Prospect Info: Vasili Podkolzin, Pt. II

[Bleach Clean]

The guy I’m watching as the comparison point is Soderstrom. Made a poll about this on the main forum a few months back. Very intelligent player and his PPG increased in the SHL. Right shot, creative and improving.

Boldy was the similar asset to Pod, and had better numbers, but Pod projected better early on. Even with the risks Pod carried, with his production and KHL contract, there was a justification in reaching for him given his pre-draft pedigree.

With Soderstrom, other factors were similar. Most importantly, the men’s league exposure early on and lower production. Let’s see what happens.

 

[112]

Bure incarnate.

 

[F A N]

The guy I’m watching as the comparison point is Soderstrom. Made a poll about this on the main forum a few months back. Very intelligent player and his PPG increased in the SHL. Right shot, creative and improving.

Boldy was the similar player type to Pod, and had better numbers, but Pod projected better early on. Even with the risks Pod carried, with his production and KHL contract, there was a justification in reaching for him given his pre-draft pedigree.

With Soderstrom, other factors were similar. Most importantly, the men’s league exposure early on and lower production. Let’s see how it turns out.

Wouldn't you have been criticized the Canucks if they picked Soderstrom and say it was a massive reach and a draft for need rather than BPA? The "consensus rankings" as in the aggregate of all the free rankings of various draft publications etc you like to refer to, almost every one of them had Soderstrom ranked outside of the top 10: Craig Button had him ranked 25th and Bob McKenzie had him going around 15.

I'm not saying that Soderstrom wouldn't have been a good pick. I've said before that Dmen tend not to be the sexy pick but at some point you got to draft them and not just in the later rounds. I think most pre-draft thinking at the time was that the BPA at 10 would not be a Dman. Soderstrom was projected to be more of a 2nd pairing Dman rather than a first pairing and the forwards that figure to be available had 1st line upside. Personally I had no issues drafting a Dman at 10. I liked Seider the most after Byram as far as D prospects available in the draft.

 

[Fatass]

The guy I’m watching as the comparison point is Soderstrom. Made a poll about this on the main forum a few months back. Very intelligent player and his PPG increased in the SHL. Right shot, creative and improving.

Boldy was the similar asset to Pod, and had better numbers, but Pod projected better early on. Even with the risks Pod carried, with his production and KHL contract, there was a justification in reaching for him given his pre-draft pedigree.

With Soderstrom, other factors were similar. Most importantly, the men’s league exposure early on and lower production. Let’s see what happens.

Yuk to Soderstrom. Don’t care for guys that remind me of that little Larsen guy we had a couple years back. Way too high bust potential.
I think our draft improved a lot with Bracket becoming the leader. I wish I could find the interview (sorry, I can’t) but Bracket compared Pods to the ex Oiler Captain - Ryan Smyth. Same physical characteristics, same hard on pucks style, and same quality leadership. I like the pick, but there is a caveat though. We are losing the guy, Bracket, who is most responsible for our recent draft success. And I’m very worried JB will trade away our future (Pods maybe?) to dump a crappy contract.

 

[jonnygf40]

Yuk to Soderstrom. Don’t care for guys that remind me of that little Larsen guy we had a couple years back. Way too high bust potential.
I think our draft improved a lot with Bracket becoming the leader. I wish I could find the interview (sorry, I can’t) but Bracket compared Pods to the ex Oiler Captain - Ryan Smyth. Same physical characteristics, same hard on pucks style, and same quality leadership. I like the pick, but there is a caveat though. We are losing the guy, Bracket, who is most responsible for our recent draft success. And I’m very worried JB will trade away our future (Pods maybe?) to dump a crappy contract.

There is no way that JB trades Pod to get rid of a contract. Maybe Juolevi or a pick. I mean he's dumb. But he is not THAT dumb.

