Former top Canucks draft pick struggling in new environment

Just over two months after the Vancouver Canucks traded him to the Edmonton Oilers for a 2025 fourth-round pick, Vasily Podkolzin is still struggling to find his footing in a new environment at the NHL level.

Podkolzin, 23, has played in all 10 NHL regular season games for the Oilers so far this season, but he has just one assist and zero goals to show for it. Podkolzin's playing time and offensive production are not too different from how he left the Canucks, either.

The 2019 No. 10 overall pick had played some games for the Canucks last season, too, picking up just two assists and zero goals across 19 NHL games. Including this season with the Oilers, Podkolzin has only four goals, six assists, and 10 points in his last 68 NHL regular season games.

It feels like just yesterday that the former top Russian prospect broke onto the scene as a 20-year-old, scoring 14 goals, 12 assists, and 26 points in 79 games while playing with the Canucks at the NHL level for the first time. Podkolzin averaged 12:48 of ice time that season but has averaged 11:50, 10:49, and now 11:10 since then.

Right now, Podkolzin has the look and the feel of a player who is failing to realize his full potential, regressing each year since his NHL debut in 2021.

The Canucks drafted the 23-year-old with only three games of KHL experience under his belt, though Podkolzin would feature in the KHL for two seasons afterward. He was not particularly productive in those seasons, either, as he has just seven goals, 12 assists, and 19 points in 68 career KHL games. With Connor McDavid set to miss a handful of games with a lower-body injury, the Oilers are going to need Podkolzin to step up his game offensively now more than ever.

But, based on Podkolzin's time with the Canucks and early goings in Edmonton, it is fair to wonder if this is just who Podkolzin is as a player.