Prospect Info: Vasili Podkolzin, Pt. III

[701]

I have no doubt that the young team leaders like Hughes, Pettersson, Boeser, and Horvat will welcome Podkolzin
with open arms. As will the other guys, but the young established stars closest to his age will likely have the most impact.
Just look at it from a stranger's perspective. Beautiful city you're already fairly familiar with, including the rabid fans and
the legendary Canadian hockey culture. Two superstar-trending players who have recently turned 21 and 22, plus two
other stars age 25 or younger, one of them being the team's captain. What a great environment in the room for a confident, physical
kid to blend into, and how cool to connect with two of the brightest young lights in hockey who are only 2 and 3 years older.

I emphasize the age cohort angle because, as we probably all can remember, it's so important for kids transitioning out of their teens.
Putting draft years as college years, Podkolzin (along with Hoglander) as an entering freshman would have Hughes as a sophomore
(along with Woo), Pettersson as a junior (along with Lind, DiPietro, and Rathbone), and Juolevi as a senior (along with Lockwood).
Not a bad group of kids to connect with, especially the ones closest to his age. Podkolzin is already learning English, and he might
just possibly be fed up with certain aspects of his SKA team's management that have been mentioned here oh just the odd time.
To me it looks like he'll adapt to his new hockey family just fine.

 

[Raistlin]

I have no doubt that the young team leaders like Hughes, Pettersson, Boeser, and Horvat will welcome Podkolzin
with open arms. As will the other guys, but the young established stars closest to his age will likely have the most impact.
Just look at it from a stranger's perspective. Beautiful city you're already fairly familiar with, including the rabid fans and
the legendary Canadian hockey culture. Two superstar-trending players who have recently turned 21 and 22, plus two
other stars age 25 or younger, one of them being the team's captain. What a great environment in the room for a confident, physical
kid to blend into, and how cool to connect with two of the brightest young lights in hockey who are only 2 and 3 years older.

I emphasize the age cohort angle because, as we probably all can remember, it's so important for kids transitioning out of their teens.
Putting draft years as college years, Podkolzin (along with Hoglander) as an entering freshman would have Hughes as a sophomore
(along with Woo), Pettersson as a junior (along with Lind, DiPietro, and Rathbone), and Juolevi as a senior (along with Lockwood).
Not a bad group of kids to connect with, especially the ones closest to his age. Podkolzin is already learning English, and he might
just possibly be fed up with certain aspects of his SKA team's management that have been mentioned here oh just the odd time.
To me it looks like he'll adapt to his new hockey family just fine.

treating prospects from different cultures in exactly the same way is so 1990s (see ignorant). We know enough about cultures now to know we are all very different and have different needs. I'm sure the young core gets it, moreover our younger coach gets it. He played with Palffy, Malakhov, Kasparaitis, Salo all as young kids on the Islanders, all filling different roles. When Pod comes over, I hope Benning will not let a dinosaur mentality like Willie's run the clubhouse. Russians are very different than other players, their state environment does not have a positive attitude towards the west, they have preconceived notions coming in that we have to break, its important to treat them with different protocols that will make them feel comfortable. The 10th pick is a high investment, it behooves us to make it into a Rantanen instead of a Ference. Lets not screw it up this time from a management standpoint.

 

[Didalee Hed]

They all come over. The best of them anyhow....the high 1st rounders.
If whatever powers that be in Russia, start passing laws to try keep them at home then I guess it'll be time for Russian players and NHL teams to brush up on the Alexander Mogilny story:
Defector Alexander Mogilny Story - YouTube

Fantastic crossing of username and post content

 

[VanJack]

Canucks should try to bring Podkolzin over early and get him firmly established in the NHL bubble. Same with Hoglander. COVID has run rampant through both SKA St. Petersburg in the KHL and Rogle in the SHL, forcing both teams into a quarantine and cancelling games. Fortunately both Podkolzin and Hoglander have escaped the virus so far, but makes you wonder how long that can last.

Hoglander will already be in Canucks camp in December but Benning should move heaven earth to try and find out what it would take for Podkolzin to just stay in NA, once the WJHC is done on January 1st in Alberta.

Normally it would be no big deal for him to just go back and play out the last four months of his KHL contract. But these are hardly 'normal times'.

 

[ChilliBilly]

Who supports my reply to you means nothing to me bud, but you hang on to that......

We should do everything we can to help the transition over, for any player that comes from another country, never said we shouldn't.

