On April 6, 2019, the Maple Leafs held a one-goal lead over host Montreal Canadiens with three minutes left in regulation.
Then, with two minutes and thirty-one seconds left in his NHL debut, Ryan Poehling, the 2017 Canadian Canadiens first-round draft pick, scored by completing a strange run with his third goal of the night.
This shot did more than make Poehling the first Canadian player since Alex Smart in 1943 to score a hat trick in his NHL debut. He also tied the game at 5-5, sending the game into overtime.
Poehling ended up winning everything on penalties, 6-5.
“It was all joy on the bench. We’re all happy for him, smiling. Who wouldn’t do it when you see a kid come in like that. Honestly, you can’t believe it. He also had a couple more chances, finishing his controls, he played hard. He deserves it. He will be a great player. ” —Former Montreal striker Andrew Shaw, April 6, 2019, via NHL.com
But Poehling never got a full-time role with the Canadians after that historic debut.
April 6 marked his only NHL appearance in the 2018-19 season. After scoring three goals in his first game, Poehling has only scored 10 in the next 84 games since.
Poehling, 23, was sent to the Penguins on Saturday, along with 12-year NHL veteran Jeff Petry, in exchange for Mike Matheson and a 2023 fourth-round pick.
The Penguins lost about $ 2 million in trade limit space because Petry has a significant $ 6.25 million / AAV contract until 2024-25. But Poehling, who averaged just over 12 minutes per game in 57 competitions for the Canadians last year, will cost the Penguins just $ 750,000, the lowest in the league.
From CapFriendly
Since making his NHL debut, Poehling has split his time between the NHL (85 games in total, 13 goals, nine assists and 10 PIMs with the Canadians) and the AHL (71 games, 19 games, 25 assists and 8 PIM with the Laval Rocket). .)
For an in-depth look at Poehling’s game, let’s take a look at a 2021 breakdown of Jack Han, former assistant coach of the Toronto Marlies. When he coached Poehling at the AHL level in 2020, Han said he “had a hard time imagining the first-round pick becoming a shocking center for MTL.”
Read Poehling’s full AHL analysis here in Han’s Substack “The Hockey Tactics Newsletter,” but here are some highlights from Han’s analysis:
- Poehling is an energetic foresighted man. They have described him as “determined to be the first on the corner.”
- He is described as a “poor record carrier” who has difficulty evading pressure on the rush.
- They believe it has been more effective as an end than as a center.
HockeyViz’s Micah Blake McCurdy says Poehling “hasn’t shown anything useful at the NHL level.” Below is an analysis of the HockeyViz area of the Poehling game.
You can see Poehling’s relatively weak offensive impact for Canadians. So far, he has struggled to score goals from the dangerous area directly in front of the net, and his defense has allowed some quality chances from the other team.
Here’s Poehling’s JFresh player card:
Poehling averaged more than a minute per game in the power play in 2021-22, according to Natural Stat Trick, but it didn’t have much impact, in addition to being reasonably good at drawing the original penalty. Overall, he has acted similarly to a substitute level player (described by JFresh as a 13th striker or a marginal NHL player).
Here is Ron Hextall in Poehling after the exchange, via Think Inside Scoop:
When Ryan was selected, we really liked him. It’s a big body that will improve. He plays in the middle and can also play wing. Things haven’t gone exactly as I think Montreal would have liked, and hopefully a change can stimulate it.
Poehling’s NHL stats haven’t been impressive, but he’s made some outstanding plays that show off his impressive pedigree, like this pass without looking between Joel Armia’s legs.
This is a move that reminds you of the offensive skills that highlighted Poehling’s college career with St. Louis. Cloud State.
In short, Poehling is a former first-round pick who didn’t thrive as a full-time NHL player for two seasons in Montreal. He’s also a young player with a minimum league salary, and makes 6’2 ”, 204, intriguing stats for a team that has been one of the lightest in the NHL for the past three seasons.
The Penguins have a history of rehabilitating struggling players with innate talent (see: Matheson, Michael.) Will Poehling be next, or is he destined for Wilkes / Barre-Scranton?
Let us know what you think: what role would you like to see in Poehling with the Penguins franchise in 2022-23?