Former Canucks Prospect Thriving, Making Trade to Oilers Look Like a Mistake
Photo credit: NHL.com
The Vancouver Canucks might be regretting a trade last summer that saw the club move on from former first round pick Vasily Podkolzin, who's now with the Edmonton Oilers.
Last summer, the Vancouver Canucks decided it was time to trade 2019 first overall pick Vasily Podkolzin and shipped him to the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for a fourth round pick in the upcoming 2025 NHL Entry Draft.
Moving on from a former first round pick who just turned 23 a couple months prior to the trade seemed like an odd decision to many, but with his development appearing to stagnate, the team signing a few wingers in the offseason and not wanting to lose him for nothing via the waiver wire at the end of training camp, it ended up making sense for the Canucks.
Vancouver Canucks might end up regretting Vasily Podkolzin trade
As mentioned, the Vancouver Canucks went out into the free agent market and added a number of wingers to their NHL roster including Jake DeBrusk, Kiefer Sherwood and Danton Heinen, the latter of whom was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Marcus Pettersson deal back in late January.
Podkolzin headed to Edmonton for training camp in the fall and many were expecting him to play a bottom-six role, which he did for the majority of the 2024-25 season, but at time throughout the year, the Moscow native got opportunities in the top-six, even playing on a line with Connor McDavid.
The Oilers have been quite impressed with Vasily Podkolzin this season and as a result, he never ended up on waivers to send him to the AHL, spending the entire year with Edmonton, skating in all 82 games, the most in a single-season for him since his rookie year in Vancouver, where he played in 79 contests.
With the increased role in Edmonton and being up in the National Hockey League the entire season, Podkolzin was able to work on his game and continue his development, which stagnated in Vancouver for several reasons including a lack of ice time.
In those 82 games this season, Podkolzin has registered a career-high 24 points (eight goals, 16 assists), 48 penalty minutes and was a plus-one, adding six points in 16 games during the Stanley Cup Playoffs so far.
And that brings us to where we are today - the Edmonton Oilers are off to the Stanley Cup Final in a rematch of last year's series against the Florida Panthers and it'll be two former Vancouver Canucks going head-to-head with Podkolzin facing Nate Schmidt.
In an article on Vancouver Is Awesome, Daniel Wagner believes that the team may have made a mistake by trading Vasily Podkolzin last summer, but it certainly isn't the worst, nor will it be the last one the organization makes.
"Trading Podkolzin was a mistake, sure, but it's far from the most costly mistake the Canucks have made in the past few years. Was it one of the thousand cuts that helped kill the Canucks this past season? Perhaps. But there were larger death blows along the way." Wagner said.
Podkolzin and the Edmonton Oilers will host the Florida Panthers for Game 1 of the 2025 Stanley Cup Final on Wednesday, June 4th, with puck drop set for 5 pm PT on Sportsnet and CBC.
Source: Vancouver Is Awesome/Daniel Wagner
Did the Canucks move on from Vasily Podkolzin too quickly?
Did the Canucks move on from Vasily Podkolzin too quickly?
| POLL | ||
MAI 31 | 1427 ANSWERS Former Canucks Prospect Thriving, Making Trade to Oilers Look Like a Mistake Do you think the Vancouver Canucks regret trading Vasily Podkolzin? | ||
| Yes | 857 | 60.1 % |
| No | 570 | 39.9 % |
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