The Canucks Russian Purge
Remember when the Canucks won the Andrei Kuzmenko “sweepstakes”. It was a glorious day for Vancouver hockey fans. The club had landed Russia’s hottest hockey commodity in July of 2022.
Eighteen months later he was shipped out to the Calgary Flames. His productivity dipped under full-time Vancouver head coach Rick Tocchet after a 39-goal season the year before.
“Koozy’s” pal Ilya Mikheyev never found his footing in Vancouver. The injury prone winger had a 13-goal, 28-point campaign in 46 games in 2022-’23. Not horrendous, but it dropped off last season. Out the door he went in a deal with the Chicago Blackhawks this past summer with Sam Lafferty on June 26th. Among other things, the Canucks needed salary cap space.
Vasily Podkolzin was a breath of fresh air. He showed up to training camp in 2021 as a teenager with a big smile, his soon-to-be-wife, and a translator.
Vancouver’s 1st-round pick, 10th-overall from 2019 played Monday night against the Canucks for the Edmonton Oilers.
The closest thing the Canucks have to a Russian now is Latvian born bottom-six centre Teddy Blueger, who played elite high school and college hockey in the US.
Will Vancouver’s exes bite them in the proverbial butt? Maybe.
Kuzmenko cranked out 25 points in 29 games after joining the unpredictable Flames, while Podkolzin could flourish with a change of scenery and a chance to play with the defending western conference champions.
In the preseason game on Monday night, ‘Pods’ managed two shots-on-goal against his former mates in about 13-minutes of ice time, while Koozy picked up an assist, with one shot, and finished a plus-2 against the Seattle Kraken.
Oilers TV/Radio play-by-play man Jack Michaels talks about Podkolzin’s camp and potential in detail below.
Recent Canucks:
— Canucks Move On From Vasily Podkolzin
— Krackin’ Canuckleheads Ep 6.
