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.
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Oilers bold prediction: Vasily Podkolzin hits the 50-point mark in 2026-27
Photo credit: Perry Nelson-Imagn Images
Sep 10, 2026, 10:00 EDTUpdated: Sep 10, 2026, 10:05 EDT
At around the same time last year, I projected Vasily Podkolzin’s point total for the 2025-26 campaign at 37 points, and I was right on the money in his second season with the Edmonton Oilers.
For 2026-27, I’m going a little bolder and saying the Muscle from Moscow will hit the 50-point plateau for the first time.
A 13-point increase might seem like a lot, and it is. But he increased his points by 13 from 2024-25 to last year, and considering how hard Podkolzin trains and puts in countless hours of practice to perfect his craft, based on that alone, don’t you think he can do it again?
Podkolzin’s offseason work has me believing he can reach 50 points
But I have other reasons to believe that Podkolzin can hit that 50-point plateau. One of them is the early signs from the captain’s skate, where he was skating alongside Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, that he’ll once again be given an opportunity to thrive on the top lines. And after talking with his skills coach, Ned Lukacevic, about the work they did this offseason, I’m even more convinced that 50 points is within his reach.
Firstly, I can try to convey as much as I can about Lukacevic’s tone, and how fired up he gets when he talks about ‘Pods,’ but trying to convey that through writing doesn’t do it justice. I also get fired up every single time I hear the coach’s praise over the phone about Podkolzin’s progression.
Lukacevic and Podkolzin trained together this past offseason, and when I talked to him last month, he mentioned that their one-on-one sessions included drills that focused on a lot of wall work, puck handling and shooting, to name a few. This offseason was the first one where they trained extensively with the Power Edge Pro training aid, which aimed at improving Podkolzin’s agility.
One thing that really caught my attention is that Lukacevic mentioned this is the first time they really focused on working on one-timers. More specifically, he mentioned that Podkolzin made it a point to shoot those one-timers as Draisaitl does.
And from the videos he showed me, albeit a small sample size, it looked like Podkolzin was getting some serious torque behind those one-timers.
Lukacevic also outlined a hypothetical scenario for the upcoming season, saying that Podkolzin will score goals like he normally does, but add in some one-timer tallies, mix in a few more ‘Hyman-esque’ goals from the work they did around the net, and before you know it, instead of the 19 goals he scored last season, we’re now talking about 25 goals.
So, a six-goal increase from last season is very reasonable for Podkolzin.
How can Podkolzin increase his assist total?
Now, let’s talk about how he can increase his assist total. He recorded 18 assists last season, and hypothetically, say he scores 25 goals in 2026-27; he’ll need a seven-assist increase from last season to get to 50 points.
What leads me to believe he can increase his assists this season is the wall-play work that Lukacevic mentioned they worked on rigorously. The coach informed me, “He wants to keep getting better on wall play, and there was a lot of focus and big emphasis on that and also around the net… He refers to a lot of those types of drills as ‘Hyman-esque.’”
He added, “If you want to play, you have to get pucks off the wall quickly… There are drills where I’m rimming the puck, and he’ll tell me, ‘Harder!’ And I’m hammering them.”
A winger who can quickly pick the puck off the boards and move it fast, or win a puck along the boards and make a quick play to their centreman, can turn a routine-looking play into a scoring chance.
Oilers’ Vasily Podkolzin is putting in some offseason work. Here, he’s getting some reps in on wall play at his skills coach Ned Lukacevic’s camp. Lukacevic also told me Podkolzin is flying out there 🔥 Video courtesy of: nedlukacevichockey on insta
When I think of that, I think of Podkolzin springing Draisaitl quickly and elusively on the breakout more often, finding the centreman in a scoring chance down low, or overall helping maintain possession and leading to a cycle. Those are the types of scenarios where we could see an uptick in assists for Podkolzin.
Podkolzin needs more power-play time
On another note, I took a look at players who hit the 50-point plateau for the first time last season, and Josh Doan from the Buffalo Sabres stood out.
Doan put up 19 points in 51 games in 2024-25 with Utah, but jumped to 52 points (25 goals, 27 assists) in 82 games with the Sabres last year, and NHL.com described his game as “Having an elite motor, particularly below the faceoff dots where he often creates a turnover, distributes the puck and dashes to the net.” Sounds awfully familiar to Podkolzin’s style of game, doesn’t it?
Out of Doan’s 52 points, 35 came at even strength, very close to Podkolzin’s 34 even-strength points from last season. The difference is that Doan also had 17 power-play points, compared to Podkolzin’s three, but Doan played 190 more minutes on the man advantage.
Which brings me to my next point, and that’s if Podkolzin is truly going to have a chance to get to the 50-point plateau, he needs more power-play time, which isn’t out of the realm of possibility this season.
And I know what you’re thinking — why would you mess with the core five on PP1 when it’s been so successful? And you’re right.
Yet, by all accounts, it feels like part of head coach Mike Babcock’s approach will be giving players beyond the usual McDavid, Draisaitl, Evan Bouchard, Zach Hyman and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins more opportunity.
So maybe, just maybe, that means giving PP2 more minutes in non-critical situations?
If the opportunities are spread around, perhaps that opens the door for Podkolzin and others to get more time on the man advantage. In fact, Bob Stauffer touched on that possibility in a post on Aug. 20, saying Podkolzin would see time on PP2.
Don’t be surprised if the @EdmontonOilers Vasily Podkolzin takes another step forward in 2026-27. Dedicated to his craft. Exceptional work rate. Physical. Will play in EDM’s top 6 and see time on PP2 and on the PK. On the verge of becoming a play-driving winger!
And the fact that, as Lukacevic says to me, Podkolzin added additional tools in his toolbelt by working on his one-timers and working on net-front, Hyman-esque-type drills, he can be a double threat on that second unit, and he’ll be equipped to step onto the first unit should injuries occur to any of the usual five.
Now, if we’re at 40 even-strength points for Podkolzin in 2026-27, and he adds another 10 on the PP, then voilà, we’re looking at a 50-point campaign.
And here’s one final thought. While I was initially compiling my prediction for Podkolzin’s point total, my gut was saying 48 points for this season.
…But that was over an 82-game campaign. There’s an extra two regular-season games this season, folks.
And if Podkolzin is sitting at 48 points by Game 82, you can bet that his mates, McDavid and Draisaitl, will be setting him up every chance they get. And if I’m taking this prediction one step further, here’s this one: the Russian workhorse hits the 50-point plateau in Game 84. A power-play one-timer from Draisaitl’s office, just like he and Lukacevic worked on this offseason.
Other bold predictions
- An Edmonton goalie scores a goal this season
- Colton Dach becomes an everyday player
- Devon Levi emerges as Edmonton’s best regular-season goaltender
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