Prospect Info: Vasili Podkolzin, Pt. II

[F A N]

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).

For what it's worth I think Messier is only one of the highest point-getters because of the era he played in and his longevity. With that said, Messier clearly had one of the best careers ever.

Personally, I would be happy if Pods turn into a 20+ goal 45+ point type who plays that aggressive puck hounding type of hockey he is capable of playing for the Canucks but I would obviously be thrilled if he's better than that.

 

[Fatass]

For what it's worth I think Messier is only one of the highest point-getters because of the era he played in and his longevity. With that said, Messier clearly had one of the best careers ever.

Personally, I would be happy if Pods turn into a 20+ goal 45+ point type who plays that aggressive puck hounding type of hockey he is capable of playing for the Canucks but I would obviously be thrilled if he's better than that.

Pods could have played in the CHL last season, and in the coming season too. He’s almost a full year younger than his draft class group.
What type of numbers does Pods put up in the CHL? Obviously it’s massive. Pods will be a 30+Goal and 70+ Point NHL player, while still bringing the intangibles he’s known for.
Pods will win the rookie of the year too.
We Canack’s fans will be thanking Bracket (and his scouts) for Pods for many years.

 

[VanJack]

For what it's worth I think Messier is only one of the highest point-getters because of the era he played in and his longevity. With that said, Messier clearly had one of the best careers ever.

Personally, I would be happy if Pods turn into a 20+ goal 45+ point type who plays that aggressive puck hounding type of hockey he is capable of playing for the Canucks but I would obviously be thrilled if he's better than that.

If Igor Larionov is to be believed, Podkolzin is the perfect winger for Elias Pettersson.....if that turns out to be true, Pods be good for a lot more than 20 goals a season.

 

[Fatass]

If Igor Larionov is to be believed, Podkolzin is the perfect winger for Elias Pettersson.....if that turns out to be true, Pods be good for a lot more than 20 goals a season.

Pods has a natural “protect your mates” mechanism too, which I really like. He actually becomes vicious, when protecting his mates. That could be part of the connection (the viciousness when defending his mates) that Larionov sees in Pods that he also saw in Messier. Watching guys play, and being with them while they are playing creates a different perspective that Larionov has, that (unless we were there too) cannot have.

 

[Diamonddog01]

Bure incarnate.

Um...not really.

 

[112]

Um...not really.

I mean, he's not as fast and can be considered a relatively poor skater to his draft position, but he's Russian, so yes really.

 

[Diamonddog01]

I mean, he's not as fast and can be considered a relatively poor skater to his draft position, but he's Russian, so yes really.

Simply because they are both Russian he is ‘Bure incarnate’? Really dude? They play nothing alike. He is not Bure incarnate. LOL.

 

[Lindgren]

Simply because they are both Russian he is ‘Bure incarnate’? Really dude? They play nothing alike. He is not Bure incarnate. LOL.

The post was sarcastic. The follow-up post was even more sarcastic.

 

[sandwichbird2023]

For what it's worth I think Messier is only one of the highest point-getters because of the era he played in and his longevity. With that said, Messier clearly had one of the best careers ever.

Personally, I would be happy if Pods turn into a 20+ goal 45+ point type who plays that aggressive puck hounding type of hockey he is capable of playing for the Canucks but I would obviously be thrilled if he's better than that.

Sounds kind of like a better version of Janick Hansen, which is a very good player in his prime. I'm not sure if Pod is as good defensively, but I think he is a much better offensive player (especially passing the puck). His style of play is very much needed on this roster going forward.

 

[Fatass]

I mean, he's not as fast and can be considered a relatively poor skater to his draft position, but he's Russian, so yes really.

Both left hand shot too!

 

[F A N]

Pods could have played in the CHL last season, and in the coming season too. He’s almost a full year younger than his draft class group.
What type of numbers does Pods put up in the CHL? Obviously it’s massive. Pods will be a 30+Goal and 70+ Point NHL player, while still bringing the intangibles he’s known for.
Pods will win the rookie of the year too.
We Canack’s fans will be thanking Bracket (and his scouts) for Pods for many years.

Well I have a more pessimistic view of the type of player I see Pods developing into at the NHL level but I hope you're right.

 

[Lemmiwinks]

Sounds kind of like a better version of Janick Hansen, which is a very good player in his prime. I'm not sure if Pod is as good defensively, but I think he is a much better offensive player (especially passing the puck). His style of play is very much needed on this roster going forward.

I could see him having a prime-Hansen impact but having a (much?) longer prime than Hansen actually had. That would be a good outcome.

 

[F A N]

Sounds kind of like a better version of Janick Hansen, which is a very good player in his prime. I'm not sure if Pod is as good defensively, but I think he is a much better offensive player (especially passing the puck). His style of play is very much needed on this roster going forward.

I could see him having a prime-Hansen impact but having a (much?) longer prime than Hansen actually had. That would be a good outcome.

