Montreal Canadiens sign Ryan Poehling to an entry-level contract

Ryan Poehling is finished with college and is ready to turn pro signing a three-year entry-level contract with the Montreal Canadiens.

It’s been a long time coming for Ryan Poehling and the Montreal Canadiens. The team drafted the centre in the first round of the 2017 NHL Draft in hopes of shoring up a much-needed area of their prospect pool. But it was initially cautious optimism when it came to what he could become.

Poehling was a two-way player who needed a lot of work on his offensive game to be proficient in both areas. He took a step in the right direction last season with St. Cloud State and his run with Team USA at the World Junior Hockey Championships. At the end of the season, fans were curious as to when Poehling would decide to turn pro which he set straight by committing another year in college.

The 20-year-old unfortunately couldn’t get things done in the Frozen Four as St. Cloud lost 2-1 to American Int’l. Poehling was luckily healthy enough to participate in the game after missing the previous one with an upper-body injury.

Though with an end comes a new beginning and that’ll be with the Montreal Canadiens. Poehling finishes his NCAA career with 29 goals and 46 assists for 75 points in 107 games. The next step will be determining where he plays.

Perhaps he joins the Laval Rocket similar to Josh Brook and Samuel Houde. Doing that wouldn’t burn any time off of his entry-level contract and allow the Habs to maintain that three-year window. However, playing NHL games for the Habs wouldn’t do that either.

The magic number is ten for a player to burn a year off their contract and given the Montreal Canadiens have less than that, he would be in the clear. On the other hand, the Habs have key games taking place at the moment, and if Jesperi Kotkaniemi is being scratched, it would be difficult to see a scenario where Poehling cracks the lineup for any number of games.

Laval seems the most likely option, and it’ll be interesting to see how he thrives there. The good news is it’ll be a head start to find comfort in a situation Poehling will likely be in through the entirety of next season.

The question is how long until fans see Poehling in a Montreal Canadiens sweater? If he continues to progress and add more offence from a down year, perhaps not too long.