Confirmed Trade: [EDM/VAN] Vasily Podkolzin for OTT '25 4th

[David71]

chaulk up another blunder of bennings draft picks. missed. could have gotten caufield/boldy or whoever was avaliable at 10 in 2019.

 

[bringbacktheskate604]

His off season comments he said he was tired of playing in the AHL and was getting pissed off about it. He would be starting in the AHL this year and it prob didn't sit well with him.

He prob wanted to go where he could play in the NHL.
Canucks get something for him before he goes for nothing. asset management .

Oilers get a player with a bit of potential for next to nothing.

Pods does alot of little things very well. He is trusted with the puck. makes smart pass's. Just doesn't get anything done. He has no finish and doesn't make scoring chances.

Oilers are getting a player that COULD but prob wont do anything. At worst he is a player than wont cost you on the ice, doesn't make dumb plays and cost your team a goal . At best he actually does something.

Can't play in the minors without passing through waivers.
I'm certain he will be waived by the oilers because they have no good bottom six guys that can score, adding a good character guy which is what Podz is at this point won't help them.

 

[jfhabs]

I think he will be a good replacement depth piece for Holloway.
Now they let go of Ceci and don't match Broberg... either they have another move on the way or they want to accrue cap space to make a splash at the TDL.

 

[Bear of Bad News]

chaulk up another blunder of bennings draft picks. missed. could have gotten caufield/boldy or whoever was avaliable at 10 in 2019.

I mean, you can do this for 90%+ of draft picks in league history.

Why did no one take Jesper Bratt before the sixth round? Were they stupid? Seems pretty obvious how good he is. You'd have to be pretty stupid not to take him.

 

[Bond]

I mean, you can do this for 90%+ of draft picks in league history.

Why did no one take Jesper Bratt before the sixth round? Were they stupid? Seems pretty obvious how good he is. You'd have to be pretty stupid not to take him.

Yeah, but Benning was actually bad at drafting. The Athletic had them as the 26th worst drafting team from 2007-2018

 

[Bear of Bad News]

Yeah, but Benning was actually bad at drafting. The Athletic had them as the 26th worst drafting team from 2007-2018

Plenty of talk about that in this thread (as there should be). You can focus on the limitations of a specific drafted player's abilities without unnecessary distractions of "but they could have had X".

 

[sting101]

As a Canucks fan im disappointed they didnt give him a clean slate to try and show he can be something. He showed in his rookie year he has the ability to produce at the NHL level. Where things fell apart was in his decision making and being reliable and consistent.

Much of these things can be worked through as players get more comfortable and learn to prepare themselves better. His age contract physical attributes and willingness to go to the net made him someone i wanted to give one more training camp at least and would easily surrender the 4th to have that work out

Podkolzin the good: Has a powerful stride decent long speed and good agility. On puck has a heavy shot is a good passer in the cycle with an excellent net drive and enough size and strength to hold off defenders and protect pucks. Off puck he's a force on the forecheck a punishing hitter and wins a lot of 1v1 battles. Defensively he's a willing combatant.

Podkolzin the bad: Plays with his head down and is slow to recognize. His first steps are heavy. On puck he does not have creativity and accuracy in execution. Lacks the confidence to want the puck and given time prefers to defer rather than be the one that makes plays. Defensively he chases and gets pulled out of position. Is not reliable in making quick plays to get pucks out or even in possession which is why he ultimately got benched and sent down. He hasn't been able to establish a role is not a PKer and hasn't been good enough to play with good players.

Getting a 4th for a player about to get claimed off waivers is not a bad move. Allowing that to be a rival with his physical attributes and upside potential (however fleeting) is questionable.

Where i have an issue is that this management team were not around to see the games when he had confidence and may be hasty.

Last year he had a kid a really bad camp got cut and then badly concussed. While his AHL production wasn't anything to be excited about he was shooting at an incredible volume and when tasked as a NHLer producing hits and forechecking at an outstanding rate. Feel like he was going to will himself into a position at some stage. Could be a good get for the OIlers if he can get over the brain farts and confidence issues.

 

[Captain Mountain]

Yeah, but Benning was actually bad at drafting. The Athletic had them as the 26th worst drafting team from 2007-2018

Benning was hired as Vancouver's GM May 2014. Even if you count the 2014 draft that's 5 drafts over that period. Players to play 200+ games taken by Benning are:


2014 - Jake Virtanen (miss)
2014 - Jared McCann
2014 - Thatcher Demko
2014 - Gustav Forsling
2015 - Brock Boeser
2015 - Adam Gaudette
2017 - Elias Pettersson
2018 - Quinn Hughes
2019 - Nils Hoglander

I'm not going to say he was good at drafting (Virtanen 6th was a huge miss, McCann a pick before Pastrnak stings and he fumbled top 10 picks in 2016 and 2019), but its hard to look at a resume that includes a #1C, a #1D and a #1G plus other good players and say he was bad.

