Q: Tell me about the training sessions you recently had with Podkolzin. How long were the sessions? <\/p>\n
\u201cWe got around 12 sessions in, and they went very well. We\u2019d work together on the ice for one hour, one-on-one training, and we\u2019d go very hard.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019d come in after the gym. He works out down the road in Burnaby with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins\u2019<\/a> brother, who is a big trainer in Vancouver. He trains there, and then he comes and trains on the ice with me afterwards.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd it\u2019s just full throttle. There are no breaks. There\u2019s no talking. We do the reps and run through the practice.\u201d<\/p>\n Q: What type of drills did you guys work on?<\/p>\n \u201cWe did a lot of work on wall play and down-low play. Very Zach-Hyman-esque type of work<\/a>. So with that, we worked on a lot of deflections, a lot of tips, and working in the tight areas.\u201cWe also did puck-handling work with the Power Edge Pro (PEP) training aid, just like Connor McDavid<\/a> does, working on quick drills and reaction time, working on his offensive instincts, creativity and edge work, and all of that goes hand-in-hand with the PEP training.\u201d<\/p>\n Q: Have you used the Power Edge Pro training aid with Podkolzin in the past?<\/p>\n \u201cThat specific drill with PEP, no. We\u2019ve done some of it in the past, but mostly to warm up.<\/p>\n \u201cBut we focused more on it this time around. It\u2019s good for reaction time, edge work, deceptiveness and creativity. It\u2019s also great for conditioning, because you can do like nine or 10 reps in a row and you\u2019re bagged. So those are killer workouts for him. We worked a lot on his conditioning in the sessions, too. It\u2019s a lot of one-on-one, so there\u2019s naturally not a lot of breaks.<\/p>\n Oilers’ Vasily Podkolzin is hard at work this offseason.<\/p>\n His skills coach Ned Lukacevic sent me this vid and said this:<\/p>\n “Pods’ shot is looking extremely good. He looks lighter on his skates. He looks graceful with his movements from edge to edge. Powerful but very smooth”<\/p>\n \u201cI said to him the other day, \u2018Let me know if you need a break,\u2019 and he said, \u2018No, no, Ned, I need this. I need the conditioning. This is good.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cBut we rarely talk in those sessions. He just goes\u2026and he\u2019s never once said no to a drill. He just wants to work. He puts his head down, and he works.\u201d<\/p>\n Q: Is there something he specifically said he wants to get better at?<\/p>\n \u201cHe wants to keep getting better on wall play, and there was a lot of focus and big emphasis on that and also around the net\u2026He refers to a lot of those types of drills as \u2018Hyman-esque.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cLike, \u2018Let\u2019s do a Hyman tip,\u2019 \u2018Let\u2019s do a Hyman redirect.\u2019 So, he looks up to Hyman. And he knows that if he can keep adding layers to his game<\/a>, he can add extra offence, like more of a scoring touch around the net.<\/p>\n Oilers\u2019 Vasily Podkolzin is putting in some offseason work.<\/p>\n Here, he\u2019s getting some reps in on wall play at his skills coach Ned Lukacevic\u2019s camp. <\/p>\n Lukacevic also told me Podkolzin is flying out there \ud83d\udd25<\/p>\n Video courtesy of: nedlukacevichockey on insta <\/p>\n \u201cHe also said he wants his hands to feel a little smoother. He said his hands hadn\u2019t felt the best, but you can\u2019t tell because they look awesome. He just wants to feel more comfortable handling the puck in tight spaces. Not that he\u2019s not comfortable \u2014 he just wants to improve and refine in that area of his game.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd quite honestly, he looks strong, he looks lighter on his skates, he looks graceful out on the ice\u2026But overall, he\u2019s working hard. He\u2019s a f**kin\u2019 animal out there.\u201d<\/p>\n Q: You mentioned last year that when you guys trained before, you and Podkolzin focused on drills for him to play with Draisaitl. Was there a focus like that this time around?<\/p>\n \u201cBut overall, we practiced more of different areas of game plays as a whole, like I rimmed the puck to him behind the net. He\u2019s getting the puck off the wall in the D-zone. We also mimic different game situation scenarios so when it\u2019s game time, he\u2019s more comfortable getting into different spots.<\/p>\n \u201cI also challenged him in different ways. I said to him, \u2018Pick the puck off of the wall, bank it off the wall to yourself and spin.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cIn a way, that just adds different tools in his tool belt, so he has that muscle memory and has it in his repertoire. But mostly, we\u2019re getting him ready for the season with his conditioning, also his confidence and feel of the puck. And just making sure he feels good in different areas of his game.\u201d<\/p>\n Q: You sent me a video of you and Podkolzin working on one-timers. Have you guys worked on one-timers before?<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve done shooting drills, but not specifically a lot of one-timers. But he\u2019s got a great shot<\/a>. His shot is very hard.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, I try to tell him, maybe you get one or two goals off of tips, maybe you get two or three goals off of a backhand, maybe you get two or three Hyman-esque goals, maybe four a year on one-timers, and so on, and then you add it up at the end of the year.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd instead of 19 goals, maybe you\u2019ve scored 25 goals now.