 

[jonnygf40]

Yuk to Soderstrom. Don’t care for guys that remind me of that little Larsen guy we had a couple years back. Way too high bust potential.
I think our draft improved a lot with Bracket becoming the leader. I wish I could find the interview (sorry, I can’t) but Bracket compared Pods to the ex Oiler Captain - Ryan Smyth. Same physical characteristics, same hard on pucks style, and same quality leadership. I like the pick, but there is a caveat though. We are losing the guy, Bracket, who is most responsible for our recent draft success. And I’m very worried JB will trade away our future (Pods maybe?) to dump a crappy contract.

There is no way that JB trades Pod to get rid of a contract. Maybe Juolevi or a pick. I mean he's dumb. But he is not THAT dumb.

 

[Frankie Blueberries]

Roughly how many points would Podkolzin need to score in his sophomore season in the KHL for it to be a seen as a success for his development?

 

[clay]

Roughly how many points would Podkolzin need to score in his sophomore season in the KHL for it to be a seen as a success for his development?

At least 0.5 PPG would be a good step forward.

 

[canuckking1]

Roughly how many points would Podkolzin need to score in his sophomore season in the KHL for it to be a seen as a success for his development?

Depends on deployment really. He broke out to the end the season and a hard salary cap is being implemented with 19 years old not counting against the cap so his role should increase.

 

[Grantham]

Yuk to Soderstrom. Don’t care for guys that remind me of that little Larsen guy we had a couple years back. Way too high bust potential.
I think our draft improved a lot with Bracket becoming the leader. I wish I could find the interview (sorry, I can’t) but Bracket compared Pods to the ex Oiler Captain - Ryan Smyth. Same physical characteristics, same hard on pucks style, and same quality leadership. I like the pick, but there is a caveat though. We are losing the guy, Bracket, who is most responsible for our recent draft success. And I’m very worried JB will trade away our future (Pods maybe?) to dump a crappy contract.

Disagree on your take on Soderstrom. He's nothing like Larsen, who was awful defensively and soft as a wed noodle. Soderstrom is a 2-way stud, who can lay the body and has a bit of an edge. Decent size and strong. I would say if we picked him I'd be equally happy.

I do very much like your comparison to Ryan Smyth. Very apt, and I don't think I've seen that before. I think that is the best way to describe the x-factor that Pod posses beyond the skills. Ryan got probably the most out of his skillset than anyone I can remember in my lifetime. Wasn't a great skater, not the best shot, not super agile, or a gifted playmaker. But man the grit and determination were off the scale! I will take a player like that on my team every day of the week, and twice on Sundays!

 

[F A N]

I do very much like your comparison to Ryan Smyth. Very apt, and I don't think I've seen that before. I think that is the best way to describe the x-factor that Pod posses beyond the skills. Ryan got probably the most out of his skillset than anyone I can remember in my lifetime. Wasn't a great skater, not the best shot, not super agile, or a gifted playmaker. But man the grit and determination were off the scale! I will take a player like that on my team every day of the week, and twice on Sundays!

I like Pods but I think the most frequently expressed concern on here is that Pods' production is not as good as his skillset suggests he can.

With that said, Ryan Smyth' powerforward skillset was very good for his era. He was the garbage man we wish Eriksson would have been here.

 

[VanJack]

Just heard the podcast of CKSA coach Alexi Kudashov on the Halford and Brough show on TSN 1040, talking about Podkolzin

Basically stated that the kid made massive strikes during the KHL season....but more encouraging, is that he has a relentless work ethic to keep getting better. The coach saying that sometime they have to get him out of the gym and off the practice ice, because they're concerned about burn-out.

He adds that even as an 18-year old, he's strong enough to play in a men's pro hockey league. But has to work on his skating-- and his lateral agility. His straight ahead is top end, but overall skating is something he needs to work on. But the coach adds that he works on it everyday and has already seen improvement.

From all reports, a driven player who hasn't begun to hit his top end. Almost a fixture in the Canuck top-six whenever he does come over. The patience is going to be well worth it imo.

