{"id":340803,"date":"2025-12-11T03:08:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-11T03:08:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/340803\/"},"modified":"2025-12-11T03:08:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-11T03:08:09","slug":"oilers-continue-to-reap-benefits-of-podkolzkin-trade-as-winger-blooms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/340803\/","title":{"rendered":"Oilers continue to reap benefits of Podkolzkin trade as winger blooms"},"content":{"rendered":"

EDMONTON \u2014\u00a0There is a large dollop of irony when it comes to Vasily Podkolzin<\/a>\u2019s maturation as an Edmonton Oiler:<\/p>\n

He likely would never have become this player had he remained a Vancouver Canuck. But the player he is today, the Canucks could use about three of right now.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not a shot at the Canucks. The hockey world is filled with high picks who had to move on to get out from under the high expectations and reinvent themselves.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not Vancouver-centric. It\u2019s just a hockey thing.<\/p>\n

But unlike an Olli Juolevi or a Jesse Puljujarvi, the big Russian has left his first organization and transformed himself into a viable NHLer who could play another decade in the league.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes guys just take a little bit longer to really find what they are. And who they are,\u201d Leon Draisaitl<\/a>, Podkolzin\u2019s centre for two years now, was saying on Wednesday. \u201cHe just moulded his game into being a super effective two-way player that guys love playing with. I certainly do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"NHLNHL on Sportsnet<\/p>\n

Livestream Hockey Night in Canada, Scotiabank Wednesday Night Hockey, the Oilers, Flames, Canucks, out-of-market matchups, the Stanley Cup Playoffs and the NHL Draft.<\/p>\n

Broadcast schedule<\/a><\/p>\n

It is truly unfortunate for Vancouver that the player they drafted 10th\u00a0overall in 2019 is not currently doing for Elias Pettersson what he is doing for Draisaitl: leading on the forecheck, winning pucks along the walls and in the corners, providing defensive cover, and scoring the odd goal (on pace for a career-high 16).<\/p>\n

But when you get drafted Top 10, the bridge between expectations and reality often leads to a new team in a new city.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn 2019, (going 10th) was fair enough,\u201d Podkolzin said. \u201cLet’s see if we re-draft now. Maybe I will go lower. But I wanted to get drafted in the first round, and I didn\u2019t worry about the number.\u201d<\/p>\n

In hindsight, having a 14-goal, rookie season likely confirmed the over-estimation of his offensive abilities. It\u2019s supposed to go up from there, and when Podkolzin\u2019s numbers didn\u2019t, he became a failing Top 6 winger rather than a budding Middle 6 guy, as he is seen in Edmonton.<\/p>\n

The year the Canucks had 109 points and lost that thrilling seven-game series to Edmonton, they also lost Podkolzin in the shuffle of team success.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was my third year, my contract year, they had a pretty good team. They don’t really worry about me,\u201d he said. \u201cThey are about getting the result, and that’s fair enough. I understand everything. It’s a business.\u201d<\/p>\n

That summer, Oilers general manager Stan Bowman shocked many by engineering a trade with a division rival for a once-prized prospect. It was exactly what Podkolzin required.<\/p>\n

He locked on to Draisaitl\u2019s left flank and hasn\u2019t let go, perhaps the most consistent Oilers forward duo next to Connor McDavid and Zach Hyman.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis trade, they make a huge role for me (in Edmonton),\u201d he said. \u201cI came in and got a fresh start, a little bit of fresh air here, and right now I\u2019m feeling pretty good.\u201d<\/p>\n

How do you get a guy who could play Middle 6 wing for any of the 32 teams for a fourth-round pick?<\/p>\n

It turns out that Rick Pracy, Bowman\u2019s Director of Amateur Scouting, had spent a lot of time scouting Podkolzin before his draft, when Pracy worked for Philadelphia. And Jeremy Colliton, Bowman\u2019s head coach when he was in Chicago, had Podkolzin in Abbotsford in 2023-24, the last year in the Canucks organization for both men.<\/p>\n

Pracy loved Podkolzin as an amateur, and Colliton saw a useful pro \u2014\u00a0if not the top-line player the Canucks had hoped for.<\/p>\n

Bowman tells the story: \u201c(Colliton) said, \u2018I was happy that they didn’t keep him in Vancouver and they sent him to me.\u2019 And I\u2019m like, \u2018Well, what’s the issue there?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201c(Colliton said), \u2018I don’t really know. I just know that I love him. He’s such a hard worker. He’s probably not going to be a big scorer\u2026\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd maybe that’s part of the issue. When you’re drafted that high, there are expectations,\u201d said Bowman, who isn\u2019t doing a victory dance here. \u201cHe hadn’t really put it all together yet, so there was a risk that he maybe never would. I can’t say we knew he would be this good, but I was hopeful that he would be able to contribute in some way, and he’s actually been able to show chemistry with Leon, which is big.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even still, there are elements in Podkolzin\u2019s game that mesmerize.<\/p>\n

His size \u2014\u00a0six-foot-one, 190 lbs. His work ethic \u2014\u00a0he is at practice 25 minutes early every single day.<\/p>\n

His above-average wrist shot, or his speedy, powerful stride.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt can be more. I could be even asked for more,\u201d the 24-year-old Muscovite declares. \u201cIt\u2019s just great to be on a line with Leo, you know, and get some important minutes for the team, and play some, some bigger role that I had last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I’m able to do more and to score more. Be a more offensive, good player.\u201d<\/p>\n

Can he change? Or are we falling into the same trap that snared the Canucks?<\/p>\n

\u201cI don’t think you want him to change. I don’t want him to change. I want him to be this,\u201d Draisaitl said. \u201cBut,\u201d he allowed, \u201cthere’s more offensively \u2014\u00a0you can see it. Even this year to last year, he’s got a lot more puck touches, a lot more carrying the puck through the neutral zone.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere’s more for him to have, for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

More would be great. But this is enough, when the cost was a fourth, not a first.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EDMONTON \u2014\u00a0There is a large dollop of irony when it comes to Vasily Podkolzin\u2019s maturation as an Edmonton…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":340804,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[556],"tags":[64,63,575,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-340803","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-nhl","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340803","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=340803"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340803\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/340804"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=340803"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=340803"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=340803"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}