I was a fan of Hansen much more than Raymond when they were both trying to crack the Canucks. Felt Hansen had outplayed and outscored Raymond (pre-Demitra) at the time. Hansen, IIRC, was drafted more of a slippery playmaking winger. He obviously filled out and changed his game to stick in the NHL. If he broke into the NHL now, I think he could have developed into a top 6 winger. A bit like Baertschi with much more HoneyBadgering. A prime Hansen was still a pretty good playmaker but played more of a direct game so there weren't many occasions where he would show off his puckhandling or playmaking. Pods has the better shot though which gives him a decided edge as far as offensive potential and seemingly loves to carry the puck.

 

[VanJack]

Nothing against the 'Honey Badger', who was decent third-fourth line foot-soldier for the Canucks for almost a decade.

But if Podkolzin's career mimics Jannick Hansen, it'll be a colossal letdown. I recall a few years back, Canuck fans went semi-ballistic when Ray Ferraro at TSN predicted that at best, Jake Virtanen's career would be similar to Hansen's.

You simply have to get a lot more than that out of a top-10 draft pick.

 

[Knight53]

Nothing against the 'Honey Badger', who was decent third-fourth line foot-soldier for the Canucks for almost a decade.

But if Podkolzin's career mimics Jannick Hansen, it'll be a colossal letdown. I recall a few years back, Canuck fans went semi-ballistic when Ray Ferraro at TSN predicted that at best, Jake Virtanen's career would be similar to Hansen's.

You simply have to get a lot more than that out of a top-10 draft pick.

Don't think he'll be an elite asset like Pettersson/Hughes/Boeser/Miller but he should be a Horvat level asset for us. Someone who can play on the top two lines, put up 55-65 points and be a pain in the ass to play against reminiscent to Tkachuk/Landeskog playstyle.

 

[Bankerguy]

Don't think he'll be an elite asset like Pettersson/Hughes/Boeser/Miller but he should be a Horvat level asset for us. Someone who can play on the top two lines, put up 55-65 points and be a pain in the ass to play against reminiscent to Tkachuk/Landeskog playstyle.

I would put Boeser on the same level of Horvat. Even slightly below.
Pettersson / Hughes / Miller are the needle movers for sure.... Horvat and Boeser are great players but a tier down. If Podz's is on that level, i'd be really happy with that.
If Hoglander ends up a player in equal usefullness as say Gaudette/Virtanen, that would be great too.
What we need is a young Dman to step up and establish himself as a top 4 guy. Like Bear did for the Oilers

 

[ChilliBilly]

I would put Boeser on the same level of Horvat. Even slightly below.
Pettersson / Hughes / Miller are the needle movers for sure.... Horvat and Boeser are great players but a tier down. If Podz's is on that level, i'd be really happy with that.
If Hoglander ends up a player in equal usefullness as say Gaudette/Virtanen, that would be great too.
What we need is a young Dman to step up and establish himself as a top 4 guy. Like Bear did for the Oilers

I think Rathbone is a player that could be top 2 someday, and probably a top 4. However is also a player who could end up not being able to play at the NHL level. But if he is decent, having Tryamkin and Myers there for the size factor would be very valuable. I think Tryamkin is a lock to be top 4. Regardless of the opinions on the Canuck boards. We'll see.

We could be a pretty nasty team if we have a core of

Tryamkin Rathbone
Myers Hughes

Petersson Podkolzin Miller
Horvat Hoglander Virtanen

Teams would not want to play us.

And most of those guys are young ....

 

[VanJack]

Given the Pandemic turmoil in hockey leagues around the world, you really have to wonder how soon Podkolzin might actually be available to sign with the Canucks.

Under normal circumstances, his two year contract with SKA St. Petersburg comes to an end on April 30th, 2021. But you ca only speculate what happens if neither the KHL or NHL even start their 2020-21 seasons until January?

A shortened season and the loss of revenues might induce KHL team, who know they're going to lose players to NHL anyway, to do something to trigger an early release. As with all these negotiations, money would talk.

In a perfect scenario, Podkolzin would play for Russia in the World Junior Championships in Edmonton during the Xmas break, and then be available to the Canucks by January, 2021.

Given all the uncertainties, I guess you can still hope for the best.

 

[BenningHurtsMySoul]

Pod reminds me a lot of Hall.

Remains to be seen if he puts it all together. But that would be a home run pick at 10.

 

[bossram]

Nothing against the 'Honey Badger', who was decent third-fourth line foot-soldier for the Canucks for almost a decade.

But if Podkolzin's career mimics Jannick Hansen, it'll be a colossal letdown. I recall a few years back, Canuck fans went semi-ballistic when Ray Ferraro at TSN predicted that at best, Jake Virtanen's career would be similar to Hansen's.

You simply have to get a lot more than that out of a top-10 draft pick.

It definitely would be a letdown. But if the majority of his career mimicks peak Jannick Hansen (0.5 PPG puck-retrieval demon, two-way value, PK value, good complement to skill players), that'd still be a very useful player. A good guy to have next to a Petey or Brock. Virtanen doesn't really provide any of these traits, and his playstyle isn't really conducive to it.

Maybe Pod's max upside is a JT Miller type, which would be a very good outcome.

Pod reminds me a lot of Hall.

