Confirmed with Link: [EDM/VAN] Oilers acquire Vasily Podkolzin for OTT 4th '25

[AM]

I like Podz skating/checking better than Kostin’s tbh.

He can really hunt the puck - maybe it fades but this kid can really get around and grind in the corners.

what he hasn’t shown that Kostin did is a shot or some offensive flair - but I’m okay with that

Looks good so far. Can add to drais line.

 

[OilerTitanFan]

It was interesting to hear the analyst talk. Top 5 pick. Steal of a pick. Comparable: Evander Kane

 

[Lay Z Boy GM]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1852762635743436855

Great ethic from a young guy, well from anyone. Practice is so important and I always wonder how much practice players actually do. It’s their craft, they should be working at it in their spare time.

Hes a young guy but I’m pretty sure he has a young family himself, that’s gonna motivate you. You get a chance with Drai, if you’ve got any brains you realize how important it is to contribute and secure your families financial future. I’d also be terrified of washing out and having to go back to Russia.

Excited to see how their line performs against the Flames, I absolutely love how they’ve looked together

 

[UpHere]

Great ethic from a young guy, well from anyone. Practice is so important and I always wonder how much practice players actually do. It’s their craft, they should be working at it in their spare time.

Hes a young guy but I’m pretty sure he has a young family himself, that’s gonna motivate you. You get a chance with Drai, if you’ve got any brains you realize how important it is to contribute and secure your families financial future. I’d also be terrified of washing out and having to go back to Russia.

Excited to see how their line performs against the Flames, I absolutely love how they’ve looked together

He just seems kinda humble - i like him already

 

[Stoneman89]

He's shown he can play well here and seems to for whatever reason likes the Edmonton media/atmosphere, some players just like being in a hockey market I guess. Him being here in the playoffs with his Oilers jersey clearly shows he likes it here.

He took more money because he would be stupid not to, an extra $600k/year for 2 years is life changing for a person who hasn't made a lot of money in their life. A lot of people don't make 1.2 million USD in their life, for someone from Russia that's a fortune. It's not his fault Ken Holland overpaid Darnell Nurse by 2+ million and blew 5 million in cap on Jack Campbell and couldn't afford to match a fairly low offer.

People also said Evander Kane was a locker room poison who would giving up on teams, whereas here he's been largely a good team player and the main knock would be injuries which aren't his fault.

Ryan McLeod was "loyal" to the Oilers and how'd they return that favor? They dumped him to one of the worst teams in the league in Buffalo after cornering him to take less on his RFA deal a couple of years ago. No loyalty whatsoever. A player has to look after themselves.

Other teams out there are finding out the same things about him. But hey, hang on to the dream. Maybe we can hire Darry Sutter too!

 

[Soundwave]

Other teams out there are finding out the same things about him. But hey, hang on to the dream. Maybe we can hire Darry Sutter too!

This is going to be the Oilers lot in life for the next several years, hate to break it to you, we have to take chances on opportunities like that (specifically former 1st rounders who may click here).

We're not going to have many 1st round picks in the future, probably not even many 2nd round picks and those that we have will take 3-5 years to come into their own which is outside of our immediate window.

Our drafting the last 10 years has been shit and the good players we did draft we let get away except for Bouchard.

Klim Kostin and Podkolzin like opportunities are exactly what have to be looking for, to not do so is pure negligence. Players perform differently on different teams, we see that all the time. We should have taken a chance on Dylan Strome two years ago too, now the cost of getting a player like that would be through the roof.

Kostin scored at about a 16 goal rate here with no time alongside McDavid or Draisaitl, no time on the PP, I have doubts even a guy like RNH would have 16 goals in that situation. Then had a couple of big goals in the playoffs, and played physical with speed and is still only 25 years old, was a 1st round pick himself. If you can get a player like that for a 4th round pick, you'd be stupid to not do it. The odds of getting a better player than that in the 3rd or 4th round is maybe 0.5% and even if you hit pay dirt on a pick that, you're probably 5-6 years away from them contributing.

