On a quiet Sunday afternoon in the middle of the Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg offer sheet saga, the Edmonton Oilers have completed a small but possibly consequential trade.
The Oilers have added forward Vasily Podkolzin from the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for a fourth-round draft pick in 2025. That pick was originally acquired from the Ottawa Senators in the Xavier Bourgault/Roby Jarventie trade earlier this offseason.
Who is Vasiliy Podkolzin?
Podkolzin is no stranger to the Oilers, as he has been playing with the rival Canucks over the past few seasons.
Prior to coming to North America, Podkolzin developed in various levels of junior hockey in Russia, spending time with St. Petersburg SKA in the KHL after being drafted tenth overall by the Canucks in 2019.
Podkolzin made his North American debut in 2021–22, where he played 79 games with the Canucks. In this rookie season, he scored 14 goals and had 26 points.
So far, that has been the high point of his career. The next couple of seasons, Podkolzin has split time between the NHL and AHL. In his sophomore season, he played 39 games in the NHL and 28 with the Abbotsford Canucks of the AHL. Last season, his NHL games played dropped even more to just 19, with 44 in the AHL.
Where does Podkolzin fit in the Oilers lineup?
Most likely, Podkolzin will be an NHL-calibre call-up option for the Oilers. Edmonton has sufficient forward depth in the NHL and a player of his style would likely not thrive in a fourth line role.
What Podkolzin does provide is young, AHL scoring depth and someone who can play in the NHL if needed. Additionally, he is more than likely better than who the team would have drafted with that fourth round pick. Not to mention being able to get an immediate impact in the organization out of it.
The timing of the trade is interesting, however, with Holloway’s status in Edmonton being unclear at the moment. Although Holloway is better on paper than Podkolzin, with a higher ceiling, the two are both mid first round draft picks from a few seasons ago who have not yet broken out in the NHL.
It does not seem likely that Podkolzin is an impending replacement for Holloway, but the timing of the trade does bring these questions to the forefront.
6 Comments