Canucks prospects tracker: Developing DiPietro, 'powerhouse' Podkolzin
Mike DiPietro
If a prospect doesn’t get any game time, does their game still develop?
That’s the conundrum the Vancouver Canucks face with Mike DiPietro, the promising young goalie who’s been stuck in transit on the team’s taxi squad all season.
The 21-year-old hasn’t seen any game action since he last suited-up with the Utica Comets as an AHL rookie over a year ago. It was a season of maturation for DiPietro, who at 6-foot and 201 pounds is slightly smaller than the average starter, but whose heart and battle level are qualities that can’t be measured.
The 2017 third-rounder guided the underdog Windsor Spitfires to a surprise Memorial Cup title in 2017 and had a standout — albeit shortened — season with the Comets last year.
“Last season was a season of great growth for me, from a hockey perspective and from a personal perspective,” DiPietro told Comets broadcaster Jason Shayna last week, looking back on a campaign in which he posted a 21-11-2 record, a tidy 2.79 goals-against-average and 0.908 save percentage.
To put it in perspective, Canucks starter Thatcher Demko posted a 2.68 GAA and 0.907 save percentage as a 20-year-old with the Comets in 2017.
In our spare time @Jason_Shaya sat down with former Comets goalie Mike DiPietro to check in and hear about his time in Utica! pic.twitter.com/E1apPEk5W0— Utica Comets (@UticaComets) April 1, 2021
“As the season progressed, I just felt more comfortable in the net. Your confidence grows. It’s something you build game-after-game,” DiPietro said.
And that’s the rub. Having not played since a 3-1 loss in Utica on March 11, 2020, where DiPietro’s crease confidence is at these days is anyone’s guess.
MIKEY!!!!#SYRvsUTI pic.twitter.com/KCg9IUTifn— Utica Comets (@UticaComets) March 12, 2020
What is known is that the Windsor, Ont., native had been hard at work with Canucks goaltending coach Ian Clark, who is seen by many as the best in the business. Clark was key in turning Sergei Bobrovsky into a two-time Vezina Trophy winner with the Columbus Blue Jackets and has worked wonders with Jacob Markstrom and Demko during his time in Vancouver.
And, by all accounts, DiPietro is the most prudent of students, soaking up directions like pucks to the crest and sticking around long after practice to work on his fundamentals.
Mikey DiPietro, who didn’t see any action tonight, out long after everybody has left the ice working on some fundamentals. #Canucks pic.twitter.com/BrvFnaT0Ee— David Quadrelli (@QuadreIli) January 7, 2021
But there’s no action like game action. Even Canucks general manager Jim Benning said so before the season began.
“In a perfect world, we’d want Mike playing every night (in the AHL),” Benning said in December.
Now that neither team is playing — not in Vancouver and not in Utica — DiPietro may have to wait until next season to face an opposing shooter again, a far-from-perfect scenario for the promising prospect.
Arvid Costmar
He wants to be the kind of player you don’t want to play against. And he was well on his way, before a shoulder injury in January sidelined him for the rest of the season.
Costmar, 19, picked all the way back in the seventh round of the 2020 NHL Draft, nudged himself up the Canucks prospects’ pecking order this past season, with the two-way, agitating centre performing admirably at the world junior tournament (5GP, 2G, 0A) while skating in his second Swedish Hockey League season with Linkoping (22GP, 1G, 0A).
It was at the World Juniors that Costmar made a name for himself, getting under the opposition’s skin and getting to the dirty areas of the ice. He was named one of Sweden’s top three players in the tournament.
Second period: Arvid Costmar (VAN) gets the better of Mikhail Abramov (TOR), baiting him into retaliating and taking a penalty.Overtime: Abramov gets his revenge. Costmar heads to the box, and Russia scores on the resulting powerplay to end Sweden's 54-game streak. pic.twitter.com/XGZhQrbwZm— Kevin Papetti (@KPapetti) December 31, 2020
The reviews were positive, and when the 5-foot-11, 179 pound, right shot forward returned to Sweden, he worked his way up to a third-line centre role and the team’s first power play unit.
Then his shoulder popped out of place.
Costmar, now on the road to rehabilitation after successful surgery, caught up with Ryan Haze and Mike Patron of the
‘I Only Touch Greatness’
podcast Friday to talk about how his season went and what it’s been like to sit on the sidelines in what was supposed to be a prime developmental year.
“As a young player, when you get an injury, when you feel like you have to develop and you’re in a good mood after the World Juniors … it’s tough,” Costmar said. “It’s been the seventh … sixth week since (surgery) and everything is going according to plan.”
