EDMONTON — Vasily Podkolzin seems like a very nice young man.
But guess what? The minor leagues are filled with really nice young men, and he never, ever wants to be one of those again.
“It’s tough to say, but sometimes you need to be in the minors to get to the next (level),” he said on Thursday, leaning up against a dressing room wall at Rogers Place and chatting at length with a pair of Edmonton scribes. “When you’re down there, and you’re watching your NHL team, you’re just thinking, ‘Yeah, one day I’ll be there. And I’ll never go back to minors.’
“Never say never, but that’s my goal for sure.”
Meet Vasily Podkolzin. He’s young (23), well spoken in his second language, and father to 14-month-old Alisa, whom he calls: “The greatest thing I ever did.”
“It’s crazy how she is growing up fast. After she was born, time was flying. I don’t know how it works, but she started walking already. You go somewhere on a road trip, and in two weeks you get back and she’s bigger.”
A big part of the reason why the Vancouver Canucks divested themselves just last month of their 10th-overall pick from the 2019 NHL draft was that he had finally reached the point where he was waiver eligible. The Canucks obviously felt he wasn’t going to make their NHL team this season, so instead of losing him on waivers for nothing, they cashed out, accepting a fourth-round pick from Edmonton for a kid that has the tools to perhaps come back and haunt them.
Oh yeah … as hockey people say, Podkolzin has all the tools.
But he’s still working on the tool box, somehow lacking in confidence despite an excellent frame (six-foot-one, 190 pounds), first-round skills, and an easy smile that makes you quietly hope he finds success.
The knock on Podkolzin? When things didn’t go his way for the Canucks he fell into over-thinking his game.
“Just play,” they told him in Vancouver. “Don’t think. Just react,” they said at AHL Abbotsford.
“Everybody tells me that,” he admits. “Everybody has his way. I’m just going on mine.”
His goal in Edmonton, as he embarks — like old friend and roommate Klim Kostin — on Phase 2 of his NHL journey, is to be “more confident. Play more with the puck. Do not be scared to make mistake, to have mistake. It will happen. It’s how we react to it.”
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As for Edmonton, he has a built-in bond with the city.
“This city is special for me. I was here during the Gretzky-Hlinka (U18 tournament). I was (here for) World Junior games, but at same time it was my first NHL game here. It’s great to have fresh start here.”
He got into two games in that memorable seven-game marathon the Canucks and Oilers played last spring. “Tough to play against (the Oilers), especially in playoffs. Especially here,” he said. “It’s crazy fans (and) a good, good, strong team. Yeah, it was tough to play here.”
Hockey history is littered with players like Podkolzin, who wore out their welcome with the team that invested a Top 10 pick to acquire them. It is equally populated with players who were no more effective for their second team however, a group that the Muscovite will work to exclude himself from.
Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch spoke of instilling confidence, or not dwelling on the few mistakes, but instead on the many positives he expects to see. We’ll see if that holds up through pressure-packed season, or if Podkolzin can gain a foothold on a very difficult roster to crack.
One thing you’ve got to respect however, is that Podkolzin has never played the Russian card, threatening to return to his KHL roots in St. Petersburg. He’s been locked in on becoming an NHL player, though good times and bad.
“When I signed my first NHL contract, I just talked to myself and said, ‘Whatever happens out there, I’ll be working to get to be a regular NHL player,’” he said. “Honestly, when I was sent down to Abbotsford, in some tough times, I thinking about it. But I would never say, ‘I’m gonna back to Russia. I don’t want to work anymore.’ I don’t want to give up here.
“I’ve thought about it … but when you try this NHL taste, and you’ve played in the minors… It was good for me.”
He’s paid some dues. Now, the Oilers want some dividends.
