Canucks prospects tracker, WJC edition: Podkolzin moves on, Costmar's done
It’s the latest edition of the World Junior Championships tracker, where we tally up the efforts of the Vancouver Canucks’ highest-profile prospects:
Saturday was the start of the elimination round for the 2021 World Juniors in Edmonton and there’s now just one Vancouver Canucks prospect left in action.
Vasili Podkolzin’s Russia survived a scare by squeaking past Germany 2-1 in the first quarterfinal of the day.
In the day’s second knockout game, Arvid Costmar and Team Sweden were eliminated 3-2 on a late goal by their Finnish archrivals, ending their tournament.
Podkolzin didn’t tally but he was once again impressive with his play all over the ice. He was a dominant forechecker and forced errors by German puck carriers on multiple occasions.
He made a number of sensational passes to set up shots for his teammates in fabulous scoring positions. They missed, but NHL shooters likely bury these:
Vasili Podkolzin with another great tape to tape pass and @CraigJButton breaks it down perfectly.
— 𝗖𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘀 Faber 🤙🔥🎙 (@ChrisFaber39) January 2, 2021
NHL playmaker.
🎥@TSN_Sports pic.twitter.com/M4n4H3HdmZ
Vasily Podkolzin creating another chance that isn't finished off. Seems familiar. #WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/5YUGJpo7h5
— Dylan Griffing (@Dylan_Griffing) January 2, 2021
Costmar was a bit quieter than he had been in recent games, but that was an issue for many of his teammates.
Like all the Swedes, he just seemed to be out of sync for the last two periods, which was a surprise after they were really moving their feet to close out the first period.
Sweden’s coaching staff struggled a bit as well, unable to find any solutions to the Finns’ tight checking.
There was a lot of line shuffling, which left Costmar as more of a passive two-way forward. He did well enough in that role, but his pepper-pot play was less evident as a result.
Arvid Costmar is sad pic.twitter.com/b8bseoCytC
— /Cam Robinson/ (@Hockey_Robinson) January 2, 2021
Still, he closes the 2021 tournament in high regard. He’s a nosy player, with a knack for getting to the net and has potential as a fourth-line centre in the NHL.
He was an off-the-radar pick in the 2019 draft, picked in the seventh round using a mixture of analytics from the Canucks’ data department and plenty of old-school game viewings by former amateur scouting director Judd Brackett and his right-hand man, cross-over scout Dan Palango (whom Brackett hired on as a scout with the Minnesota Wild last month).