Canucks: Vasili Podkolzin pointless through 2 games at WJC

The Vancouver Canucks top prospect Vasili Podkolzin could be the talk of the tournament, but he’s been quiet through two games at the WJC.

As captain of Russia’s World Junior hockey team, Vasili Podkolzin (the Vancouver Canucks most talked-about prospect), is expected to be an offensive force to be reckoned with. But through his first two games, he’s failed to register a point.

After a disappointing shutout loss to team Canada in pre-tournament action, Russia was set to faceoff against the United States on Christmas day. It was a back and forth affair that resulted in a 5-3 victory for the white, blue and red stripes.

A Vasili popped off and had himself a night to remember, but it wasn’t Podkolzin. In fact, it was Vasili Ponomaryov who stole the show with two big-time goals. Podkolzin, on the other hand, had his moments, but finding himself on the scoresheet never came to fruition.

No need to fret just yet, putting points on the board isn’t all Podkolzin is capable of. Don’t get me wrong, he’s a beast and he’s good enough to lead the tournament in scoring, but don’t expect him to be as flashy as Nils Hoglander out there. That isn’t what it’s all about for the Russian in this tournament.

He’s a complete 200-ft player whose strongest assets come to life in the defensive end. That’s what Canucks fans need to be focusing on. A defensively responsible power-forward with enough offensive upside to flank Bo Horvat on Vancouver’s second line in the very near future.

They play the Czech Republic tomorrow, battle Austria on Tuesday and fight against Sweden on Wednesday. With their stiffest competition behind them in round-robin play, maybe Podkolzin can find his scoring touch.

Either way, Podkolzin will be a pivotal piece to the puzzle as Russia goes to war for World Junior Championship gold. And not long after that, he’ll be aiming to stake a claim inside the Canucks full-time roster.