Costmar, who styles his game after Boston Bruins’ Patrice Bergeron, was disappointed with Sweden’s quarterfinal exit from the World Juniors but was pleased with how he performed his role.
“We needed some grit on the team and I took it on,” he said. “I want to be a player you don’t want to play against and play with grit, grind and take the puck to the net.”
What a set-up by Victor Soderstrom (ARI) to Arvid Costmar (VAN). Sweden ties it 32 secs after Czech’s open the scoring. #WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/L7VU2TxQ12— NHL Watcher (@NHL_Watcher) December 26, 2020
Yet for all the talk about his pestilent play, Costmar has some bite to his offensive game. He tallied 26 goals, 24 assists and a plus-21 rating in 29 games playing for the Linkoping U20’s in the year he was drafted.
“I have some offensive upside with a good shot, good passing ability,” he said.
#Canucks prospect Arvid Costmar scored a hat-trick today (SHG, PPG, ENG) as well as a primary assist for Linkoping J20pic.twitter.com/crXYS3JlBC— Brett Lee (@brett1ee) February 26, 2020
And about those run-ins he had with fellow Canucks prospect Vasili Podkolzin at the World Juniors: “He’s a terrific player. Just a powerhouse. You have to play him in a certain way.”
When he’s all healed up and back on the ice, the thoughtful, determined teen said he’ll keep doing what he’s doing to get ahead.
“I try to train hard and practise hard everyday. I don’t think about challenges. I just see opportunities with being a hockey player and doing what I love.”
Vasili Podkolzin
It’s hard to make a difference when your team can’t score.
The Canucks’ top prospect and his SKA St. Petersburg teammates are looking for answers after being shut out in the first two games of their KHL conference final series against archrival CSKA Moscow this past week.
Podkolzin, a 2019 first-rounder, had one shot on goal and an even rating in 12:12 of ice time in Friday’s 3-0 loss in Moscow. He’s been playing on SKA’s third line, alongside fellow youngsters Kirill Marchenko and Ivan Morozov. The line created a few chances but couldn’t convert.
One chance came in the third period, with Podkolzin receiving a pass at the opposition’s blue-line, making a move past a CSKA player before firing a hot shot just wide past a screened goalie.
Vasily Podkolzin just missed the net on a long wrist shot after making a cut to the slot on an offensive rush. pic.twitter.com/aWD1cB0LWi— 𝗖𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘀 Faber 🔥🎙 (@ChrisFaber39) April 2, 2021
Sunday’s game wasn’t much better for SKA, who were blanked 2-0. Podkolzin was on the ice for a goal against, but the SKA coaching staff liked what they saw from the 19-year-old, who finished the game with the second-most minutes of any forward on the team with 17:38 of ice time.
Down 1-0 with a couple minutes left in the game, the 6-foot-1, 205 pound, left shot winger tried to do it himself, going on an end-to-end rush only to have his shot tipped wide by a defender.
#Canucks KHL#92 Podkolzin takes the puck end to end late in the game but his shot is deflected wide by the opposition D-man. CSKA soon after adds an ENG.CSKA 2 SKA 0 FINALVP 17:38 TOISKA trails in the Best of Seven Semi Final Playoffs Series 2-0. pic.twitter.com/vEOMMxjaMm— CanucksAbbyFan2 (@Fan2Abby) April 4, 2021
Podkolzin has six points (3G, 3A) in 12 playoff games, good for third-best on his team, despite the bottom six assignments he’s been given.
SKA next faces CSKA in St. Petersburg for Games 3 and 4 on Tuesday and Thursday.
Elsewhere:
Dmitri Zlodeyev
(2020, Round 6) had a secondary assist for Dynamo Moscow in Sunday’s 4-3 win over Tolpar in the second round of the junior-level MHL playoffs. The 5-foot-11, 183 pound centre has three assists in five playoff games so far.
Meanwhile, Utica Comets forward
Kole Lind
(2017, Round 2) was officially called up to the Canucks’ taxi squad Friday. The 22-year-old started the season strong with the Comets, scoring five goals and assisting on three others in eight games. Lind had already travelled to Vancouver a couple weeks ago as he recovered from a facial injury.
And lastly, the Utica Comets practised Monday for the first time since their season was put on hold due to COVID-19 concerns after a March 10 game against the Rochester Americans. The team is scheduled to play the Americans this Friday in Utica.
Our guys are back... and in four days our fans will be too! Are you ready????? pic.twitter.com/gPPk9L6cdJ— Utica Comets (@UticaComets) April 5, 2021
mraptis@postmedia.com
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