New dad Podkolzin promises "big season" with Canucks next year
For the first time in his young career, the pressure to produce will be on Vasily Podkolzin next season. The 22-year-old Vancouver Canucks forward seems to be aware of that fact, given his quotes in a story posted to the team website today.
Podkolzin has remained in Vancouver this summer as he and his wife, Sasha, welcomed their first child into the world last month.
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The gritty two-way forward appears to be following the advice of Rick Tocchet, who repeatedly stressed the importance of his players having a “big summer” late last season.
That’s true for Podkolzin, who took a step back in his development in 2022-23. Podkolzin scored just seven points (4-3-7) in 39 NHL games last season and spent a good chunk of the year in Abbotsford.
That’s quite a departure from his rookie season, when Podkolzin scored 26 points (14-12-26) in 79 games and seemed to get better as the year went on under Bruce Boudreau.
A 10th overall draft pick in 2019, Podkolzin hasn’t succeeded like some other first-rounders from his draft year. Not yet, anyway.
But there’s still time.
“A big season is coming,” Podkolzin predicted in an interview with Lindsey Horsting of Canucks.com.
Podkolzin indicated that he needs to stop being so hard on himself and focus on his job: “Score goals, make good plays on offence, and play hard on defence.”
Tocchet is looking for “wall guys” and Podkolzin projects to fit that profile. He’s also a player that was expected to develop into a penalty killer, which is another area of need for Vancouver.
If he can do that while chipping in 40+ points a season, the Canucks will be very happy with the player they have.
That would certainly qualify as a “big season.”
But make no mistake, the time to produce is now.
Podkolzin is at an age where teams begin to expect production, not hope for it. He’s 42 games away from being waiver eligible and heading into the last year of his entry-level contract.
This could well prove to be a turning point year.
Take a step forward and Podkolzin should be looking at a multi-year contract with a nice bump in pay. Fall flat and we could see him in the AHL again, or maybe with a new organization.