Oilers continue to reap benefits of Podkolzkin trade as winger blooms

EDMONTON — There is a large dollop of irony when it comes to Vasily Podkolzin’s maturation as an Edmonton Oiler:

He likely would never have become this player had he remained a Vancouver Canuck. But the player he is today, the Canucks could use about three of right now.

That’s not a shot at the Canucks. The hockey world is filled with high picks who had to move on to get out from under the high expectations and reinvent themselves.

It’s not Vancouver-centric. It’s just a hockey thing.

But unlike an Olli Juolevi or a Jesse Puljujarvi, the big Russian has left his first organization and transformed himself into a viable NHLer who could play another decade in the league.

“Sometimes guys just take a little bit longer to really find what they are. And who they are,” Leon Draisaitl, Podkolzin’s centre for two years now, was saying on Wednesday. “He just moulded his game into being a super effective two-way player that guys love playing with. I certainly do.”

It is truly unfortunate for Vancouver that the player they drafted 10th overall in 2019 is not currently doing for Elias Pettersson what he is doing for Draisaitl: leading on the forecheck, winning pucks along the walls and in the corners, providing defensive cover, and scoring the odd goal (on pace for a career-high 16).

But when you get drafted Top 10, the bridge between expectations and reality often leads to a new team in a new city.

“In 2019, (going 10th) was fair enough,” Podkolzin said. “Let's see if we re-draft now. Maybe I will go lower. But I wanted to get drafted in the first round, and I didn’t worry about the number.”

In hindsight, having a 14-goal, rookie season likely confirmed the over-estimation of his offensive abilities. It’s supposed to go up from there, and when Podkolzin’s numbers didn’t, he became a failing Top 6 winger rather than a budding Middle 6 guy, as he is seen in Edmonton.

The year the Canucks had 109 points and lost that thrilling seven-game series to Edmonton, they also lost Podkolzin in the shuffle of team success.

“It was my third year, my contract year, they had a pretty good team. They don't really worry about me,” he said. “They are about getting the result, and that's fair enough. I understand everything. It's a business.”

That summer, Oilers general manager Stan Bowman shocked many by engineering a trade with a division rival for a once-prized prospect. It was exactly what Podkolzin required.

He locked on to Draisaitl’s left flank and hasn’t let go, perhaps the most consistent Oilers forward duo next to Connor McDavid and Zach Hyman.

“This trade, they make a huge role for me (in Edmonton),” he said. “I came in and got a fresh start, a little bit of fresh air here, and right now I’m feeling pretty good.”

How do you get a guy who could play Middle 6 wing for any of the 32 teams for a fourth-round pick?

It turns out that Rick Pracy, Bowman’s Director of Amateur Scouting, had spent a lot of time scouting Podkolzin before his draft, when Pracy worked for Philadelphia. And Jeremy Colliton, Bowman’s head coach when he was in Chicago, had Podkolzin in Abbotsford in 2023-24, the last year in the Canucks organization for both men.

Pracy loved Podkolzin as an amateur, and Colliton saw a useful pro — if not the top-line player the Canucks had hoped for.

Bowman tells the story: “(Colliton) said, ‘I was happy that they didn't keep him in Vancouver and they sent him to me.’ And I’m like, ‘Well, what's the issue there?’

“(Colliton said), ‘I don't really know. I just know that I love him. He's such a hard worker. He's probably not going to be a big scorer…’

“And maybe that's part of the issue. When you're drafted that high, there are expectations,” said Bowman, who isn’t doing a victory dance here. “He hadn't really put it all together yet, so there was a risk that he maybe never would. I can't say we knew he would be this good, but I was hopeful that he would be able to contribute in some way, and he's actually been able to show chemistry with Leon, which is big.”

Even still, there are elements in Podkolzin’s game that mesmerize.

His size — six-foot-one, 190 lbs. His work ethic — he is at practice 25 minutes early every single day.

His above-average wrist shot, or his speedy, powerful stride.

“It can be more. I could be even asked for more,” the 24-year-old Muscovite declares. “It’s just great to be on a line with Leo, you know, and get some important minutes for the team, and play some, some bigger role that I had last year.

“I think I'm able to do more and to score more. Be a more offensive, good player.”

Can he change? Or are we falling into the same trap that snared the Canucks?

“I don't think you want him to change. I don't want him to change. I want him to be this,” Draisaitl said. “But,” he allowed, “there's more offensively — you can see it. Even this year to last year, he's got a lot more puck touches, a lot more carrying the puck through the neutral zone.

“There's more for him to have, for sure.”

More would be great. But this is enough, when the cost was a fourth, not a first.