<\/p>\n Ned Lukacevic sent me a peek at him and Vasily Podkolzin working on one-timers.<\/p>\n Nobody does it quite like Draisaitl from his office, but perhaps Podkolzin could give the Oilers another option on PP2 from that spot.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s why we\u2019re trying to add in different areas where he can slightly improve or feel more comfortable. If he\u2019s comfortable with one-timers, he\u2019ll take a lot more of them.\u201d<\/p>\n Q: What I noticed in that video of the one-timers is that he\u2019s not taking full wind-ups like Alex Ovechkin does. He\u2019s kind of taking those quick, Draisaitl-esque one-timer shots. Is that intentional?<\/p>\n \u201cYes, he\u2019s literally shooting like Leon Draisaitl<\/a>. He shows me how Draisaitl shoots.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019ll say, \u2018I\u2019m going to try this because I know it works.\u2019 And he\u2019ll tell me, \u2018Leo holds his stick like this, Ned!\u2019 And his hands will go so close together. And I\u2019ll say, \u2018Oh, really?\u2019 and he\u2019ll confidently nod, \u2018Yes.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s a student of the game, and that\u2019s why he\u2019s shooting like that. He\u2019s seen it work many times.\u201d<\/p>\n Q: You mentioned, in our texts, that \u201cHe\u2019s flying out there.\u201d What are you seeing that makes you say that?<\/p>\n \u201cHe just looks quicker out there. I\u2019ve mentioned he looks more graceful and lighter on his feet, and I also feel his hands and body are a little more connected.<\/p>\n Oilers\u2019 Vasily Podkolzin offseason training update:<\/p>\n I asked skills coach Ned Lukacevic how Podkolzin is looking at their workouts together.. <\/p>\n His response: \u201cHe\u2019s flying. He’s working hard as f**k.”<\/p>\n \u201cLike I said, though, some of it has to do with confidence. I think he knows now that he\u2019s a big part of the Oilers and he brings a lot of value. At the same time, he has a lot of humility.\u201d<\/p>\n Q: Was there a drill specifically that you felt Podkolzin needed to work on?<\/p>\n \u201cJust his wall work, and the wall play. That\u2019s one area in the NHL: if you want to play, you have to get pucks off the wall quickly\u2026There are drills where I\u2019m rimming the puck, and he\u2019ll tell me, \u2018Harder!\u2019 And I\u2019m hammering them.\u201d<\/p>\n Q: This question is for you. How has the summer looked for you overall, and where will you be coaching next season?<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been working with other NHL players. I\u2019ve worked with Mark Scheifele<\/a> for a couple of sessions. Brenden Dillon from the New Jersey Devils came to train, Logan Stankoven<\/a> again, Danton Heinen and a bunch of AHL players, and, of course, Podkolzin. Ned Lukacevic training with Mark Scheifele and Brenden Dillon. Photo credit: @nedlukacevichockey on Instagram.<\/p>\n \u201cFor next season, I\u2019ll continue to coach at the BWC Academy. It\u2019s a good situation for me there. I\u2019ll continue working with my pros, and when my kids get a little older, I hope to take an opportunity somewhere in the big leagues. In the meantime, I\u2019ll keep plugging away.\u201d<\/p>\n Q: Last question, is there an aspect of Podkolzin\u2019s game that you think could surprise Oilers fans this upcoming season?<\/p>\n \u201cI think last year we kind of saw it, and it\u2019s his speed. I think he surprised people, and there are instances where people said, \u2018Whoa, Podkolzin is fast!\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s a very powerful skater, in a straight line and side to side. And let\u2019s call it what it is, he\u2019s a great player on a great team. And he\u2019s at a point now where he\u2019d be a great player on any team.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s a Swiss Army knife type of player, and if the Oilers get to the Cup Finals<\/a> this year, he\u2019s going to be one of the main reasons. He\u2019s ready to play. Podkolzin is hungry to win.\u201dPRESENTED BY CAPITAL GMC BUICK![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1787329453_752_image.png\"\/)
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Hockey fans recognize elite performance instantly, and that\u2019s exactly how Capital GMC Buick<\/a> operates. With one of the city\u2019s deepest selections of top-quality GMC and Buick vehicles and a customer experience built to win year after year, this dealership consistently leads the pack. Five current NHL players proudly drive vehicles from Capital GMC Buick, and for good reason. The store has been rated the #1 GM dealership in Canada by DealerRater for three consecutive years, is the only GM dealer in Edmonton endorsed by J.D. Power as a Dealer of Excellence, and has raised over $30,000 for the Stollery Children\u2019s Hospital.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Vasily Podkolzin working on \u2018Hyman-esque drills\u2019 in offseason training: \u2018He\u2019s an animal out there\u2019 Over his two-season tenure…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":866382,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[433],"tags":[49,48,448,82],"class_list":["post-866381","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/866381","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=866381"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/866381\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/866382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=866381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=866381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=866381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}