Former Vancouver Canucks forward Vasily Podkolzin has been handed a massive opportunity for tonight's game between the Edmonton Oilers and Minnesota Wild.
Back in August, the Vancouver Canucks came together with the Edmonton Oilers to complete a trade involving Russian forward Vasily Podkolzin, with Patrik Allvin bringing back a 2025 fourth-round pick in the deal.
Podkolzin's time with the Vancouver Canucks was coming to an end, whether it be through trade - which ultimately happened - or if they held onto him, he would've likely landed on waivers at some point during training camp.
After a pretty good rookie campaign in 2021-22, Podkolzin's development stalled and he never really lived up to the expectations that come with being such a high draft pick - 10th overall back in 2019.
Vasily Podkolzin given big opportunity for Thursday's game against Minnesota
Coming into Tuesday's game against Ottawa, it was a slow start to the season for Vasily Podkolzin, registering just three assists in 19 games.
On Tuesday night, the 23-year-old Podkolzin had two assists and played a season-high 16:04, which has landed him a pretty big promotion for Thursday's game against the Minnesota Wild.
As Edmonton took the ice for their morning skate at Rogers Place, head coach Kris Knoblauch decided to put Vasily Podkolzin on the team's top line with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, according to Tony Brar of Oilers TV.
Prior to the morning skate, Vasily Podkolzin took to the ice for 20 minutes on his own to get some extra work in, which shows that he's willing to do whatever it takes to get better for himself and the team.
Tonight, Podkolzin will look for his first NHL goal since March 23rd, 2023 and he'll have a pretty good shot at it playing alongside two of the best players in the entire league.
