Training camp is almost here, and Vasily Podkolzin sits right in the middle of the Edmonton Oilers’ story heading into 2026-27. He’s one of the club’s clearest success stories from last season, and the expectations around him have climbed fast.
Podkolzin put together a breakout 2025-26, finishing with 19 goals and 37 points in 82 games after scoring only eight goals the year before. That jump came after general manager Stan Bowman locked him up on a three-year extension carrying a $2.95 million cap hit, a deal that starts this season. It looks even better now than it did then, especially since waiting until the offseason likely would have pushed that number higher.
A big part of Podkolzin’s rise came from the chemistry he built with Leon Draisaitl on the second line. The two clicked quickly, and Draisaitl has said in the past that he loves playing with him.
That connection helped Podkolzin establish himself as a legitimate top-six forward, and he has become a fan favourite in the process. He brings the kind of game coaches trust: physical, relentless, and built around winning battles and recovering pucks.
He’s hard to take out of a lineup because his effort level is there every night.
There’s a real case for another step forward this season. Podkolzin doesn’t get power-play time, so his offence comes almost entirely at 5-on-5.
Even so, he was seventh on the Oilers in goals last season and fourth in even-strength goals with 18. Only one of his goals came on the man advantage.
If his scoring touch keeps trending up, the 20-goal mark should be within reach for the first time in his career, and 25 goals is not out of the question. A 50-point season would be a strong target, too.
The physical side of his game is just as important. Podkolzin led the Oilers with 242 hits last season, which was 49 more than the next player.
He also led the team in hits the year before with 211. With Darnell Nurse gone, Edmonton lost some of its edge, and Podkolzin should remain the club’s most punishing forward in that department.
Another season around 250 hits would fit right in with what he’s already done.
Even the floor here is solid. Podkolzin plays the right way, keeps mistakes down, and has been durable enough to appear in all 82 games in back-to-back seasons.
With the NHL now at 84 games, that reliability matters even more. Edmonton is thin in the top six, so losing one of its better wingers for any stretch would sting.
If things go sideways, the damage still shouldn’t be catastrophic. As long as he stays in the top six, his numbers ought to hold fairly steady. But if he slips below 15 goals and 30 points, that would count as a step back given the bar he has already set.
What makes Podkolzin especially valuable is that he can function in different roles without changing who he is. He can ride shotgun with Draisaitl and help drive offence, or he can drop into a lower line and still give the Oilers secondary scoring and energy.
At 6-foot-1 and 190 pounds, he’s a play driver, and Edmonton doesn’t have many of those. He doesn’t need a different game to fit a different line.
A third line with Podkolzin, Jason Dickinson, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins or Kasperi Kapanen would bring a lot of responsibility and enough offence to matter. It’s an intriguing option, especially if the Oilers want a group they can trust in all situations.
For now, though, Podkolzin is likely to stay in the top six until the team finds another answer. Either way, Edmonton expects more from him in 2026-27, and there’s every reason to think he can keep climbing.
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Connor Ingram Gave Oilers Stability Then It Ended Far Too Fast
Connor Ingrams time in Edmonton was supposed to be a short-term answer, the kind of move a team makes when it needs calm in a crease that has seen enough turbulence. Instead, the veteran goalie gave the Oilers a stretch of stability after arriving from Utah in October 2025, then quickly became another name in a career that never seemed to settle for long. He went on to appear in 37 games for Edmonton before reaching free agency.
Ingram announced his retirement from professional hockey on Sept. 11, closing the book after five NHL seasons that took him from Nashville to Arizona, then Utah and Edmonton. Over that span, he played 134 regular-season games and nine playoff contests, a modest total that still reflected the persistence it takes to stick in the league as a goaltender. For the Oilers, the ending leaves behind the familiar feeling of a promising stop that ended far sooner than anyone in the organization could have wanted. [Read more 🡒]
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The bigger question is where he fits when the roster math gets real, and the answer may end up being more about Bakersfield than Edmonton. Rtys offensive flashes make him interesting, but there is still uncertainty around his overall game away from the puck, which is the sort of detail that can decide whether a player settles into a meaningful minor-league role or remains just outside the main competition for a call-up spot. [Read more 🡒]
Oilers Mourn The Man Who Helped Keep This Team In Edmonton
Cal Nichols, one of the most important figures in Oilers history, has died, and his place in the franchises story is secure. The team announced his passing and recognized the role he played in helping preserve hockey in Edmonton, where his influence stretched far beyond the business side of the sport.
Nichols founded the Edmonton Investors Group and helped assemble the ownership effort that stabilized the franchise at a critical moment. For Oilers fans, his name is tied to the period when the clubs future in the city was uncertain, and the reminder now is how close that future came to looking very different. [Read more 🡒]