Prospect Info: 10th overall: Vancouver selects Vasili Podkolzin (RW, SKA St. Petersburg)

[FroshaugFan2]

Why would Pods sign there knowing he wasn't gonna get ice time is my question? I mean if this is the norm there what was he thinking?

SKA is the class of the KHL and they acquired his rights.

He's not going to ditch SKA for Medicine Hat.

 

[82Ninety42011]

SKA is the class of the KHL and they acquired his rights.

He's not going to ditch SKA for Medicine Hat.

I get that but money aside he has to realize development is more important to him and ice time right now. He will make plenty of money when he signs NHL deal. Who knows maybe they practice like crazy and that's where he's developing his skills??

 

[VanJack]

Sucks that Podkolzin is stapled to the pine so far in the KHL season. But SKA St. Petersburg has him signed to a two-year contract so I can't believe they'll continue to play him five minutes a night for the duration of the contract. Injuries will inevitably hit.

And he's still better off practicing and scrimmaging with pro hockey players, than playing junior somewhere.

 

[F A N]

Why would Pods sign there knowing he wasn't gonna get ice time is my question? I mean if this is the norm there what was he thinking?

SKA is the class of the KHL and they acquired his rights.

He's not going to ditch SKA for Medicine Hat.

I get that but money aside he has to realize development is more important to him and ice time right now. He will make plenty of money when he signs NHL deal. Who knows maybe they practice like crazy and that's where he's developing his skills??

I don't know how it works in Russia. There also hasn't been too many 18-20 year old forwards who developed in Russia that stepped right into the NHL and quickly became good top 6 forwards for us to gauge developmental success.

I guess one way to look at it is that Podkolzin is the star prospect of his age group in Russia and he chose to go to basically the best organization with the most resources to spend on development. I do note that his St. Petersburg recently changed head coaches.

Looking at their roster, the team isn't close to being as good this year as in previous years. I think Podkolzin has a chance to earn more ice time.

 

[wetcoast]

Because Podkolzin is the top 01 born Russian. Why wouldn't SKA want to hold his rights?

The answer is obvious as he has stated that he wants to go to the NHL.

It's the equivalent of loving to watch a particular bird soar on a draft and then caging it.

Neither team or player really benefits on the current track.

 

[tantalum]

The buyouts must be done by the players themselves, so that could be a few hundred thousand dollars (not sure of his KHL contract value).

By signing an ELC with the Canucks he'd get a $92,500 SB and that's all the immediate compensation he could use to pay down the cost of his buyout. Then if he was assigned to the AHL he'd only be making $70,000 annually. Or if he was playing on the NHL roster, where we have zero room/flexibility for him he'd be making around $900k base salary (with probably about 1MM in ELC performance bonuses, but would have to look at other 10th overall pick contract structures). All to say, with his signing bonus and a likely AHL salary, he's better off just staying in the KHL financially unless he was going straight to the NHL roster and had a plum bonus package.

I smell a crowd funding campaign...

 

[Catamarca Livin]

guess it could be worse. He could be hurt. He is still practising against adult pros and likely getting better. NCAA has passed major junior in development with less games more practice. Hopefully he does get a lot of game action somewhere this year whether it is khl or vhl. His team likely wants to recruit young players in future so one would think he will be treated fairly

 

[Tables of Stats]

I get that but money aside he has to realize development is more important to him and ice time right now. He will make plenty of money when he signs NHL deal. Who knows maybe they practice like crazy and that's where he's developing his skills??

There's a chance that he agrees with SKA's development methods and that he and his agent sincerely thought that this was best for his development. There's also the fact that he couldn't know where he would be drafted to and this gives him a bit of leverage and security incase a team he couldn't stand playing for drafted him.

This is supported by this article from 2018:

"Vasya [Vasili] categorically did not want to go to North America, - the father of the hockey player explains. - There were offers from the London Knights club from the Ontario League. But in St. Petersburg, the best conditions for development, if the guy wants to play in Russia. Knowing Vasya, I’m sure that he won’t get lost there. The club management said that if something does not work out, they will let him go. True, I don’t know how it will look (smiles). This was the decision of Vasily himself. Play something for him, not us. There was an option with Yaroslavl, but much was not clear there.

“For the past year, Vasily and I have been thinking about what to do next,” Dekin continues the topic of transition. - Now on “Glinka" [Hlinka] he played in a link with two Lokomotiv hockey players - Ilya Nikolayev and Daniil Gutik. And many guys from Yaroslavl called Vasya to themselves. Once he told me: “I want to go to Lokomotiv. He replied that we would arrange any problems at the end of the season. Later he received a call from St. Petersburg and I recommended to my parents not to refuse anything, but to think. Vasya is a simple guy, not in Canada As for SKA, he told him that this is a system that can grind."

You don't have to agree with his reasoning but try to understand that from his POV at the time he made the choice he thought was best for his development.

