With the team’s first-round pick in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft (10th overall), the Vancouver Canucks chose Vasili Podkolzin, an 18-year-old Russian right-winger. In a podcast for The Hockey News this week, Ryan Kennedy talked about Podkolzin’s rollercoaster season in the KHL; however, Kennedy’s final landing spot was the belief that Podkolzin – despite any ups-and-downs – still has some first-line potential for the Canucks.
In short, although his season was all over the place, there’s still much to like about the young winger. In fact, Kennedy is solid on his thinking that Podkolzin will become a valuable contributor at the Canucks roster at the NHL level – in two seasons.
The Canucks Drafting of the Physical Young Russian
In an interesting move by Canucks’ general manager Jim Benning in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft – and perhaps a move that bordered on “daring,” given how poorly the Canucks had played during the 2018-19 season and the fact there were rumors that his job was on the line, Benning picked Podkolzin in the draft even knowing that the team would have to wait two seasons to know how things would turn out.
Ironically, Podkolzin remained available at the 10-spot because he was under contract in Russia for two more seasons, which meant that any NHL club that picked him would have to wait. Benning was savvy and courageous enough to look into the Canucks’ crystal ball and see that, after two seasons, this choice had the potential to become something important and that Podkolzin might become – eventually – part of a really strong Canucks team.
Although he’s only 18-years-old, this young right-winger has now played two seasons for St. Petersburg in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). For someone so young, that’s quite a feat. He was the first player born after the year 2000 to play in the KHL.
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Podkolzin Is Under Contract for Another KHL Season
As Podkolzin reminded TSN radio’s Rick Dhaliwal last week in a text message, he has “one more year on my contract. Of course, every player has a dream to play in NHL and I want to prepare myself for this as much as possible.”
However, if the team continues to improve as it is, when Podkolzin arrives in a couple of seasons, he’ll be joining a contending Canucks’ team. If that’s the case, it would be more than Vancouver could have boasted for a number of seasons.
When Podkolzin Arrives in Canada
Looking forward to Podkolzin’s arrival in Canada for the 2021-22 season, he should have gained enough KHL experience to be ready for the NHL. In 2018, he made his KHL debut with SKA Saint Petersburg and has, since that beginning, spent time with three Russian leagues: the MHL (junior), VHL (Supreme, second-highest level in Russia), and the KHL (the highest level). He’s played quite well with all three teams.
Most of his time was spent at Russia’s second level, however the 6-foot-1, 190-pound Podkolzin was also part of a Russian team that won bronze at the World Juniors in Vancouver in December and January at the start of the 2019 calendar year. During 2018, Podkolzin captained the bronze-medal winning Team Russia in the Hlinka Gretzky Cup and, during that bronze medal game against Team USA, he scored three goals. It was a good tournament for the youngster, who wound up leading the tournament in scoring with eight goals and 11 total points in five games.
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How Good Can Podkolzin Become?
Podkolzin has the reputation of being a fearless offensive player. Prior to the draft where he fell to number 10 because of his contract situation, he was ranked as the number two European player for all the NHL Central Scouting prospects. Podkolzin is an elite-level talent who, in addition to being able to score, is a bit of a bulldog. He plays with an edge that – if I’m looking ahead – should create more space for the Canucks great Pettersson to move around. And, from my observations, that’s something Pettersson often needed during the 2019-20 season.
In addition, if he were playing with Pettersson, he’d give the young Swede another scoring outlet that would take advantage of the young Swede’s on-ice vision and passing. Benning had to have that in mind – a future Pettersson-Podkolzin pairing – when he made the choice.
In Summary
Podkolzin won’t be playing NHL hockey until the 2021-22 season. Drafting him was a gutsy move by Benning. As someone who gets to watch the Canucks’ games because I live in British Columbia, I applaud that move by the organization.
I’m impressed that Benning didn’t play it safe. He might have gone for a safer pick; instead, he chose a player who has must wait another season before even wearing a Canucks uniform. By doing so, the Canucks chose the player with the highest ceiling – and that’s something they did three years ago when they chose Pettersson as their first pick.
The future is looking good in Vancouver.