Tryamkin proved to be nothing more than a bottom pairing Dman, people (like you I'm guessing) fawned over him like he was the next Chara, (he isn't and won't ever be).

He was treated like a player who needed to earn his ice time and then acted like an entititled child when it wasn't handed over on a silver platter. Then as he was leaving talked a bunch of shit about the city, which is completely classless. We don't need players like that here.

Tryamkin is and always will be a bottom pairing defensive dman, he has no where near the importance to this team as Pod and never will.

Yeah, great i will hang on to that .. like anyone cares. He was 21 when he came over, and sure he didn't light the world on fire, but the team sucked and they wanted him to be a player he wasn't. he left, and lots of people whined. I would love to see him back, a line up of Hughes, Schmidt, Meyers, rathbone, Tryamkin and either Rafferty or Juolevi will be a great D base in a few years.

 

[Grub]

Just bring him here and see what the lad can do.

 

[GetFocht]

Benning just said on the radio that Podkolzin is a guy that can be next to Horvat and Pearson this year.

Its all coming into fruition. Then have Hoglander on the third line left wing and all of a sudden Canucks are team loaded with depth.

 

[timw33]

Benning just said on the radio that Podkolzin is a guy that can be next to Horvat and Pearson this year.

Its all coming into fruition. Then have Hoglander on the third line left wing and all of a sudden Canucks are team loaded with depth.

Relying on two 19-year old rookies to step in and both be quality top 9 NHL wingers out of the gate does not really inspire confidence for a team that should be taking a step forward, not desperately trying to not regress.

 

[Nucklehead Supreme]

Yeah, great i will hang on to that .. like anyone cares. He was 21 when he came over, and sure he didn't light the world on fire, but the team sucked and they wanted him to be a player he wasn't. he left, and lots of people whined. I would love to see him back, a line up of Hughes, Schmidt, Meyers, rathbone, Tryamkin and either Rafferty or Juolevi will be a great D base in a few years.

Clearly you care as you brought it up in the first place......... but sure downplay it now.......

Nobody (in their right mind) expected him to light the world on fire.

The team wanted him to be a bottom pairing dman, which is exactly what he is. Not sure what your talking about there.

People whined after he became this entitled classless child after he left. If he had just left because he was homesick, fine, that's understandable, but leaving on a sour note
is completely different.

I like the way he played here, and if his attitude is different then great, bring him back. I highly doubt it is, since he is seemingly motivated to come back now
because we are a better team.

 

[Canucks LB]

I loved what Jim said about Pod on the radio today.
He did not say he "WILL" Play with Horvat and pearson.
He said among other things, that if he signs, he could eventually see him get a shot basically.

 

[4Twenty]

Relying on two 19-year old rookies to step in and both be quality top 9 NHL wingers out of the gate does not really inspire confidence for a team that should be taking a step forward, not desperately trying to not regress.

Especially considering that neither are standout performers in leagues with lower competition than the NHL. They're good prospects, but Bo himself was a 4th liner as a 19 year old rookie. This smells like Virtanen and McCann all over.

 

[timw33]

I loved what Jim said about Pod on the radio today.
He did not say he "WILL" Play with Horvat and pearson.
He said among other things, that if he signs, he could eventually see him get a shot basically.

Pearson isn't even signed past this year and probably should be dealt for picks at the deadline.

 

[timw33]

Especially considering that neither are standout performers in leagues with lower competition than the NHL. They're good prospects, but Bo himself was a 4th liner as a 19 year old rookie. This smells like Virtanen and McCann all over.

The more likely scenario would be these guys playing on the roster post deadline if playoffs are not looking good and we (smartly) move all pending UFAs for whatever picks we can get and open up some roster spots for development time.

 

[F A N]

Especially considering that neither are standout performers in leagues with lower competition than the NHL. They're good prospects, but Bo himself was a 4th liner as a 19 year old rookie. This smells like Virtanen and McCann all over.

There is a difference between 1st half of the season and 2nd half of the season though. Horvat towards the end of his rookie season looked more like a legitimate 3rd line C. There have been other examples of blue chip prospects who really weren't ready for the NHL to start the year but was by the end of it. How much of that was due to experience and how much of that was due to natural age curve development I do not know.