Remains to be seen if he puts it all together. But that would be a home run pick at 10.

He has that reckless, all-out retrieval + net drive that Hall has. But Pod just doesn't have anywhere near Hall's skating right now. Podkolzin has kind of a weird heel kick/flare out in his stride, which limits his speed and explosiveness. Hall is a one-man neutral zone demon. I'm pretty positive on Podkolzin but I think comparing him to Hall is a stretch.

 

[mriswith]

Given the Pandemic turmoil in hockey leagues around the world, you really have to wonder how soon Podkolzin might actually be available to sign with the Canucks.

Under normal circumstances, his two year contract with SKA St. Petersburg comes to an end on April 30th, 2021. But you ca only speculate what happens if neither the KHL or NHL even start their 2020-21 seasons until January?

A shortened season and the loss of revenues might induce KHL team, who know they're going to lose players to NHL anyway, to do something to trigger an early release. As with all these negotiations, money would talk.

In a perfect scenario, Podkolzin would play for Russia in the World Junior Championships in Edmonton during the Xmas break, and then be available to the Canucks by January, 2021.

Given all the uncertainties, I guess you can still hope for the best.

I'd rather he play out next year in Russia. I do not like how our staff "develops" players in Utica nor do I want to see him scrounging 4th line minutes again next year which would probably happen if a rookie gets dropped onto a team going all in for playoffs in a shortened season. I'd rather he develop with a good amount of minutes in the KHL away from the Utica mess and then start in the NHL in the top 9 in 2021 and move up from there.

 

[sandwichbird2023]

Nothing against the 'Honey Badger', who was decent third-fourth line foot-soldier for the Canucks for almost a decade.

But if Podkolzin's career mimics Jannick Hansen, it'll be a colossal letdown. I recall a few years back, Canuck fans went semi-ballistic when Ray Ferraro at TSN predicted that at best, Jake Virtanen's career would be similar to Hansen's.

You simply have to get a lot more than that out of a top-10 draft pick.

Or maybe the expectation for a #10 overall pick is too high? History shows that at #10, you are not guaranteed a super star. For example, going back 10 years starting from 2016, we have the following players picked at 10th overall (11th overall in brackets).
2016: Jost, Colorado, (Brown, Ottawa)
2015: Rantanen, Colorado, (Crouse, Florida)
2014: Ritchie, Anaheim, (Fiala, Nashville)
2013: Nichushkin, Dallas, (Morin, Philly)
2012: Koekkoek, Tampa, (Forsberg, Washington)
2011: Brodin, Minny, (Siemens, Colorado)
2010: McIlrath, NYR, (Campbell, Dallas)
2009: Pajaarvi, Edmonton, (Ellis, Nashville)
2008: Hodgson, Vancouver, (Beach, Chicago)
2007: Ellerby, Florida, (Sutter, Carolina)
2006: Frolik, Florida, (Bernier, LA)
You have 1 star player in Rantanen, 1 top pairing D in Brodin, several guys that had (or will have) 300+ games, and a few busts. And its not like the #10 spot is cursed and that a star player is taken right after. The 11th overall pick in bracket shows that a star player isn't guaranteed in that spot either.
Getting a peak-level Janick Hansen at #10 shouldn't be a disappointment at all, based on historical statistic.

 

[VanJack]

I agree that in a lot of drafts, "sure things' are usually off the board by the time the 10th pick rolls around. More often than not, the kid picked 10th goes on to a decent if not spectacular NHL career.

But I think you can make the case that Podkolzin was a 'faller', for no other reason than 'the Russian factor' and his two-year commitment to the KHL. And his draft-plus-one season has done nothing to dispel the notion that that he probably lingered on the board too long.

Basically the same situation as Pettersson and Hughes. Pettersson was clearly the best pick in the 2017 draft; and Hughes the best pick in 2018. But both fell a bit based on their size and concern by scouts about whether they could replicate their amateur success at the NHL level.

But only time will tell I guess, whether the Canucks have lucked out again.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

Nothing against the 'Honey Badger', who was decent third-fourth line foot-soldier for the Canucks for almost a decade.

But if Podkolzin's career mimics Jannick Hansen, it'll be a colossal letdown. I recall a few years back, Canuck fans went semi-ballistic when Ray Ferraro at TSN predicted that at best, Jake Virtanen's career would be similar to Hansen's.

You simply have to get a lot more than that out of a top-10 draft pick.

looking at the#10 in historical context, or caucjs historical context anyway, bagging a jannik hansen at that spot would be great.

our last two #10s were cursed.

before that brad ference. if you open it up to the 6 to 14 range, you’ve got

virtanen (less than hansen)
horvat (hit)
hodgson (10)
grabner (hansen ballpark)
bourdon (10)
ference (less than)
holden (flat out miss)
ohlund (bullseye)
stojanov (clang)
jason herter (omg)
dan woodley (make it stop)

 

[Grantham]

The Hall comparison is strange. Maybe the compete level?

Hall’s best attribute is is wicked speed. Guy is a Ferrari. He would need to be carrying Cliff Ronning on his back for Podkolzin to have a chance in a race