Prospect Info: Vasili Podkolzin

[DFAC]

Lmao so much negativity around here, its like some of you want Podz to fail already

 

[Raistlin]

I wonder if some posters really know how tough of a league the KHL is to young kids? Add to that his team is the Tampa bay of KHL teams.

Ask JT Miller how easy it is to get top 6 ice time there? Ask Kravtsov how easy it is to get his 8 goals in 50 games playing for a crappy Traktor team. I don't see NYR fans ripping their 18 year old prospect like we do. Podkolzin is an elite prospect tracking fine to all scouts outside of Vancouver. Chill out man...

 

[krutovsdonut]

Lmao so much negativity around here, its like some of you want Podz to fail already

yes. it is.

 

[tantalum]

Like with most prospects, whether I think it was the correct pick or not, I'm interested in the progression over the 12-24 months post draft. The Virtanen pick, I'm not going to say I defended really, but I did say lets take a wait and see. He had speed. He had a shot. Well it was clear after that 12-18 months later that the progression wasn't really what you hoped for from a high pick.

For Podz it is too early to tell. He seems to winning some icetime which is good to see as it is a hard league for kids to play in. But I also have my concerns over what some of the scouting reports said which seemed to be looking at a future bottom 6 checker. Not doubting his motor etc but I do want to see him start to put up points on regular basis by seasons end.

 

[ChilliBilly]

Hey mods, can you remove all the crap from this thread that should be either in the draft thread or just plain removed. its tedious. Its certainly off topic.

 

[F A N]

It is absurd how difficult it is for posters to talk about the discussion as purposed. Could it be any simpler? The discussion is titled Vasili Podkolzin. Yet I see everything else is being aired out for the benefit of noone. What is so hard about this?

Well there was a valid discussion about whether Podkolzin's development would be affected by his lack of playing time in the KHL but getting lots of practice time etc. similar to the CHL vs NCAA discussion. Then a poster derailed the whole thread by arguing that NCAA players who make the NHL play at least 50 games and including the WJC into the calculation of those 50 games.

 

[Krnuckfan]

So I looked at the past 10 NHL drafts to try and find comparables for Podkolzin. Tried to find Russians forwards drafted out of Russia who were taken in the 1st round. There's not a lot of russians prospects that even get drafted high to begin with. Only 10 going back to 2008.

Vitali Kravtsov 9th overall 2018
Grigori Denisenko 15th overall 2018
Klim Kostin 31st overall 2017
German Rubtsov 26th overall 2016
Denis Gurianov 12th overall 2015
Val Nischushkin 10th overall 2013
Marko Dano 27th overall 2013
Vladamir Tarasenko 16th overall 2010
Evgeni Kuznetsov 26th overall 2010
Nikita Filatov 6th overall 2008

Out of those 10 players, 7 played in the KHL in their d+1 season

Kravtsov 21 pts in 50 games
Denisenko 6 pts in 25 games
Rubtsov 0 pts in 15 games
Gurianov 5 pts in 47 games
Dano 5 pts in 41 games
Tarasenko 19 pts in 42 games
Kuznetsov 32 pts in 44 games

Only Kravtsov, Tarasenko, and Kuznetsov put up any sort of decent production. Some context here is important though, all 3 of those players played for crappy KHL teams. Also, more importantly, all 3 played their entire draft year in the KHL and so their d+1 year was their second year in the KHL.

Conclusion: it's hard to get a read into Podkolzin and what his expected production should be in the KHL just because there are hardly any comparables. I wouldn't be worried at all about his production this year, but next year I expect him to produce at least ~0.5ppg.

 

[tantalum]

So I looked at the past 10 NHL drafts to try and find comparables for Podkolzin. Tried to find Russians forwards drafted out of Russia who were taken in the 1st round. There's not a lot of russians prospects that even get drafted high to begin with. Only 10 going back to 2008.

Vitali Kravtsov 9th overall 2018
Grigori Denisenko 15th overall 2018
Klim Kostin 31st overall 2017
German Rubtsov 26th overall 2016
Denis Gurianov 12th overall 2015
Val Nischushkin 10th overall 2013
Marko Dano 27th overall 2013
Vladamir Tarasenko 16th overall 2010
Evgeni Kuznetsov 26th overall 2010
Nikita Filatov 6th overall 2008

Out of those 10 players, 7 played in the KHL in their d+1 season

Kravtsov 21 pts in 50 games
Denisenko 6 pts in 25 games
Rubtsov 0 pts in 15 games
Gurianov 5 pts in 47 games
Dano 5 pts in 41 games
Tarasenko 19 pts in 42 games
Kuznetsov 32 pts in 44 games

Only Kravtsov, Tarasenko, and Kuznetsov put up any sort of decent production. Some context here is important though, all 3 of those players played for crappy KHL teams. Also, more importantly, all 3 played their entire draft year in the KHL and so their d+1 year was their second year in the KHL.

