The Vancouver Canucks have made a surprise summer trade with the Edmonton Oilers involving Russian forward Vasily Podkolzin.
The team announced earlier today that they had sent Podkolzin to the Oilers in exchange for a 2025 fourth-round draft pick that originally belonged to the Ottawa Senators.
“We would like to thank Vasily for his time here with the Canucks,” Vancouver GM Patrik Allvin said. “Podz put in a lot of work both on and off the ice and we wish him all the best in Edmonton.”
Podkolzin was drafted 10th overall by the Canucks at the 2019 NHL Draft.
General Manager Patrik Allvin announces that the #Canucks have acquired a 4th round pick in the 2025 NHL Entry Draft from the Edmonton Oilers (originally from the Ottawa Senators) in exchange for F Vasily Podkolzin.
DETAILS | https://t.co/ryh5vy2VZ2 pic.twitter.com/mgdYNo0FoM
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) August 18, 2024
Since being drafted by the Canucks, the 23-year-old Podkolzin struggled to establish himself as a regular NHLer. He ends his tenure in Vancouver having played a total of 137 NHL games where he scored 18 goals and 35 points.
With the Russian forward no longer waiver-exempt going into next season, it seems as though the Canucks were not confident that he would be able to take that next step with the team. While he has been lauded for his work ethic and attitude, he has not been able to produce at a good enough clip in both the NHL and the AHL.
From Edmonton’s perspective, it is hard to believe they did not make this move without knowing how to proceed on the pending offer sheets on young players Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg from the St. Louis Blues.
The deadline for Oilers GM Stan Bowman to make a decision on that is Tuesday and adding Podkolzin’s $1 million cap hit puts the team further over the cap than they already are.
After such a hard-fought second-round playoff series, it is a little surprising to see these two teams come together on a trade so soon afterward.
We’ll see if Podkolzin can finally live up to his draft pedigree in Edmonton.