Where does Oilers trade pickup Vasily Podkolzin fit in lineup?
We are less than two months away from the start of the 2024-25 NHL season, and there are few question marks regarding the Edmonton Oilers.
The team has had a very active offseason that included several key player additions and subtractions, as well as the hiring of a new GM in Stan Bowman. The new players that have been added, either through free agency or trade, all seem to have a specific role in mind.
Jeff Skinner and Viktor Arvidsson are likely going to be top-six wingers, while defenceman Ty Emberson will probably get a shot at the 2RD spot beside Darnell Nurse unless another addition is made.
Then there is Vasily Podkolzin, who was acquired from the Vancouver Canucks last weekend. The Russian winger’s spot on this Oilers team is not readily apparent, like some of the other additions made in the offseason.
Outside of the 2RD battle, I am going to be very curious where Podkolzin will land on this #Oilers team if he can grab a spot.
Highly doubt he will be a top-six guy and RW is kinda full-up… could he play his off-wing to help shore up LW?
If so, third or fourth line?
— Preston Hodgkinson (@NHLHodgkinson) August 21, 2024
When Podkolzin was acquired, many thought it was to replace Dylan Holloway, but that doesn’t make much sense. Holloway was a top-six forward for the Oilers in the playoffs and was likely to get another long look beside Leon Draisaitl for this upcoming season had he been re-signed.
Given that he has struggled to stay in the NHL throughout his career and spent the majority of last season in the AHL, jumping into one of the league’s most potent top-six forward groups seems like a stretch at this point.
If Podzkolin makes the team at all, he will likely crack the bottom-six group. This much is easy to determine, but where exactly in that group is a bit murkier.
Podkolzin is labelled as an RW, which doesn’t make a lot of sense on the surface for the Oilers as that position is pretty crowded at the moment, with Zach Hyman, Arvidsson, Connor Brown, and Corey Perry all occupying spots. Brown will probably start the year next to Adam Henrique on the Oilers’ third line after the two showed chemistry in the playoffs last season.
This leaves just a single spot between Perry and Podzkolin. While the veteran Perry was an occasional healthy scratch last season, it’s doubtful that Edmonton will want to play a young, skilled player on the fourth line, where he will likely be with defensive specialists like Derek Ryan and James Hamblin.
Rather, a third-line spot would make much more sense, which would mean that Podzkolin’s best fit on this Oilers team would require him to move over to the LW. It wouldn’t be a hard transition, especially considering he shoots left, too.
This isn’t something that the former first-round pick hasn’t already attempted before. He opened up last year’s Canucks training camp playing LW on a line with JT Miller and Brock Boeser.
If he can do this, it would place Podkolzin on a presumptive third line alongside Henrique and Brown. It would also push down Mattias Janmark down to the fourth line, which is probably a more apt place for a player of his skillset.
Of course, this is all theoretical at this point in the summer. Edmonton is sure to give Podkolzin a good long look in training camp and the preseason, but it will be up to him to prove that he has what it takes to finally break into the NHL as a regular.