noticeably faster this season. Faster than the forwards mentioned. Do I think his combination of size, speed, hitting, skill, tenancity, work ethic, contract, draft pedigree, and defensive ability etc. would be good enough to make the opening day roster? Yes.
If the argument is that well Pods would have been waived and lost for nothing, well the reality is that all of the competing names got waived and cleared!
I am no huge PDG fan but he absolutely outplayed Pods all last year. He should have made the team above POD and that shouldn’t be a headline. The fact he didn’t is more evidence that Pods would not have.
Granted I'm no hockey scout......but if Podkolzin couldn't have brought more to the table than PDG, Karlsson or Heinen, then I'm trading in my stick and puck for a pickle-ball racquet.
Well again.ooki g at last year alone PDG outplayed him consistently… I think again last year Heiden same thing, but harder as he was on a different team. This year it took a ton of time for Podz to eccentric get going playing with the second best forward in the game.
I mean really I hope you have a good time playing pickleball
PDG had his breakout training camp last season and kept his roster spot because of it. He's 31 years old and is who he is which is a replacement level 4th line player. You keep the guy who is younger, faster, more physical, and more skilled.
Pods had a lousy start in Edm… he would not have lasted long IF he had made the opening night roster, which I highly doubt he does in the first place since PDG had outplayed him to this point, and PDG wasn’t good enough to make the team….
I think we have a fundamental disagreement here. PDG had an excellent start to last season that helped him stick the rest of the way. He soon reverted back to the player he has always been which is a replacement level 4th line player who usually spends around half the time in the minors.
As for PDG "outplaying" Pods, that's not what the advanced stats say. Pods also had more hits and more takeaways playing in far less games. This is not a guy you keep over a 23 year old Pods.
Without even having to look at those stats, it’s because as you noted one guy made the team and played higher in the lineup mostly in more difficult minutes. When Pod came up, he was on.y trusted in limited mins and role.
Even now, what Pods has done… has been when stapled to the second best player in the world… and it’s not super great either.
He is a routable guy, and it would have been great to have him here…. It he wouldnt have made the team…. raty had a really strong camp, we had Heinen and Sherwood all taking spots over him. Even if you think he is better than PDG… he wasn’t making it over those guys especially with how they played to start the year vs how he played.
Shocking that young players are often forced to earn the trust of coaches right? PDG should not play higher in the lineup and again PDG reverted back to being a replacement level 4th line player.
Oilers fans seem happy with Pods. It's not like they are complaining about Pods deployment alongside Drai. Reports out of Edmonton suggest that things are going well.
Maybe you don't sign Heinen. Certainly don't sign Sprong. Raty did have a strong camp and made the team on merit but he was also waiver exempt. I'm not sure why making room for a younger like Pods is a foreign concept. Certainly you understand that keeping a player who is waiver eligible vs a player who isn't or likely to clear waivers happens all the time.
The last line of your reply reminds me of a conversation I had a long time ago with @MS about if the canucks should have made room for Frankie Corrado. At the time I was taking your point of view. However you can’t always do that. Especially with first round picks. They get so much leeway to make the team, when they don’t it’s because they aren’t worth it.
Last year at every point PDG played ahead of Pods… like that’s just a fact, even when he reverted… he was still played ahead of Pods. And yeah you have to earn the coaches trust… see Kure for what happens otherwise.
You have to develop players, and Pods had absolutely stagnated for 2 seasons. Now if you want to argue that was the Canucks fault for bad development… sure I can hear that.
Again oilers fans like him because he is rutable good kid, stands up for teammates, hits… that doesn’t mean he is good…
I won't get into the debate about who is better, Podz or PDG. But the fact is PDG has been on waivers at least two or three times in the last couple of seasons--and nobody around the league was interested.
I doubt Podkolzin would ever have cleared waivers, which one of the main reasons the Canucks parted with him in a trade.
I doubt Podkolzin would ever have cleared waivers, which one of the main reasons the Canucks parted with him in a trade.
Brookbank
Registered User
- Nov 15, 2022
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He doesn't read the game good enough to fit into the sea of PDG's style that Tocchet plays
But you could argue that the Oilers are actually a much better defensive team than Vancouver, and Podkolzin seems to fit in just fine.
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