 

[Stoneman89]

This is going to be the Oilers lot in life for the next several years, hate to break it to you, we have to take chances on opportunities like that (specifically former 1st rounders who may click here).

We're not going to have many 1st round picks in the future, probably not even many 2nd round picks and those that we have will take 3-5 years to come into their own which is outside of our immediate window.

Our drafting the last 10 years has been shit and the good players we did draft we let get away except for Bouchard.

Klim Kostin and Podkolzin like opportunities are exactly what have to be looking for, to not do so is pure negligence. Players perform differently on different teams, we see that all the time. We should have taken a chance on Dylan Strome two years ago too, now the cost of getting a player like that would be through the roof.

Kostin scored at about a 16 goal rate here with no time alongside McDavid or Draisaitl, no time on the PP, I have doubts even a guy like RNH would have 16 goals in that situation. Then had a couple of big goals in the playoffs, and played physical with speed and is still only 25 years old, was a 1st round pick himself. If you can get a player like that for a 4th round pick, you'd be stupid to not do it. The odds of getting a better player than that in the 3rd or 4th round is maybe 0.5% and even if you hit pay dirt on a pick that, you're probably 5-6 years away from them contributing.

I would prefer to not being obsessed with where a player was drafted and focus on the actual player himself. There are enough guys out there we can take chances with as opposed to concentrating mainly on their draft positions. It's how you get guys like Kucherov. Keeping blinders on and obsessing over certain players usually doesn't work.

 

[Bryanbryoil]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1852762635743436855

Gotta respect the hell out of that kind of work ethic. He should be asking Hyman for tips day after day and try to mirror his game after Zach's.

 

[Shanahanigans]

Podz strikes me as the type of player who will keep putting in work until he figures it out. Even if he tops out as a physical, 12-15 goal winger, that will be immensely valuable to this team’s middle six. He has similarities to Puljujarvi in how they forecheck, but Podz hits a ton more and seems to have better offensive instincts even if the puck isn’t going in for him yet.

 

[Soundwave]

I would prefer to not being obsessed with where a player was drafted and focus on the actual player himself. There are enough guys out there we can take chances with as opposed to concentrating mainly on their draft positions. It's how you get guys like Kucherov. Keeping blinders on and obsessing over certain players usually doesn't work.

I'm fine with that but that generally requires more luck and a top end scouting staff and I can't say with any confidence we have either.

How many players have come in here and scored at a 16 goal rate + contributed goals in the playoffs with basically no time at all with Draisaitl or McDavid? Very few. Probably a bunch of our top players would struggle to produce in those conditions.

To look off a guy who can score, has speed, seems to thrive in this market, and will fight and can hit for peanuts is stupid when you just let Holloway, Broberg, walk out the door.

Then there's also the problem of Evander Kane, most people here don't realize he has to go next season for cap reasons, otherwise you can't upgrade the D at all, Drai's raise takes up all the dead cap coming off the books, and then Bouchard's raise will eat up all of the cap rise (assuming 4.5 million) and then some.

Having a replacement already locked in who can be physical and take some of the burden of fighting and hitting off just 1 forward (Podkolzin) for what will likely be a fraction of Kane's salary is also how this team is going to have to operate cap wise.

 

[Stoneman89]

I'm fine with that but that generally requires more luck and a top end scouting staff and I can't say with any confidence we have either.

How many players have come in here and scored at a 16 goal rate + contributed goals in the playoffs with basically no time at all with Draisaitl or McDavid? Very few. Probably a bunch of our top players would struggle to produce in those conditions.

To look off a guy who can score, has speed, seems to thrive in this market, and will fight and can hit for peanuts is stupid when you just let Holloway, Broberg, walk out the door.

Then there's also the problem of Evander Kane, most people here don't realize he has to go next season for cap reasons, otherwise you can't upgrade the D at all, Drai's raise takes up all the dead cap coming off the books, and then Bouchard's raise will eat up all of the cap rise (assuming 4.5 million) and then some.