Conclusion: it's hard to get a read into Podkolzin and what his expected production should be in the KHL just because there are hardly any comparables. I wouldn't be worried at all about his production this year, but next year I expect him to produce at least ~0.5ppg.

Good post. I'd agree it's hard to get a read on him and i think you have the right scoring rate that you want to see him meet next season. You should start to see that production have an uptick the back half of this season if he's to meet that production rate next year.

 

[Raistlin]

So I looked at the past 10 NHL drafts to try and find comparables for Podkolzin. Tried to find Russians forwards drafted out of Russia who were taken in the 1st round. There's not a lot of russians prospects that even get drafted high to begin with. Only 10 going back to 2008.

Vitali Kravtsov 9th overall 2018
Grigori Denisenko 15th overall 2018
Klim Kostin 31st overall 2017
German Rubtsov 26th overall 2016
Denis Gurianov 12th overall 2015
Val Nischushkin 10th overall 2013
Marko Dano 27th overall 2013
Vladamir Tarasenko 16th overall 2010
Evgeni Kuznetsov 26th overall 2010
Nikita Filatov 6th overall 2008

Out of those 10 players, 7 played in the KHL in their d+1 season

Kravtsov 21 pts in 50 games
Denisenko 6 pts in 25 games
Rubtsov 0 pts in 15 games
Gurianov 5 pts in 47 games
Dano 5 pts in 41 games
Tarasenko 19 pts in 42 games
Kuznetsov 32 pts in 44 games

Only Kravtsov, Tarasenko, and Kuznetsov put up any sort of decent production. Some context here is important though, all 3 of those players played for crappy KHL teams. Also, more importantly, all 3 played their entire draft year in the KHL and so their d+1 year was their second year in the KHL.

Conclusion: it's hard to get a read into Podkolzin and what his expected production should be in the KHL just because there are hardly any comparables. I wouldn't be worried at all about his production this year, but next year I expect him to produce at least ~0.5ppg.

Exactly. I wonder if a lot of us became primed to Pettersson's record setting d+1 in Vaxjo SHL and just expected the same from all our Rnd1 prospects from now on. If Podkolzin can garner 0.4 ppg playing for SKA along with developing his puck hounding game. I would consider that a resounding success. Right now, I'm just looking for more creativity in his passes, and better lateral skating from him. Just building on his skillset in a winning environment. and judge him more based on his international tournament results when he goes H2H against kids his age playing in other leagues.

 

[LickTheEnvelope]

So I looked at the past 10 NHL drafts to try and find comparables for Podkolzin. Tried to find Russians forwards drafted out of Russia who were taken in the 1st round. There's not a lot of russians prospects that even get drafted high to begin with. Only 10 going back to 2008.

Vitali Kravtsov 9th overall 2018
Grigori Denisenko 15th overall 2018
Klim Kostin 31st overall 2017
German Rubtsov 26th overall 2016
Denis Gurianov 12th overall 2015
Val Nischushkin 10th overall 2013
Marko Dano 27th overall 2013
Vladamir Tarasenko 16th overall 2010
Evgeni Kuznetsov 26th overall 2010
Nikita Filatov 6th overall 2008

Out of those 10 players, 7 played in the KHL in their d+1 season

Kravtsov 21 pts in 50 games
Denisenko 6 pts in 25 games
Rubtsov 0 pts in 15 games
Gurianov 5 pts in 47 games
Dano 5 pts in 41 games
Tarasenko 19 pts in 42 games
Kuznetsov 32 pts in 44 games

Only Kravtsov, Tarasenko, and Kuznetsov put up any sort of decent production. Some context here is important though, all 3 of those players played for crappy KHL teams. Also, more importantly, all 3 played their entire draft year in the KHL and so their d+1 year was their second year in the KHL.

Conclusion: it's hard to get a read into Podkolzin and what his expected production should be in the KHL just because there are hardly any comparables. I wouldn't be worried at all about his production this year, but next year I expect him to produce at least ~0.5ppg.

Especially since most of these guys were seen as clearly offensive players and Podkolzin is more of a two-way guy.

