KHL club displays poor injury-management after concussion confirmed for top prospect Podkolzin
Late on Tuesday, it was reported that SKA St. Petersburg winger and Vancouver Canucks 2019 1st-round pick Vasili Podkolzin had suffered a concussion as a result of being hit high by former SKA teammate and current Moscow Spartak forward Jori Lehtera.
During a conversation between The Athletic's Rick Dhaliwal and SKA president Roman Rotenberg, it was revealed to Dhaliwal that Podkolzin was indeed concussed by the head shot, but was feeling better after the ordeal but would still receive 3 days off. He also identified the 19-year-old as one of his best players and mentioned that he was very happy with his play.
As you can imagine, Rotenberg's comments are causing a bit of a stir in North America - particularly in Vancouver. Given what we now know about concussions and the potential long-term effects of traumatic brain injuries, many, including the Vancouver Sun's Patrick Johnston, have taken exception to SKA's lack of concern over Podkolzin's long-term health.
Johnston, the Vancouver PWHA chapter chair, took to Twitter on Wednesday to air his displeasure over the handling of Podkolzin's injury.
"Someone tell SKA there's no such thing as a minor concussion and that '3 days off' isn't any way to treat a concussion" Johnston quote-tweeted on Dhaliwal's tweet about Rotenberg's comments.
Podkolzin is currently awaiting the expiration of his KHL contract before he can officially sign with the Canucks on April 30, 2021. With SKA's lack of proper injury-management becoming quite apparent, it's safe to say that the Canucks organization is counting down the days until their 10th-overall pick from 2019 lands on Canadian soil.
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Brandon Hagel | - | 5 | 5 | |
| Sebastian Aho | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
| Nico Hischier | 3 | - | 3 | |
| Macklin Celebrini | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Jakob Chychrun | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Seth Jarvis | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Nikita Kucherov | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Zachary Bolduc | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Will Cuylle | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Lars Eller | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Jake Guentzel | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Alex Iafallo | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Ivan Ivan | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Ivan Barbashev | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Drake Batherson | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Simon Edvinsson | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jack Eichel | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Morgan Frost | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Shayne Gostisbehere | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Miro Heiskanen | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 22 | 18 | 4 | - | 36 | |
Devils | 24 | 15 | 7 | 2 | 32 | |
Hurricanes | 21 | 15 | 5 | 1 | 31 | |
Wild | 21 | 13 | 4 | 4 | 30 | |
Golden Knights | 22 | 14 | 6 | 2 | 30 | |
Capitals | 21 | 14 | 6 | 1 | 29 | |
Maple Leafs | 21 | 13 | 6 | 2 | 28 | |
Flames | 22 | 12 | 7 | 3 | 27 | |
Stars | 20 | 13 | 7 | - | 26 | |
Rangers | 20 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 25 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||