 

[GirardSpinorama]

This is such a good trade that it makes losing Holloway more bareable. Ive always liked Podkozin types.

 

[NailsHoglander]

He hasn't even established that he's an NHL player. I dont see how this is a steal. He was likely going to be waiver fodder

He hasn't even established himself as a good AHL player

 

[Qwijibo]

He hasn't even really established himself as a good AHL player

Valid point

 

[jackjohnson]

The fact Vancouver has a bunch of other bottom-of-roster options at Forward doesn't actually make the return for Podz a "good piece". It's still a 4th round pick, no matter how many PDGs and Sprongs and other filler is available to them. It's the sort of thing you can throw in to a deadline deal to top the offer of an actual piece, like a better pick or prospect.


And it's not that Podz was "worth" any more than that to anyone. It's just that if he does actually come in after a good summer of training, getting healthy, and getting his mental game screwed on straight...he has more potential upside to make some middle-of-roster impact than you can likely fetch for a 4th rounder, even at the deadline.


If you really wanted to pinch pennies to make improvements to the defence, you could always start by not signing a plumber like Forbort.

I think you are really stretching it with the IFs. Yes IF he comes next season and IF he develops more then he can become more valuable than a 4th round pick. But we dont live in the world of IFs. Btw we need players like Forbort that can PK and since we lost Zaddy and Cole, we would need more depth on D versus forward group. So Forbort and Deharnais have their place on this team unlike Podkolzin. In fact we need one more top 4 D to round out our defense.

 

[biturbo19]

I think you are really stretching it with the IFs. Yes IF he comes next season and IF he develops more then he can become more valuable than a 4th round pick. But we dont live in the world of IFs. Btw we need players like Forbort that can PK and since we lost Zaddy and Cole, we would need more depth on D versus forward group. So Forbort and Deharnais have their place on this team unlike Podkolzin. In fact we need one more top 4 D to round out our defense.

Of course they need to add at least one more actual legit Top-4D. That's where adding more Forborts and 4th round picks doesn't really move the needle though. Podkolzin probably doesn't either, but if that's all you can get for him...it makes sense to me to at least just roll the dice. If he flames out in camp, he's still probably worth the same 4th round pick...as at this point, it's largely just based on draft pedigree and what he did as a rookie. That's not gonna go down much lower than "medium nothing" like that even with a lackluster camp.

 

[Zine]

Podkolzin has some nice attributes, but he's a rare breed..... an extremely hard worker who is simultaneously extremely inconsistent.
One of the most frustrating players I've ever seen.

 

[DingerMcSlapshot]

Podkolzin has some nice attributes, but he's a rare breed..... an extremely hard worker who is simultaneously extremely inconsistent.
One of the most frustrating players I've ever seen.

A poor man's Armia.

 

[HockeyWooot]

At the end of the day there wasn’t a roster spot for him, in the outside looking in he would have hit waivers so better to get something instead of nothing.

The Canucks added players to bolster their forward group with a logjam of players particularly at the bottom of the lineup.

Podkolzin needed to beat out the likes of Nils Aman and Phil Di Giuseppe. The bar isn’t exceptionally high but he lacks the defensive reliability and flexibility of Aman playing center or wing, nor has the same consistency and grit of DiGiuseppe who is good on PK. Heck the Canucks took a flyer on Daniel Sprong despite his known defensive challenges, at least he brings something to the table in scoring.

Since his draft year Podkolzin really hasn’t developed offensively in the KHL, AHL or NHL. He had a nice start last year in the AHL at ppg+ but was rocked with a bad concussion and wasn’t the same since. He’s not fast, doesn’t PK either.

Some would say he’s had a rough developmental path playing low minutes at the pro league since his draft year, which is probably true.

There are skilled youngsters like Lekkerimaki or Raty that will crack the main squad sooner rather later, other players like Karlsson, Bains, Sasson have arguably surpassed him and they project as bottom line or fringe players at best.

There probably is something there but the Canucks cannot afford to save a spot in lieu of a player who perform at a higher level now, they probably don’t see enough upside to warrant taking that chance.

 

[McDNicks17]

Can't play in the minors without passing through waivers.
I'm certain he will be waived by the oilers because they have no good bottom six guys that can score, adding a good character guy which is what Podz is at this point won't help them.

He'll get a shot at #4LW while Kane is out. There isn't much competition there unless a prospect like Lavoie blows him away.

I don't think the bottom six is going to have any problems scoring. Henrique, Kane, Brown, Perry, Janmark. There's plenty of room for character guys.

 

[Mr Positive]

He'll get a shot at #4LW while Kane is out. There isn't much competition there unless a prospect like Lavoie blows him away.

I don't think the bottom six is going to have any problems scoring. Henrique, Kane, Brown, Perry, Janmark. There's plenty of room for character guys.