At the same time SKA still has incentives for helping him develop as well. They may not be obvious but they exist. The first is that they get a better player both this season and the next if they help Podz to up his game. The second is that if Podz doesn't stick in NA he's likely to come back to them if they treat him correctly. The third is that if they fail Podz they may not have such an easy time attracting other good young players in the future.

So don't think that SKA is benching him out of some anti-NHL spite, they're just using a different development style than we're used to and making it hard for us armchair GMs to scout him. That doesn't make what they're doing incorrect, just frustrating for us fans who can't get the info we might want about an exciting player.

 

[VeteranNetPresence]

Well I'm already getting Virtanen and Juolevi vibes from this pick already

SIGH

 

[Tables of Stats]

Well I'm already getting Virtanen and Juolevi vibes from this pick already

SIGH

Not the dreaded vibes!

 

[M2Beezy]

Already turning into a DISASTER pick, this even faster than realizing the Juolevi mistake

 

[Tables of Stats]

Already turning into a DISASTER pick, this even faster than realizing the Juolevi mistake

I know you're the king of hot takes and incomprehensible posts but this is rich even for you.

The take that Podkolzin is a bust because his KHL team is treating him like an 18 year older 13th forward in a tough men's league is...

 

[Motte and Bailey]

He will always be Vasiliev Podslghfjkvd to me. Thanks Stan

 

[M2Beezy]

I know you're the king of hot takes and incomprehensible posts but this is rich even for you.

The take that Podkolzin is a bust because his KHL team is treating him like an 18 year older 13th forward in a tough men's league is...

Never said he was a bust like Juolevi, i said was a DISASTER pick, they should have known the wierd backwords Russian league would screw with him like this screwing up his development and thered be nothing they could do about it. Theres a reason other teams passed on him. DISASTER pick

 

[Tables of Stats]

Never said he was a bust like Juolevi, i said was a DISASTER pick, they should have known the wierd backwords Russian league would screw with him like this screwing up his development and thered be nothing they could do about it. Theres a reason other teams passed on him. DISASTER pick

Exactly as many teams passed on literally every other player we could have drafted and we have video evidence that other teams had him on their board at least as high as 8th, so...

 

[Motte and Bailey]

Exactly as many teams passed on literally every other player we could have drafted and we have video evidence that other teams had him on their board at least as high as 8th, so...

29 teams passed on trading for the 1st overall pick in 2015 so McDavid must really suck

 

[Tables of Stats]

29 teams passed on trading for the 1st overall pick in 2015 so McDavid must really suck

That literally doesn't even make sense... The pick wasn't available for trade even though I'm sure several teams made calls asking about it.

In the draft, every player people wanted instead of Podz, that was open to us, fell further than he did. Every one of them had their own set of question marks too.

 

[Star Ocean]

Is russia letting him fail on purpose because he wants to go to NHL?

 

[F A N]

At the same time SKA still has incentives for helping him develop as well. They may not be obvious but they exist. The first is that they get a better player both this season and the next if they help Podz to up his game. The second is that if Podz doesn't stick in NA he's likely to come back to them if they treat him correctly. The third is that if they fail Podz they may not have such an easy time attracting other good young players in the future.

So don't think that SKA is benching him out of some anti-NHL spite, they're just using a different development style than we're used to and making it hard for us armchair GMs to scout him. That doesn't make what they're doing incorrect, just frustrating for us fans who can't get the info we might want about an exciting player.

Good points. Again, I don't understand how things work in Russia but it seems to me that all the top players dream of playing in the NHL. That's a foregone conclusion. But the KHL still talk about wanting to keep top players so there's an incentive to make it a good situation for Podkolzin if they think he has the potential to be a star. That and national interest.

 

[Tables of Stats]

Is russia letting him fail on purpose because he wants to go to NHL?

It doesn't seem to be the case, this is just how rookies his age are treated in that league. He's technically dressed as a 13th forward in one of two bonus slots for junior age players. So you could say he's essentially the 21st of 20 players on SKA's gameday roster.

 

[Tables of Stats]

Good points. Again, I don't understand how things work in Russia but it seems to me that all the top players dream of playing in the NHL. That's a foregone conclusion. But the KHL still talk about wanting to keep top players so there's an incentive to make it a good situation for Podkolzin if they think he has the potential to be a star. That and national interest.

I can't say that I fully understand it either but it's important to note that different doesn't mean worse and that Podkolzin chose to go this route with offers to play in NA on the table. Whatever his reasoning and however it turns out it seems have made an informed choice.

 

[F A N]

I can't say that I fully understand it either but it's important to note that different doesn't mean worse and that Podkolzin chose to go this route with offers to play in NA on the table. Whatever his reasoning and however it turns out it seems have made an informed choice.

I guess to play a little devil's advocate here, informed choice doesn't mean he made the right decision. Players often believe in themselves and Podkolzin probably figures he will average about 10 minutes of ice time in his draft +1 year at least and then a more prominent role in his second. But there has been a coaching change as well. Like I said, his team seems weaker than usual this year so there are opportunities to be had for Pods to earn more ice time.

 

[Zombotron]

Prospect Info: - Vasili Podkolzin

We're done here. Onto the next one.