The hits just keep on coming for the Vancouver Canucks.
If being securely in last place and trading away multiple big-name players wasn’t enough, an old trade is coming back to haunt them. This time, it’s the deal that sent Vasily Podkolzin to the Edmonton Oilers in the summer of 2024.
Canucks GM Patrik Allvin opted to cut ties with the former first-round pick after a few disappointing seasons, only to see him thrive in the Alberta capital ever since. Podkolzin recently notched his 15th goal of the season with Edmonton on Sunday night, marking a new career-high that surpassed the 14 goals he scored in his rookie year with Vancouver.
No current Canucks players have more goals than Podkolzin — he’s tied with Brock Boeser and Drew O’Connor.
Podkolzin now has 15 goals, same as the #Canucks leader pic.twitter.com/0x8mRUI4Bd
— Rob Williams (@RobTheHockeyGuy) March 9, 2026
Trading away a former top-10 draft pick only to see him come into his own with a hated division rival is one thing, but Podkolzin is precisely the type of player this version of the Canucks is in need of.
They are desperate to add effective, young, and hardworking players who bring a positive attitude to the rink. Those are all things that Podkolzin has shown in Edmonton, and the Canucks don’t even have anything to show from the trade.
The 2025 fourth-round pick acquired from the Oilers in the Podkolzin deal was given back to Edmonton this past summer in exchange for Evander Kane, who has been among the Canucks’ most disappointing players this year.
In hindsight, moving on from Podkolzin now seems a bit premature, especially for the low return that they got. He was a 23-year-old who had shown flashes of potential in his rookie year and was looking to take a step forward.
For whatever reason, the Canucks didn’t want to give him that extended NHL look. Edmonton, however, did, and Podkolzin has turned into a productive depth forward and a good foot soldier for a Stanley Cup-contending team.
It isn’t even just the scoring that has made Podkolzin valuable. He’s among Edmonton’s strongest forecheckers and has become a staple on the team’s penalty kill. The Russian forward has also shown an affinity to drop the gloves, having fought three times this season.
Podkolzin may have been drafted with the expectation of being a goalscorer, but he has turned into a multifaceted depth winger that can still bring a lot of value without scoring 30 goals a season.
McDavid got hit by Kovacevic and Podkolzin IMMEDIATELY fought him 😈🥊 pic.twitter.com/JzSKev99eX
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) January 21, 2026
The Oilers have loved Podkolzin so much that they’ve had him become a regular linemate of Leon Draisaitl over the past two seasons.
Vancouver isn’t in the market to add any big-name players to their roster anytime soon. Rather, they should be looking to bring in guys like Podkolzin to help ease the growing pains of the current rebuild.
It’s a shame they couldn’t still have him around.