The Canucks selected intriguing Vasily Podkolzin 10th overall in the 2019 NHL Draft. They passed on productive Matthew Boldy, who went two picks later to the Wild.
Matthew Boldy provides fuel for a high-octane first line on the NHL’s top team and will be named to the U.S. roster Wednesday for the Four Nations tournament in February.
Recommended Videos
The Minnesota Wild right winger has become everything that franchise hoped for — a consistent presence and projected to score at least 30 goals — when it selected the U.S.A Hockey National Team Development Program standout 12th overall in the 2019 draft at Rogers Arena.
Boldy has 11 goals and 24 points through 24 games, which include a team-high four power-play goals and five game-winners, and being aligned with NHL scoring leader Kirill Kaprizov certainly helps.
When asked about continuing to score every outing with the Oilers, Podkolzin’s response summarized his career.
“I’m scared to even think this way,” he told reporters. “I’m living day by day, working day by day. But I hope it will be much more often.”
When Podkolzin was traded to the Oilers in August for a 2025 fourth-round pick, it brought the Boldy comparison. Hindsight is always perfect when wondering what went wrong at the draft table — and every team has skeletons in its closet — but the Podkolzin plan was intriguing.
Scouts abide by ‘The 200 Rule’. If a pick logs that many NHL games for the team that selected him, or is dealt for assets, it’s considered a prudent draft play. Podkolzin is at 161 games and Boldy at 227, but the optics go beyond that.
Three U.S. team development program products went in the top 10 of the 2019 draft and seven were selected in the top 15. It wasn’t just a trend. It was knowing a proven system was the solution.
Boldy and Podkolzin broke from the gate with solid NHL rookie seasons — 26 points (14-12) in 79 games for Podkolzin and 39 points (15-24) for Boldy in just 47 games — but then came a significant shift. It was a product of pre-NHL development and coaching changes in Vancouver.
Podkolzin played two KHL seasons in a limited fourth-line role where it was about winning and not instructing. Hardly an environment for the Moscow native to grow his game on a powerhouse St. Petersburg SKA club that went 37-15-0-8 in the 2020-21 season.
And when the affable Boudreau supplanted Green as bench boss, the plan for the rookie winger was simple: Do your thing.
It worked initially, but just four goals in his final 58 games with the Canucks proved his demise. And so would self-doubt to do all the right little things. After all, Tocchet labelled Podkolzin a moose and bear because of what the 6-foot-1, 190 pounder projected physically. However, predictability in his play was a problem.
“He works so hard, but there are just things in his game with time and space, and he doesn’t move his feet,” said Tocchet. “He doesn’t see the play. It’s like chess. You have to think two steps before you make the play.”
The play was hoping an Abbotsford assignment would allow Podkolzin to dive into the details and his 28 AHL points (15-13) in 44 games were encouraging, but wouldn’t secure a prolonged Vancouver stay.
As for Boldy, his U.S. team development program tutelage and two years at Boston College provided an abundance of self-confidence. He gained a swagger by matching strides with elite prospects and growing into his 6-foot-2, 201 pound frame.
Boldy was always bold and brash. He amassed 43 points (17-26) in 28 games on a powerful U.S. team development program roster in 2018-19. At the Under-18 world championship, he had a dozen points (3-9) in seven games to prove NHL potential.
Even before Boldy was drafted, he fed this reporter an earful of what he hoped to bring to the NHL stage some day. I was convinced the Canucks would take him 10th overall. I was wrong.
“I can play power forward with a lot of skill and make plays while still protecting the puck,” said Boldy. “It’s something a lot of guys can’t really do that well.
“Growing up, I always had really good hands and it’s something I’ve worked on a lot and have had a lot of fun with.
“It’s doing things defencemen really don’t expect. I like to chip pucks to myself and get them in the air, and a lot of defencemen struggle with being able to knock them down or aren’t used to seeing that.
“It kind of confuses them.”