Canucks: Vasili Podkolzin’s time in the KHL has come to an end
After scoring a triple-overtime winner, Vancouver Canucks prospect Vasili Podkolzin has ended his KHL season and his time in Russia after SKA St. Petersburg was eliminated in game six of the KHL’s Western Conference Finals.
Podkolzin and SKA couldn’t get on the board as they were shutout 2-0. As a result, Podkolzin has played his final game in the KHL and his next stop is Vancouver to play for the Canucks. It’s about time.
Podkolzin has been mainly playing in the bottom six with SKA and has also been a healthy scratch at times. It’s going to feel good for him and Canucks fans for him to play bigger minutes with Vancouver.
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Podkolzin was the team’s first-round pick in the 2019 draft and scored six goals and 11 points in 16 playoff games for SKA. In the regular season, he had the same total number of points in 35 games. In a combined 87 regular season and playoff games over the course of four seasons in St. Petersburg, Podkolzin has scored 14 goals and 33 points.
The 19-year-old’s contract expires on April 30th, and general manager Jim Benning was asked about Podkolzin and if they could get him over to Vancouver before the season ends.
“That’s our next order of business, we’ll look into it,” said Benning per The Athletic’s Thomas Drance.
“We’ll see where that goes,” Benning also said in regards to Podkolzin per Patrick Johnston of The Vancouver Sun and The Province.
Keep in mind, there is a chance that Podkolzin may be called up by Team Russia for the World Championships, which starts on May 21st and ends on June 6th. If he is called up, then we won’t see him in a Vancouver jersey until next season.
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Whatever happens, Podkolzin is finally free from limited ice time and he is going to be an exciting player for the team.