Deep Dive: What’s the holdup for McDavid’s contract decision?
September 19, 2025
Edmonton Oilers 20-Man Quarter Century Team
September 29, 2025
September 23, 2025 by Ryan Lotsberg
Leon Draisaitl waxed poetic about Vasily Podkolzin during a media availability on September 4. “We love him. There’s no secret. His work ethic is as good as I’ve seen in twelve years in this league. He’s the ultimate professional. He would do anything for the group. He blocks shots, he does all the little things right and those are the guys you want to see get rewarded more.”
Podkolzin just got rewarded with a three-year contract extension with the Edmonton Oilers that carries an average annual value of $2.95 million. The new deal will kick in for the 2026-27 season as Podkolzin is about to enter the final year of his current contract.
The 24-year old has 59 points in 219 NHL games for the Canucks and the Oilers. Podkolzin had 24 points in 82 games for the Oilers last season after being acquired from the Vancouver Canucks last summer for a fourth round pick in the 2025 draft. The pick was originally obtained by the Oilers in the trade that sent 2021 first rounder Xavier Bourgault to the Ottawa Senators. That pick was later traded back to the Canucks in exchange for Evander Kane.
Related: Oilers acquire Podkolzin
As noted by Draisaitl, Podkolzin’s work ethic is top notch. Draisaitl recently referenced Podkolzin and Calvin Pickard as the two players that show up to the rink the earliest aside from himself in an interview with Elliotte Friedman and Kyle Bukauskas. He consistently stayed out late after practice to work on his game last season. He was also seen sitting with Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch during one of the Oilers rookie camp skates recently.
Draisaitl really enjoys playing with Podkolzin because he does a lot of the things that Draisaitl struggles with in his game. “Podzy does a lot of things that a lot of people that don’t really understand hockey, they don’t see it. He does a lot of work for me, and it lets me have a lot of time with the puck and sets me up in great situations… I lack that in my game, so he does a lot of great things for me personally. I really, really love playing with him. He’s a great player. He’s really underrated with the puck, really underrated hockey sense, great hockey mind.”
That is evidenced by the fact that Podkolzin led the Oilers with 211 hits last season, which put him in a tie for 24th in the league. He was second on the team and third in the league with 100 hits in 22 games in the playoffs last spring. The big Russian winger isn’t afraid to be physical and to do the dirty work. That’s the biggest reason why he was Draisaitl’s most common five-on-five linemate last season (497:28).
Podkolzin was the tenth overall pick in the 2019 draft, and he fell to that spot after being a highly touted prospect that year because he chose to stay in Russia rather than coming over to North America right away. His draft pedigree suggests that there could be more offence in the tank. Draisaitl seems to agree that Podkolzin has more offence in him:
“I think there’s a lot more. I think there’s a lot more offence, I think there’s a lot more finish, hopefully it will come out; but yeah, he’s a player that doesn’t need to score to be really, really valuable and effective.”
Some of that offence appeared in the playoffs. He quietly got ten points in 22 games in the playoffs, and he did that away from Draisaitl for the most part. According to Natural Stat Trick, Podkolzin played 81:52 with Draisaitl and 142:46 without him at five-on-five in the playoffs.
$2.95 million might seem like a lot for a player whose career-high point total in a season is 26 and that will be coming off a contract with a $1 million AAV, but we also have to remember that this contract doesn’t kick in until next season when the cap rises to $104 million. Podkolzin will take up 2.79% of the salary cap in the first year of his contract, and 2.57% in the second year. Podkolzin’s AAV is a great example of how the rising cap will impact player salaries in the coming seasons. Salaries rise as the cap rises, and we’re in the middle of a big spike in both categories right now.
If Podkolzin can build off his solid playoff performance and consistently put up around 30 points per season over the length of the contract, then it will be a win for the Oilers. If he can live up to his potential as a former top-ten pick and put up top six point totals, then it will be an absolute steal. If his production stalls and he ends up spinning his wheels in a bottom six role for the next four years, his taking up around 2.5% of the cap won’t be all that detrimental, and it’s a short-term deal.
Podkolzin is now one of six Oilers forwards that are signed beyond next season. He joins Draisaitl, Frederic, Zach Hyman, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and Ike Howard in that group. I feel comfortable adding Matt Savoie to that group as well as he will be an RFA after the 2026-27 season. When Connor McDavid is looking at the forward group as part of his decision-making process about his next contract, those are the names that are locked in as being a part of the future.
He’s a popular teammate, so locking him up should help the Oilers’ cause when it comes to getting McDavid re-signed. Don’t get it twisted. I’m not saying Podkolzin is the determining factor. I’m saying that signing a young piece that is already contributing like Podkolzin is means that there’s one less question mark regarding the future roster. That’s important, especially considering that the Oilers have an aging team and McDavid wants to play for a contending team long-term. If McDavid shares any of Draisaitl’s opinions on Podkolzin, then this signing can’t hurt the odds of McDavid re-signing with the Oilers.
Podkolzin has proven to be a fourth round pick well spent. The fact that the Oilers got that pick back for Kane and used it to draft German winger David Lewandowski, who showed well in the rookie games before being sent back to the Saskatoon Blades on Monday, is just gravy.
