When the Edmonton Oilers’ schedule was released for the 2026-27 season, Vasily Podkolzin’s eyes must’ve lit up.He was probably excited to see that the first two games of the season were against his former team, the Vancouver Canucks, because he was likely eager to show them all the skills he worked on this past summer. And after two games, you can already see the impact of that off-season work. And boy, did he, as he put up three goals, four points and a team-leading 11 shots on goal on the Canucks.That said, most of you know I’ve been in talks with Podkolzin’s skills coach, Ned Lukacevic, and I may have mentioned that one too many times, to the point where the fellas on ‘PreGaming,’ Aaron Bordato and Michael Menzies, have turned it into a drinking game whenever I mention Ned’s name.But when I talked with Lukacevic in August about his off-season training sessions with Podkolzin, he shared the type of drills they worked on. There were three things they focused on: using the Power Edge Pro training aid to work on agility, doing a lot of wall work, and working on picking up pucks quickly.
They also worked on shooting drills and what he called “Hyman-esque” drills, both of which are skills that have stood out in Podkolzin’s play through two games.
Ned Lukacevic sent me a peek at him and Vasily Podkolzin working on one-timers.
Nobody does it quite like Draisaitl from his office, but perhaps Podkolzin could give the Oilers another option on PP2 from that spot.
Regarding the shooting drills, Lukacevic said they not only worked on shooting in general, but they put a lot of work into shooting one-timers. He mentioned that Podkolzin focused on shooting the puck like Leon Draisaitl, not the full wind-ups, but the quick snapshots, emulating him to the point of even holding his stick like his centreman.That said, Podkolzin hasn’t buried one off a one-timer yet, but that repetition of doing shot after shot paid off in the season opener. He received a pass from Draisaitl with under a minute left in the game and quickly unleashed a laser that beat Kevin Lankinen to tie it and send the game to overtime.
ROGERS PLACE ERUPTS AS VASILY PODKOLZIN TIES THE GAME 5-5!!
As a side note, when that goal went in and Rogers Place went wild, I was so excited for him, knowing how much work he’d put in. Also, based on the insight I’ve gathered from Lukacevic about how important confidence is for ‘Pods’, I couldn’t help but think that tally had to have been huge for him mentally.
The “Hyman-esque” drills are paying off earlyPodkolzin once said that if there’s a player he’d like to be like five years from now, it’d be his teammate Zach Hyman.
And the Muscle from Moscow took a step toward that goal, as mentioned, by working on “Hyman-esque” drills this past summer.
Lukacevic shared those details, saying, “We did a lot of work on wall play and down-low play. Very Zach-Hyman-esque type of work. So with that, we worked on a lot of deflections, a lot of tips, and working in the tight areas.” He added that it was Podkolzin who specifically referred to those drills as “Hyman-esque,” and those hours of work have already translated to the scoresheet.In the first game, Podkolzin’s first goal came from parking his body at the side of the net and redirecting the puck past Lankinen. Then, before the second game of the season, news broke that Hyman would be out of the lineup due to injury, which opened the door for Podkolzin to showcase his net-front work on the power play, and he didn’t disappoint, doing his best Hyman impression later that night.
Podkolzin’s offseason work continues to pay off.
His skills coach, Ned Lukacevic, sent me these videos of Podkolzin working on “Hyman-like drills.”
And then, fittingly, Podkolzin did his best Hyman impression with his first-period goal on the power play.
On the Oilers’ second power play of the evening, the Oilers’ forward set up shop in front of the net; Kasperi Kapanen found him in tight, and the Moscow native buried his third goal of the season in a nearly identical fashion to what he and Lukacevic worked on in August. And he almost had another one a couple of minutes later, ringing one off the post, before picking up an assist on Draisaitl’s power-play goal in the third period.Ned Lukacevic shares his thoughts on PodkolzinAfter last game, I caught up with Lukacevic and asked him what he thought of Podkolzin’s hot start. He mentioned:
“It’s incredible, just incredible. His hard work is paying off. He put in the work this past summer, and kudos to him for getting off to a great start. And if I know Pods, he’ll keep working hard to continue his opportunity playing with those two guys [McDavid and Draisaitl].”
I also asked him what he’s noticed from Podkolzin this season compared to last season, as well as how he feels the Oilers forward has looked on the power play:
“The difference I’m seeing this season, two games in, in comparison to last season, is that he has that killer instinct.
And he also has confidence. But I’ve always said this. Even though he has confidence, he’s still as humble as they come. And he knows that regardless of how well he’s playing today and that the puck is going in, he still knows that he has to get better every single day.
First game, he played good. Second game, even better. Next game? Keep growing.
He has to build off of every game. He’s never going to be satisfied. He might not keep this scoring pace up, it’s just not possible, but he’ll continue to produce in different ways, hitting, battling, grinding.
On the power play, he just looks confident. He knows he belongs now, not that he never thought he did. He also sees the opportunity that’s ahead for him. He understands he has to make those quick plays in those tight areas, and he knows what’s expected of him.
Overall, I’m just so elated for him. I’m so happy to see him have success this early, especially the last two games against his old team. Let’s call a spade a spade, [the Canucks] wrote him off. They had him in the minors. They traded him away. He’s fought back and revitalized his career when he was down and out, so I’m super proud of him.”
And so far, the numbers back up what Lukacevic is seeing in his friend. Through two games, Podkolzin has four points, seven hits, and his five-on-five metrics have been superb.
According to Natural Stat Trick, he’s posted a 78.72 per cent shot attempt share, 82.14 shot percentage share, 74.23 per cent expected goal share, and 80 per cent scoring chance share. That said, with the way he’s playing and how high his confidence must be, he’s making my 50-point projection for him look quite low.
Still, it’s very early in the season, and anything can happen over the remaining 82 games. Nevertheless, Lukacevic is proud of Podkolzin, and all of Oil Country is proud to see him off to such a hot start.
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