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His development curve was poor and Podkolzin lost the vibrancy to his game; instead he played stiff, systems-first hockey. What happened to his promise?
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Published Aug 19, 2024 • Last updated 1 hour ago • 3 minute read
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The Canucks traded Vasily Podkolzin to the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday. Photo by LM Otero /AP
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Maybe, in the end, all we needed on Vasily Podkolzin was a reality check on 10th overall draft picks.
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For all the intrigue and hoopla around the Russian’s selection in 2019, for all the disappointment of what he proved to be as a Canuck, none of this should really have surprised.
It turns out the bar to hit for a 10th pick isn’t all that high.
As pointed out by Roxy Fever podcast host Jackson McDonald in a group chat following Sunday’s trade with the Oilers, of the 61 players selected 10th overall in the history of the NHL draft, Podkolzin sits 46th in career games played.
You know who is 31st, the average of this group? Cody Hodgson.
Rick Blight, another Canucks draftee, is 32nd.
It’s a position with rare pizzazz.
But that said, it doesn’t mean you can’t get a player at 10. The bar for relative success is low. That’s all. The easy alternative choice in 2019 was Matt Boldy and he’s a budding star.
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Podkolzin should have landed. He had a strong pre-draft season. He was good at the Hlinka. He was good at the World Jr. A Challenge. He was good at the World Juniors. He had played professional games in the VHL and even in the KHL.
He wasn’t shy to attack the net. Defenders in the lane didn’t intimidate him.
So where did this player go? How is he no longer a Vancouver Canuck?
The SKA thing
First off, there’s the contract Podkolzin was under when he was drafted. He was going to be in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) for two more years. This was well known.
It’s believed it turned a couple teams away from him. The inability to control his development for two full years was identified as an issue.
And, in hindsight, they were right.
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Playing for SKA Saint Petersburg — the richest team in the KHL — was good for profile, but not for playing time. Podkolzin was mostly a spare part, sat at the end of the bench and told not to be seen nor heard from.
“Don’t screw up.” That’s not a good environment for a young player.
The Canucks traded Vasily Podkolzin to the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday. Photo by Lucas Peltier /THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
The straight to the NHL thing
Podkolzin’s first NHL deal with the Canucks didn’t have a European out clause, allowing him to return to SKA if the Canucks wanted to assign him to the minors. He said he was ready and willing to take an intermediate step if his NHL team asked him to, but the plan by the Canucks management of the day was to put him straight in the NHL.
His first month in the NHL, he played less than nine minutes a game. He was a fourth liner.
What was the point of that? If he wasn’t going to play much off the hop, why not let him play a ton in the AHL and find his way back to being The Man, which he hadn’t been able to be since he was drafted?
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His ice time did increase in November, but that Canucks squad was quickly circling the drain. Obviously, the Canucks didn’t plan for their season to go as badly as it did — but did management really think that he would be a solution to the problem?
Now, in the long run, he did find his feet in the second half under Bruce Boudreau — but two coaches in your first season isn’t easy for most players, let alone a raw rookie.
Good on system, bad on independence
In the end, Podkolzin showed he was a good listener, playing competent two-way hockey and earning Rick Tocchet’s trust.
But his scoring nosedived after his first season with the Canucks, scoring just four goals over his final 58 NHL games in Vancouver.
So what happened? Watching him play, you saw him consistently avoiding driving the net. He’d get the puck on the side boards and instead of driving to the middle, as he did in junior, he’d reverse the puck back around behind the net.
A safe, smart, systems-friendly play — but not the pizzazz the Canucks’s coaching staff wanted.
The Oilers would seem to be a chance for him to get a fresh start. Will Podkolzin seize the moment?
pjohnston@postmedia.com
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Courtesy : https://theprovince.com/sports/canucks-vasily-podkolzin-how-things-went-wrong