Podkolzin appears to be one of those players whose play is better than his counting stats line. He might actually be good on Horvat's line the way Eriksson was actually a solid relative option. To me, either Podkolzin is ready for the NHL or he isn't. If he is ready, it might not be a bad idea to play him with guys who can actually play rather than bury him on the 4th line and get under 10 minutes a game alongside Beagle. Granted, plenty of players have developed alongside Beagle in Washington. With that said, I've said many times that recent top KHL forward prospects have required more time than their comparable North American counterparts. I doubt Podkolzin is ready to contribute in a meaningful way in the NHL.

 

[VanJack]

Relying on two 19-year old rookies to step in and both be quality top 9 NHL wingers out of the gate does not really inspire confidence for a team that should be taking a step forward, not desperately trying to not regress.

This might not be a popular sentiment with the hard-core Canuck faithful, but I'm becoming more and more convinced that the Canucks ownership and front office are treating the upcoming season as 'another development year'.

At best, we're dealing with a 48-game schedule, with the likelihood of 'zero fans' in the building. In fact there's even a chance that teams may have to retreat into a bubble like they were forced to last summer. With zero revenues coming in, the owners may be looking ahead to a post-COVID world whenever that is.

So for this season, the Canucks introduce a flock of youngsters into the lineup and let the chips fall where they may. At the end of the season the contracts for Sutter, Edler, Benn and Pearson all expire. And with just one year left on their deals, there's also a chance they can move on from Beagle, Eriksson or Roussel.

So they're clearing the decks for a serious run in the 2022 season when hopefully fans are back in the building and teams are playing a full 82 game schedule. Seems logical to me.

 

[timw33]

This might not be a popular sentiment with the hard-core Canuck faithful, but I'm becoming more and more convinced that the Canucks ownership and front office are treating the upcoming season as 'another development year'.

At best, we're dealing with a 48-game schedule, with the likelihood of 'zero fans' in the building. In fact there's even a chance that teams may have to retreat into a bubble like they were forced to last summer. With zero revenues coming in, the owners may be looking ahead to a post-COVID world whenever that is.

So for this season, the Canucks introduce a flock of youngsters into the lineup and let the chips fall where they may. At the end of the season the contracts for Sutter, Edler, Benn and Pearson all expire. And with just one year left on their deals, there's also a chance they can move on from Beagle, Eriksson or Roussel.

So they're clearing the decks for a serious run in the 2022 season when hopefully fans are back in the building and teams are playing a full 82 game schedule. Seems logical to me.

I detailed this in another post, but moving on from Beagle Eriksson or Roussel will require trading valuable assets (that we need and have few of) to get rid of their contracts, and there are very few teams looking to take on salary, let alone that have cap space to use on bottom of the barrel players. Highly unlikely that Seattle throws us a lifeline by taking Myers/Ferland/Holtby/Roussel/Beagle off our hands for free.

Buying all three of them out and replacing with 3 league minimum players saves us all of $1.725MM.

But more importantly, why is this team having to take a clear step back after our first glimmer of promise? That seems like an absolute failure to get to where we got last year only to have to dismantle the team that got us there and pray that 19 year old players will step in and be productive players.

 

[GetFocht]

I think Canucks are definitely preparing for Hoglander and Podkolzin to be in the line-up as well. It's blatantly obvious that this will be the last run for Beagle, Eriksson, Roussel, Beartschi, and Sutter. They served their purpose for when Canucks were in the gutter but now that the Canucks have transitioned to a new core faster than expected, they will be off the books within 2 years.

 

[Hodgy]

I think Canucks are definitely preparing for Hoglander and Podkolzin to be in the line-up as well. It's blatantly obvious that this will be the last run for Beagle, Eriksson, Roussel, Beartschi, and Sutter. They served their purpose for when Canucks were in the gutter but now that the Canucks have transitioned to a new core faster than expected, they will be off the books within 2 years.

Baertschi has been serving his purpose in the AHL......

 

[4Twenty]

Baertschi has been serving his purpose in the AHL......

I still can’t believe they’re paying for the ghost of Sam Gagner this upcoming season.

 

[Pastor Of Muppetz]

I detailed this in another post, but moving on from Beagle Eriksson or Roussel will require trading valuable assets (that we need and have few of) to get rid of their contracts, and there are very few teams looking to take on salary, let alone that have cap space to use on bottom of the barrel players. Highly unlikely that Seattle throws us a lifeline by taking Myers/Ferland/Holtby/Roussel/Beagle off our hands for free.

Buying all three of them out and replacing with 3 league minimum players saves us all of $1.725MM.

But more importantly, why is this team having to take a clear step back after our first glimmer of promise? That seems like an absolute failure to get to where we got last year only to have to dismantle the team that got us there and pray that 19 year old players will step in and be productive players.

