When the Edmonton Oilers surprisingly got Vancouver Canucks’ winger Vasily Podkolzin for a song (fourth-round draft pick in 2025) in mid August, the first two things that likely went through peoples’ minds were Klim Kostin.
Kostin, also a first-round selection (31st overall in 2017) like his fellow Russian forward Podkolzin, was spinning his wheels in St. Louis in 2022 when the Oilers traded another struggling third-round draft pick, defenceman Dmitry Samorukov, to the Blues.
Kostin, who became a valued fourth-line winger here with 11 goals in 57 games, a penchant for fighting and a raucous fan base, unfortunately only stayed one season because he wanted too much money. He eventually got a hefty two-year, $4 million deal in Detroit before they cast him adrift and moved him to San Jose.
The hope is Podkolzin, 23, the 10th pick in 2019, revives his career here after confidence issues in Vancouver, where people said he often got down on himself.
The hope is also that Podkolzin (137 games, 18 goals, 35 points) stays longer than Kostin, who had five goals and 11 points in 46 games with the Blues before the trade.
Podkolzin is coming here with a two-year contract ($1-million cap hit). He figures to be a fit on the fourth line as a left-winger, along with Corey Perry on the right side and, quite possibly, Derek Ryan in the middle.
“Sometimes a fresh start is great for players. I’ve seen that over my time,” said general manager Stan Bowman. “Podkolzin is certainly a high-profile (draft pick) player who came to the NHL with expectations. When it doesn’t match right away, there can be a challenge.
“He’s clearly got a lot of talent and he brings an element of physicality. That’s what we noticed most when we watched him, his willingness to be an aggressive player. He brings the power side of his game, we already have a lot of skill on our team.
“He’s also got a great shot, another element that will help him find a role.”
Medical update on Nurse
Darnell Nurse, who was injured in Game 2 of the Cup Final after a hit from Evan Rodrigues will, uh, be nursed through most of camp likely just doing skating drills in the practices and no contact for some time. But Bowman said he would be ready late in pre-season to play games. Maybe in Seattle and Vancouver, the last two before the regular-season starts against Winnipeg Oct. 9.
“We want to be cautious with Darnell. He plays a lot of minutes and while training camp’s important, being ready for the regular-season is clearly most important,” said Bowman.
It was a similar injury story with Mattias Ekholm (hip flexor) last fall, where the team went even further. He sat out the whole camp, missed the opening road blowout in Vancouver and needed quite a while to shake off the rust of no pre-season games.
Nurse’s issue opens the door for Travis Dermott, who recently signed a PTO to get more pre-season work, some on left side, maybe more on right. Dermott, who shoots left, has played both sides over his 329 NHL games after playing junior in Erie for Kris Knoblauch.
“Travis has some flexibility to his game. He’s versatile. He’s a guy we’ll focus on to see how he stacks up with the others (Troy Stecher, Ty Emberson, Josh Brown, farmhand Phil Kemp) on the right side,” said Bowman.
This ‘n that
While the Oilers are the oldest team in the NHL, the Oilers still extended a late PTO to winger Mike Hoffman, who turns 35 in November.
Maybe, in part, because of an injury to farmhand forward Carl Berglund. Hoffman had just 10 goals and 23 points in San Jose last season but has 487 points in 745 career games. Hoffman’s calling card is his shot but for the time being, he’s in tough to get a contract with farmhand winger Raphael Lavoie and centres James Hamblin, Lane Pederson and Noah Philp in the hunt for a 12th or 13th forward spot.
“It’s a competitive (camp) environment but he’s a veteran who’s been a pretty consistent offensive player throughout his career,” said Bowman.
Former Oiler winger Zack Kassian, who was around the club during the playoffs leading to speculation he might be getting a job with the organization, has been hired as a pro scout. He’s back living in Ontario. The Oilers now have four pro scouts — Warren Rychel, Chris Cichocki, Dani Rylan-Kearney and Kassian, who could be learning the scouting ropes from Rychel. Rychel was Kassian’s junior GM in Windsor.
Jason Pietrzykowski has left the Oilers pro-scouting department over the summer and is now working in the same capacity with Pittsburgh.
Now that Leon Draisaitl has his eight-year extension for $14 million a season, next up is Evan Bouchard, who could be playing for Canada at the Four Nations tournament in February. But, nothing’s on the front burner. He’s on a team friendly $3.9 million cap hit now, but, being a point-a-game defenceman running the best PP from the point, Bouchard could be $9 million to $10 million in a new long-term deal.
“He’s a very big part of his team, with his best years ahead of him. We’ll get to that (negotiations on a long-term extension) at some point,” said Bowman.
Bowman said there are no plans, as of now, to replace Ken Holland’s son Brad, the former head of pro scouting and assistant GM, who has left the club after a mutual parting of the ways.
Holland was one of the AGMs with Keith Gretzky, who runs Bakersfield and Bill Scott, the team’s salary cap expert.
New Oiler video/analytics coordinator Erik Elenz worked in Coachella Valley, Seattle’s AHL farm team last season. He was also video coach for the German national team at the 2022 world championship in Finland.
Oilers top draft pick Beau Akey, still recovering from shoulder surgery 10 months ago in junior in Barrie, didn’t play at the Young Stars in Penticton and the defenceman may still not be cleared for contact when camp opens Thursday.
Berglund, who scored the Oiler prospects only goal in three games at the Young Stars tournament in Penticton, was rocked on a hit in the game against Winnipeg’s kids and may have suffered a concussion.
Sources say former Oiler draft pick Skyler Brind’Amour, Rod’s son, has had the last year of his Carolina contract terminated. He played last season on their AHL Charlotte team.
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