 

[LuckyBoeser]

Lets hope Podkolzin makes the best of his opportunity in an increased role.

 

[Bleach Clean]

Astute video.

 

[BB06]

Inb4 Podkolzin emasculates Horvat, takes his C and gets him traded

 

[BenningHurtsMySoul]

Lmao Yakupov. Dude is the bustiest bust that ever busted.

 

[F A N]

Larionov has compared Pods to Messier. It's nice to hear, but I don't trust Larionov's scouting reports.

 

[Fatass]

Larionov has compared Pods to Messier. It's nice to hear, but I don't trust Larionov's scouting reports.

First time I saw Pods play I thought a young Messier as comparison. Mess was a faster skater, but Pods has Mess’s skills and meanness. There is a viciousness to how they both play. After watching Pods more, though, I see more Ryan Smyth (dog on bone) type player.

 

[Bougieman]

Yeah, I totally agree about that Ryan Smith comparison. I was trying to place who he reminded me off after watching the half dozen games I saw, and all those clips of Podz. Just couldn't quite place it... and suddenly hearing that name really makes it crystal clear. And boy, could the Canucks EVER use a Ryan Smith-type sandpaper player to offset and compliment what they already have. A combination of grit and skill in a top six winger that they haven't had since Burrows was in his prime. A perfect addition to this roster.

 

[Jay Cee]

I like the player a lot but consider the source. I am not buying that he is a future super star at all, but I think he is tracking to be a top 6 player for sure.

 

[BB06]

I like the player a lot but consider the source. I am not buying that he is a future super star at all, but I think he is tracking to be a top 6 player for sure.

I feel he'll fall more into that Boeser/Horvat tier. Not superstar but right under it.

 

[VanJack]

When you look back at that 2019 draft, only four players out of the top-10 played pro hockey last season--Jack Hughes; Kaapo Kakko, Kirby Dach and Podkolzin.

Clearly both Hughes and Kakko struggled mightily in the NHL And Dach was a spare part in Chicago. And you can argue that Podkolzin had a very successful year in the KHL. He grew his game throughout the year gaining more and more ice-time and was a force in the playoffs before the KHL abandoned its season.

Everybody else drafted in top-10 played either in junior or the NCAA last season, a far lower level of hockey than the NHL or KHL. So you could make the argument that based on results so far, Podkolzin was probably the third best player in the draft, certainly no worse than fourth overall....which was basically where he was rated in most of the pre-draft rankings all season long.

He fell for no good reason imo, other than the fact that he was committed to the KHL for two years.

 

[nergish]

First time I saw Pods play I thought a young Messier as comparison. Mess was a faster skater, but Pods has Mess’s skills and meanness. There is a viciousness to how they both play. After watching Pods more, though, I see more Ryan Smyth (dog on bone) type player.

I'm not sure Podz is a "Moose" physically, but he is a big strong kid that plays relentlessly on the puck. He would need to be more physically dominant to be a Messier-type. We're talking about one of the highest point-getters in league history and a guy known for his strength on the puck. I love the comparison, but he would need to really focus on that side of his training (power skating and building muscle mass).

Ryan Smyth I can totally buy. Just a hardnosed and skilled, consistent player that teammates can rally around.
I was never a huge fan of his growing up, being from Vancouver... but I sure saw a lot of him in his prime, and he brought it every single night.
I expect much of the same from Podz. I just love how open-ended his ceiling is.

 

[Breakers]

German Rubotsov

Haven't heard that name in awhile.
You should hear Flyers fan absolutely roast him, you thought vancouver fans hate Juolevi, listen to flyers fan on rubotsov

 

[Frank Garrett]

German Rubotsov

Haven't heard that name in awhile.
You should hear Flyers fan absolutely roast him, you thought vancouver fans hate Juolevi, listen to flyers fan on rubotsov

Robustov?