Having a replacement already locked in who can be physical and take some of the burden of fighting and hitting off just 1 forward (Podkolzin) for what will likely be a fraction of Kane's salary is also how this team is going to have to operate cap wise.

Not much sense continuing this, all due respect. You like the player, I don't.

 

[AddyTheWrath]

He can shoot for sure, but Nichushkin has borderline elite hands that Podz just doesn't. Too many bobbles and mishandles imo to ever look like Nuke. With that said I do agree there is some untapped offensive potential that could come out with a guy like Draisaitl. I just wouldn't count on a near ppg player like Nuke has been. To me Podz has a lot of similar qualities to Puljujarvi, but he is a much more physical player which makes his forechecking more effective than Jesse who was more of a stick checker on the forecheck. Both have similar issues with the odd bobble when trying to control pucks, but both are good skaters that show quality awareness on the defensive side as well.

So far so good for Podz though in his audition with Draisaitl. He's playing his role on that line perfectly and will be there long-term if he keeps doing it night in and night out, and now I know he can throw em with anyone taking liberties on Drai. Not that Drai needs the protecting because he's built like a truck, but nice to have a guy out there who will push back for him.

He has better hands than Pulju IMO. Pulju really struggled with the puck on his stick

 

[McFlyingV]

He has better hands than Pulju IMO. Pulju really struggled with the puck on his stick

Podkolzin's puck handling has improved the past few games. Hard to get a read on them at this point because he couldn't handle a pass and fumbled every puck in preseason, and had a bit of that still happening early in the season. To be fair most guys were bobbling pucks early season and preseason so not sure it was a fair representation. Haven't noticed it nearly as much recently from him.

 

[McFlyingV]

Podz strikes me as the type of player who will keep putting in work until he figures it out. Even if he tops out as a physical, 12-15 goal winger, that will be immensely valuable to this team’s middle six. He has similarities to Puljujarvi in how they forecheck, but Podz hits a ton more and seems to have better offensive instincts even if the puck isn’t going in for him yet.

The nicest thing about Podz imo is that he seems to have good defensive IQ. Imo this is a big difference between him and Kostin. Kostin was pretty lost on the defensive side of things, but its definitely a strength of Podz. If the offence comes he'll be a steal for what we gave up to get him.

 

[AddyTheWrath]

Podkolzin's puck handling has improved the past few games. Hard to get a read on them at this point because he couldn't handle a pass and fumbled every puck in preseason, and had a bit of that still happening early in the season. To be fair most guys were bobbling pucks early season and preseason so not sure it was a fair representation. Haven't noticed it nearly as much recently from him.

Podkolzin to me just looks like he can handle pucks better in tight spaces, which will translate well to the NHL game. Pulju on the other hand was very rangey and needed a lot of ice space to make plays.

Agreed that he's been bobbling the puck less. Seems like the extra work before and after practice is paying off.

 

[Jimmi McJenkins]

He's solid player who's looking like a great fit and he's still under contract for another year at $1M.

Great pick up.

 

[Soundwave]

Dude needs to pot one and I think they will come after that but it looks like he has a fan in McDavid:

On Podkolzin:

“Honestly, the numbers aren't showing it,” said McDavid. “I know he hasn't scored, and lots has been made of that. But he works so hard, keeps so many pucks alive, makes so many great little subtle plays that the media doesn't love to write about, but are so important to being a good linemate.”

 

[OilerTitanFan]

Dude needs to pot one and I think they will come after that but it looks like he has a fan in McDavid:

On Podkolzin:

“Honestly, the numbers aren't showing it,” said McDavid. “I know he hasn't scored, and lots has been made of that. But he works so hard, keeps so many pucks alive, makes so many great little subtle plays that the media doesn't love to write about, but are so important to being a good linemate.”

I agree with mcdavid, the forecheck and keeping pucks in are huge. I see it every game. He is way more effective than foegele and McLeod. The latter two skates fast and does a whole lot of nothing without the puck.