All Montreal Canadiens fans know the story of Ryan Poehling’s NHL debut, and it’s for a good reason, as it’s a matter of legends. Poehling played his first game against the Toronto Maple Leafs in the last game of the Montreal season, scoring a hat trick and a penalty shootout winner to end a frustrating year for the Habs. Along with a World Juniors MVP award, expectations skyrocketed for the Minnesota native.
And yet, just three years later, Poehling found himself as a release to a shift that sent Jeff Petry to Pittsburgh for Mike Matheson. Was Poehling another chapter in a long history of a failed development of the Canadians, or was he simply the weird man among the NHL-level depth center?
As someone who saw him grow up in the AHL for two years, I can say that the injuries played a big part in making his career difficult. In the preseason after his incredible debut, he suffered a rather severe upper body injury that limited his time in the AHL to start the year, and he scored just 13 points in 36 games, along with two points in 27 NHL games for the Habs. It was a disappointing performance, and did not appear in the bubble series against Pittsburgh or Philadelphia when a playoff appearance was delivered in Montreal.
The following year there was a rebound. In a lineup with Joël Teasdale and Joseph Blandisi in the AHL, Poehling won front-line minutes and played just below the level of points per game. Again, the injury forced him to close his season prematurely, which meant, unfortunately, that he was unable to take part in the Habs ’postseason race until the Stanley Cup final, and left the ‘quite thin team in terms of six lower centers.
With six points in seven games with Laval Rocket last year, it was clear that Poehling had probably surpassed the AHL level, which was to be expected. The NHL team, however, was a total disaster, and while Poehling played a good role in a fourth-line role on a team full of injuries, with nine goals and eight assists, something still seemed to click more.
Part of that was that Poehling never had long-term stability, with his most common linebacker Joel Armia, but a mix of Cole Caufield, Artturi Lehkonen and Michael Pezzetta highlighted his mix of teammates at several points.
Given the impact COVID and injuries had on the team, stability was a hard thing to achieve for anyone. With Christian Dvorak running out of time, there were plenty of opportunities for Poehling to get a place for the Canadians. While he was far from a problem in the fourth-line center role, his path from there is difficult considering Jake Evans is likely stuck in a role for the bottom six this year. Although his name also appears in commercial rumors, Dvorak is expected to return, and the arrival of Kirby Dach means there was no place open for Poehling.
While the Canadians have been notoriously bad when it comes to player development, I don’t think Poehling’s situation falls into the category of relegations from previous years. Injuries and a team without direction left him floating in space at the NHL level, but he had shown the necessary growth in the AHL that made him worthy of being called up. When he was selected, most reports classified him as a standard center of the bottom six in the NHL, and this is a level at which he played in Montreal.
The Habs focused heavily on the center position in the last NHL Drafts, clearly looking for a more complete player than they had among their NHL picks, and everything points to Poehling being on time.
It’s hard to say that things went completely aside for Poehling in Montreal. He was able to gain time in the NHL despite the setbacks of bad weather, and was also not quickly eliminated from the AHL due to his first-round status. He proved that he was ready for the graduation of the minor leagues. In Pittsburgh, on a team that has been at the top of the forward position for many years, he will have a chance to reassert himself and claim a place once again.
After all, it seems like Kent Hughes was able to give two players a new situation they needed, for different reasons. Canadians are now embarking on their reconstruction with a solidified central lineup to work from the outside, except for more movement.