 

[krutovsdonut]

bottom line, we took the mercurial talent guy with question marks. again. three drafts in a row.

 

[krutovsdonut]

really 4 drafts in a row but i don't want to have that argument.

 

[M2Beezy]

Looks like Heinola and Harley might make there teams on starting night. Crazy

 

[Bleach Clean]

really 4 drafts in a row but i don't want to have that argument.

This statement would be wrong either way.

A "mercurial talent" doesn't fit with high end draft season producers like Pettersson and Hughes. If anything, they represented some of the most stable production projections. Not so for Podkolzin or Juolevi.

Podkolzin was a pure talent pick that lacked production. Mercurial. Everyone was guessing on that front... We are still guessing.

 

[Raistlin]

Looks like Heinola and Harley might make there teams on starting night. Crazy

as with Tobias Bjornfot

 

[Caldercanucks]

Like with most prospects, whether I think it was the correct pick or not, I'm interested in the progression over the 12-24 months post draft. The Virtanen pick, I'm not going to say I defended really, but I did say lets take a wait and see. He had speed. He had a shot. Well it was clear after that 12-18 months later that the progression wasn't really what you hoped for from a high pick.

For Podz it is too early to tell. He seems to winning some icetime which is good to see as it is a hard league for kids to play in. But I also have my concerns over what some of the scouting reports said which seemed to be looking at a future bottom 6 checker. Not doubting his motor etc but I do want to see him start to put up points on regular basis by seasons end.

I never read anything about him being a bottom 6 checker that's silly. Those types don't play pro at 17,/nor do they make the Russian WJC team and play. Some people just don't seem to like Russians or anything Benning does. Most scouts say he was in the same tier as Kakko and Hughes but were wary do to his KHL commitment and that turned them off. For the lack of mins, I'm pretty impressed with how he seems to drive the play and make something happen. When you do those consistently, good things tend to happen.

 

[RobertKron]

I never read anything about him being a bottom 6 checker that's silly. Those types don't play pro at 17,/nor do they make the Russian WJC team and play. Some people just don't seem to like Russians or anything Benning does. Most scouts say he was in the same tier as Kakko and Hughes but were wary do to his KHL commitment and that turned them off. For the lack of mins, I'm pretty impressed with how he seems to drive the play and make something happen. When you do those consistently, good things tend to happen.

...not that I'm saying that Podkolzin will or won't be a bottom 6 checker, but:
Artyom Chubarov at eliteprospects.com

 

[tantalum]

I never read anything about him being a bottom 6 checker that's silly. Those types don't play pro at 17,/nor do they make the Russian WJC team and play. Some people just don't seem to like Russians or anything Benning does. Most scouts say he was in the same tier as Kakko and Hughes but were wary do to his KHL commitment and that turned them off. For the lack of mins, I'm pretty impressed with how he seems to drive the play and make something happen. When you do those consistently, good things tend to happen.

I think you need to check past junior world championship team rosters and see where those players ended up. Most of them do not make a significant impact in nhl hockey. That includes Canada, Russia, USA and every other team.

 

[F A N]

...not that I'm saying that Podkolzin will or won't be a bottom 6 checker, but:
Artyom Chubarov at eliteprospects.com

I guess the similarity is that both players leave you with the feeling that watching them play makes you think that their offensive production should be greater?

I was a big fan of Chubarov. I thought he was developing into a good 3rd line C before he decided to stay in Russia. You can see that in his brief time at the IHL/AHL level he was a point per game goal scorer. I don't think he had the skill level of Podkolzin though.

 

[PuckMunchkin]

Wish we had a SKA fan here to give us some info on Podz.

It is weird how much of a language barrier there still exists West vs Russia.

 

[krutovsdonut]

Wish we had a SKA fan here to give us some info on Podz.

It is weird how much of a language barrier there still exists West vs Russia.

agreed, but this place tends to have extreme takes that discourage folks like that. there are places on the web you can find them.

 

[FroshaugFan2]

Podkolzin is dressed in SKA's MHL game today.

Neither their KHL nor VHL team has a game today.

Stream:

 

[VanillaCoke]

Are all these teams in the same city or what?! Or is Pod traveling all over the place in 3 different leagues..

 

[FroshaugFan2]

Are all these teams in the same city or what?! Or is Pod traveling all over the place in 3 different leagues..

All three teams play in St Petersburg.

The MHL team has a home game today and the KHL team has a home game tomorrow.

 

[F A N]

Wow that's very interesting. I guess that calls into question whether Pods is really being shuffled around. It's no different from playing on the senior and junior team at the same time.