Podkolzin staying put, for now
Rumours the 2019 first-round selection was banned by Russian team unfounded
It's the latest edition of the weekly tracker, where we tally up the efforts of the Vancouver Canucks' highest-profile prospects:
The days are long and the shifts are short, but news of Podkolzin's demise have been greatly exaggerated.
The Canucks' top prospect — who is counting down the days before he can make a break for Vancouver — has endured a lot over the past month. A crushing fourth-place finish at the world juniors capped off by fake news that SKA St. Petersburg had forever banished him to the minors would be hard for any 19-year-old to handle.
The 2019 first-rounder, scratched for last Sunday's rivalry loss to CSKA Moscow, was back in the lineup for last Tuesday's 3-1 win over Sochi, where he played 11:55 on the fourth line and had one shot on net.
Podkolzin dressed for the Army Derby rematch against CSKA on Sunday, where the six-foot-one, 203-pound winger was noticeable in a 3-1 loss.
Late in the first period, Podkolzin used his speed to blow past a CSKA defender on a clearance, collecting the puck on a partial breakaway before getting tripped from behind to draw a penalty.
He was noticeable again in an uneventful second period, winning puck battles and creating a backhanded chance that he narrowly missed.
Podkolzin was handed some extra ice time in the third period and was even entrusted with a shift in the last minute of the game, where he destroyed a defender along the boards with a massive hit.
Podkolzin finished the game with one shot on net, two hits and two blocked shots in 11:24.
The fact Podkolzin is even playing for SKA is a far cry from what many thought just a week ago, when various reports out of Russia stated he was demoted to the minors until his KHL contract expires on April 30. That proved to be untrue, with SKA president Roman Rotenberg quashing the disinformation.
“It is fake news; they made the stories up. Vasili will stay with us, he is on the team and will play for us tomorrow,” Rotenberg told TSN 1040's Rick Dhaliwal.
A permanent demotion would have been particularly cruel for Podkolzin, who left it all on the ice for Russia at the world juniors. Though he scored only two goals in seven games, Podkolzin showed the hockey world the rest of his multi-faceted game in laying the body, setting up teammates and leading by example.
The Canucks' recent struggles without J.T. Miller highlight the importance of having high-end forwards with some sandpaper in the lineup — something Podkolzin can solidify when he arrives in early May.
Until then, he will bide his time in Russia, where the reports may be fake but the belief the Canucks still have in the player is very real.
Podkolzin has two goals, four assists and a plus-1 rating in 27 KHL games this season.
DMITRI ZLODEYEV
Bounced to the junior-level Youth Hockey League (MHL) last week, Zlodeyev was called back up to the second-tier Supreme Hockey League (VHL) last Tuesday for Dynamo Moscow and went straight to work.
Skating as the fourth-line centre, the 2020 sixth-round pick went hard to the net late in the first period against Metallurg Novokuznetsk and banged in a rebound to tie the game 1-1. It was his sixth VHL goal this season.
Dynamo Moscow would go on to win the game 5-2 as Zlodeyev, 18, finished the game with a goal and a plus-1 rating.
Zlodeyev, a five-foot-11, 183-pound left-shot centre, prides his game on his defensive ability, but can still put the puck in the net on occasion. The Voronezh product played again on Thursday, a 5-2 win against Yermak in which Zlodeyev didn't register any points but also didn't make any mistakes. He was strong in the faceoff circle and drew a penalty on a high-sticking infraction.
Should he continue to improve his play with the puck and get physically stronger, Zlodeyev projects to be a potential bottom-six forward for the Canucks in a few years. As far away as it seems, the day will come when Brandon Sutter and Jay Beagle are no longer options in the middle. Can Zlodeyev help fill that hole? His ascension from relative unknown to knocking on the door of the KHL in just one season bodes well for the young Russian.
Zlodeyev has six goals, no assists and an even rating in 18 VHL games. He also has four goals, eight assists and a plus-8 rating in the MHL.
NIKITA TRYAMKIN
Last time we checked in on the Big Friendly Giant, he and his Avtomobilist squad were mired in a tough stretch of hockey.
But that was then and this is now, as Tryamkin's side — buoyed by the return of captain Pavel Datsyuk — rattled off four straight wins this past week in KHL action.
Tryamkin, a 2014 third-rounder whose contract in Russia expires after this season, was defensively solid in the wins, as was his entire team as Avtomobilist gave up only two goals overall.
Monday's 2-0 win over Jokerit saw the six-foot-eight, 254-pound left-shot D-man finish with an even rating, two shots on goal and two blocked shots in 20:09 of ice time. On one sequence midway through the second period, Tryamkin blocked a pass near the goal-line, then levelled the Jokerit forward behind the net for good measure.
Tryamkin was on the ice for the only goal scored in Wednesday's 1-0 win at Spartak Moscow. The goal came on a short-handed counterattack. He had a plus-1 rating, one shot on goal and four blocked shots in the low-scoring affair.
In Friday's 2-1 win at Dynamo Moscow, Tryamkin had a minus-1 rating, though he had three more blocked shots in 23:54 of action.
Tryamkin played his strongest game in Sunday's 4-1 win against Avangard, collecting an assist, a hit, three blocks and a plus-1 rating in 23:06.
In 47 games this season, the towering defenceman is 30th in the league in hits (61), third in the league in shot blocks (98) and 15th among D-men with 21:49 average ice time. It remains to be seen if Tryamkin can add any value to the Canucks' lineup, but the team was interested in signing him this past summer, before salary-cap concerns got in the way.
Tryamkin, 26, has two goals, 10 assists and a plus-1 rating overall this season.
JONI JURMO
One step back, two steps forward?
The big, fast defenceman the Canucks took with their first pick of the 2020 draft (82nd overall) has had a whirlwind season in Finland, leaving it tough to gauge just where his game is.
Jurmo, 18, had been playing in the top-flight SM-Liiga for a bottom-feeding JYP side, which at 5-4-14 was getting cratered on a nightly basis. The six-foot-four, 198-pound left-shot D -man's numbers suffered, going pointless in 17 games with a minus-8 rating. He also wasn't invited to Finland's world junior camp in December, another curious development for a prospect who skated with the national under-20s last July and who many prognosticators thought was a great pick for the Canucks in the third round.
Jurmo was dropped to JYP's U20 team earlier this month, where he's getting ice time — as well as some positive results. He had a two-assist outing a couple of weeks ago and played 18:56 in Sunday's 2-1 OT loss to Karpat U20, where he had an even rating.
The knock on Jurmo has been his ability to read the play, but his combination of size, speed and skill sure is enticing.
Jurmo has three assists and a plus-4 rating in three games for the JYP U20s.