'Dismantling the team' is hyperbole...We could only keep one goalie, and they were not going to give Tanev a retirement contract..both players were replaced, one was an upgrade.

The essential core players are still here,...losing Toffoli and Stecher are not backbreakers by any means...

Are you a proponent of 'you'll never win anything with the kids"..?

 

[Catamarca Livin]

I am excited to see if Podz, Hoglander, Juolevi, and others (Lind, Rathbone, Rafferty)can play. We know what are vets are. We still have players like Sven, Benn and even Bailey around if they falter. The team's fate does not depend overly on the prospects this year. Pretty good shape overall.

 

[Frankie Blueberries]

'Dismantling the team' is hyperbole...We could only keep one goalie, and they were not going to give Tanev a retirement contract..both players were replaced, one was an upgrade.

The essential core players are still here,...losing Toffoli and Stecher are not backbreakers by any means...

Are you a proponent of 'you'll never win anything with the kids"..?

It's a death by a thousand paper cuts type situation. None of the subtractions on their own would torpedo the team, but taken together...it doesn't look that promising next season. Probably a bubble team at best.

They lost their team MVP and top 4 in Vezina voting in Markstrom (not saying this was the wrong move, but the impact can't be understated), their top line RW in Toffoli who went PPG in the small sample size of 10 games, their best defensive defenceman who had good chemistry on the top pairing with Hughes, and some decent, cheap depth pieces in Stecher and Leivo. Schmidt helps offset Tanev (remains to be seen how he will fit in with this team, looks like a small upgrade over Tanev but we'll see) and Holtby is a decent stop-gap (but last season is a bit worrisome). Overall, the team looks to have downgraded a fair amount.

 

[Pastor Of Muppetz]

It's a death by a thousand paper cuts type situation. None of the subtractions on their own would torpedo the team, but taken together...it doesn't look that promising next season. Probably a bubble team at best.

They lost their team MVP and top 4 in Vezina voting in Markstrom (not saying this was the wrong move, but the impact can't be understated), their top line RW in Toffoli who went PPG in the small sample size of 10 games, their best defensive defenceman who had good chemistry on the top pairing with Hughes, and some decent, cheap depth pieces in Stecher and Leivo. Schmidt helps offset Tanev (remains to be seen how he will fit in with this team, looks like a small upgrade over Tanev but we'll see) and Holtby is a decent stop-gap (but last season is a bit worrisome). Overall, the team looks to have downgraded a fair amount.

You're entitled to your opinion that the team has 'downgraded a fair amount' (the prevailing winds here, usually have the Canucks being a BAD team..look at last seasons predictions..?..)..

I'm more optimistic, and think that some of the younger players will be able to pull on the rope, and the young 'elite' players will kick it up another notch..

Anyway, team is far from 'dismantled'.

 

[WetcoastOrca]

I don’t agree that having two 19 year olds (really two 20 year olds) in the top 9 by next seasons end should be a concern.
Imo Podzolkin should be pencilled into the top 9 forwards by year end. That’s really what you should expect from a physically mature top 10 pick. By the time he comes over in March he will almost be 20 years old and will have had two years of development outside the NHL which should put him on track.
Hoglander will be 20 years old in a couple of weeks. Him making the team after only a year and a half playing outside the NHL might be more of a surprise but I think you’re going to start to see more teams bringing in young players earlier with a flat cap. That’s just the new reality imo.
The bigger issue is how the team finds room for both of them with all of the dead weight still around.

 

[Nucklehead Supreme]

I don’t agree that having two 19 year olds (really two 20 year olds) in the top 9 by next seasons end should be a concern.
Imo Podzolkin should be pencilled into the top 9 forwards by year end. That’s really what you should expect from a physically mature top 10 pick. By the time he comes over in March he will almost be 20 years old and will have had two years of development outside the NHL which should put him on track.
Hoglander will be 20 years old in a couple of weeks. Him making the team after only a year and a half playing outside the NHL might be more of a surprise but I think you’re going to start to see more teams bringing in young players earlier with a flat cap. That’s just the new reality imo.
The bigger issue is how the team finds room for both of them with all of the dead weight still around.

I think I would tend to agree with this more if the KHL was a better league for development in terms of Pod specifically, it just seems that he is moved around far too much and plays up and down the line up too much, I feel like with Hoglander at least he has more continuity, Pod who knows.