sting101
Registered User
- Feb 8, 2012
- 15,891
- 14,755
Disagree with people saying that Joshua is more physical than Podkolzin. In fact Podkolzin has the highest hit rate and turnover rate of any Canuck forward since his recall and it's not really close.
There was a play last night where he blanketed and eliminated Doughty into the end boards for a turnover that highlighted his strength and ability to create turnovers. And he's been doing this a lot. I've been watching him closely and a couple times live in the last run of games. It's a big bonus to have him creating this much forechecking pressure and down low physical presence that will wear down our opponents. Especially if we can get rolling come playoffs
He's not gonna look for fights but he's pretty tough and it shouldn't matter that much anyway as long as he has a pack mentality which he has had no problems being involved in. He's very much a glue guy and even though Joshua is bigger and a bit tougher he's not really running around looking for fights nor should he be or we care as long as he does what he has done which is stick up for the team.
Podkolzin is playing a safe game given the timing of his call up and the way Tocchet wants his bottom 6 (especially 4th line) to be playing as they approach post season. It's definitely not the Oct to January track meet hockey anymore and that should be considered when measuring what would be expected from a productivity standpoint. Low scoring low event hockey as teams stay in races and other top teams prepare for playoffs.
That said Podkolzin struggles navigating through the neutral zone on the rush. His vision creativity stick quickness and deception to be a puck carrier is below average and is where he falters as a offensive player. At this stage i wouldn't expect much to change in that regard other than more maturity dealing with his mistakes which will keep him in the rotation
Trading him for a 3rd round pick while he's young aggressive and cheap would make little sense at this point. You just spent his development stage taking out his confidence issues and he's clearly an affective player who can play up and down the lineup. Whether it's 20pt 4th liner or 30-45pt complimentary top9 is up to him.
There was a play last night where he blanketed and eliminated Doughty into the end boards for a turnover that highlighted his strength and ability to create turnovers. And he's been doing this a lot. I've been watching him closely and a couple times live in the last run of games. It's a big bonus to have him creating this much forechecking pressure and down low physical presence that will wear down our opponents. Especially if we can get rolling come playoffs
He's not gonna look for fights but he's pretty tough and it shouldn't matter that much anyway as long as he has a pack mentality which he has had no problems being involved in. He's very much a glue guy and even though Joshua is bigger and a bit tougher he's not really running around looking for fights nor should he be or we care as long as he does what he has done which is stick up for the team.
Podkolzin is playing a safe game given the timing of his call up and the way Tocchet wants his bottom 6 (especially 4th line) to be playing as they approach post season. It's definitely not the Oct to January track meet hockey anymore and that should be considered when measuring what would be expected from a productivity standpoint. Low scoring low event hockey as teams stay in races and other top teams prepare for playoffs.
That said Podkolzin struggles navigating through the neutral zone on the rush. His vision creativity stick quickness and deception to be a puck carrier is below average and is where he falters as a offensive player. At this stage i wouldn't expect much to change in that regard other than more maturity dealing with his mistakes which will keep him in the rotation
Trading him for a 3rd round pick while he's young aggressive and cheap would make little sense at this point. You just spent his development stage taking out his confidence issues and he's clearly an affective player who can play up and down the lineup. Whether it's 20pt 4th liner or 30-45pt complimentary top9 is up to him.