I could see us having a low minute 4th line with Perry taking Podkolzin under his wing

 

[ManofSteel55]

The Oilers opening day roster for forwards appears to be set with this guy signing. Maybe they look at adding a cheap 4C and bumping Ryan to the 13th forward role, but I'm not sure if that happens or not.

C - McDavid, Draisaitl, Henrique, Ryan
LW - Nuge, J. Skinner, Janmark, Podkolzin
RW - Hyman, Arvidsson, C. Brown, Perry
IR - Kane

I'm really excited for this forward group. I'd like to see a little more speed on that bottom pair, but other than that, I like what the Oilers have done here.

 

[LTIR]

chaulk up another blunder of bennings draft picks. missed. could have gotten caufield/boldy or whoever was avaliable at 10 in 2019.

It's the same with every fan base..
We could've had Tkatchuk instead of Puljujarvi, Wyatt Johnston instead of Bourgault, many others instead of Holloway , Schaefer and Broberg.

 

[jackjohnson]

Of course they need to add at least one more actual legit Top-4D. That's where adding more Forborts and 4th round picks doesn't really move the needle though. Podkolzin probably doesn't either, but if that's all you can get for him...it makes sense to me to at least just roll the dice. If he flames out in camp, he's still probably worth the same 4th round pick...as at this point, it's largely just based on draft pedigree and what he did as a rookie. That's not gonna go down much lower than "medium nothing" like that even with a lackluster camp.

The reason they moved him for a 4th is because they would have to waive him and he would get claimed for free. Thats why you move him now and not lose him for free. The risk of him not making the team on the opening night is a lot higher than him doing it.

 

[GirardSpinorama]

While its unlikely, I can see a bit of Nuke's career path in this.. which would make this soo lopsided.

 

[VeteranPresence]

While its unlikely, I can see a bit of Nuke's career path in this.. which would make this soo lopsided.

That's not the craziest comp I guess... if you remove his rookie season, which was an outlier prior to his breakout much later on, Nichushkin had 40 points in 144 games (0.28 PPG) with Dallas up to his age 24 season. Podkolzin is a year younger and clocking in at 0.25 PPG. They also have identical draft pedigree for whatever that's worth.

If Podz can put up 25-30 points this year I'd think he is starting to right the ship and would be poised for a big 2025-26, coincidentally right as his contract expires.

 

[Rowlet]

That's not the craziest comp I guess... if you remove his rookie season, which was an outlier prior to his breakout much later on, Nichushkin had 40 points in 144 games (0.28 PPG) with Dallas up to his age 24 season. Podkolzin is a year younger and clocking in at 0.25 PPG. They also have identical draft pedigree for whatever that's worth.

If Podz can put up 25-30 points this year I'd think he is starting to right the ship and would be poised for a big 2025-26, coincidentally right as his contract expires.

also Nichushkin being like 4 inches taller and 15+ pounds heavier

 

[timw33]

Benning was hired as Vancouver's GM May 2014. Even if you count the 2014 draft that's 5 drafts over that period. Players to play 200+ games taken by Benning are:


2014 - Jake Virtanen (miss)
2014 - Jared McCann
2014 - Thatcher Demko
2014 - Gustav Forsling
2015 - Brock Boeser
2015 - Adam Gaudette
2017 - Elias Pettersson
2018 - Quinn Hughes
2019 - Nils Hoglander

I'm not going to say he was good at drafting (Virtanen 6th was a huge miss, McCann a pick before Pastrnak stings and he fumbled top 10 picks in 2016 and 2019), but its hard to look at a resume that includes a #1C, a #1D and a #1G plus other good players and say he was bad.

He fumbled 3 top 10 picks: Virtanen (Nylander de facto non-hindsight pick), Juloevi (Tkachuk the de facto non-hindsight pick), Podkolzin (this one was not as clear without hindsight tbf but they caught a falling knife). Like yeah, a lot of teams will duff some top-10 picks, but average fans could have easily outdrafted them on these picks and that was frightening.

But whats especially egregious is that he immediately threw away two guys who would go on to become very solid top half of the roster NHL players in Forsling and McCann for far worse players, the latter a guy he didn't even want (he desperately wanted Connor Bleacky and then deferred to the holdover Gillis scouting staff). This displayed his completely innability to develop or value the guys he had once they were drafted, especially when they were not his specially picked boys (whom he would give chance after chance like Virtanen).

To take this one step further, Jim Benning and John Weisbrod wanted Cody Glass instead of Elias Pettersson and it hit such a boiling point that Trevor Linden, the President of Hockey Ops, had to step in and overrule his GM and AGM to side with the scouting staff, something that was a direct result of Linden observing the process that went into them taking Olli Juolevi the year before. I shudder to think of this team had Linden not stepped in.