The Montreal Canadiens announced Sunday evening that Ryan Poehling was called up and Jesperi Kotkaniemi was placed on injured reserve.
The Montreal Canadiens announced a few roster moves involving their top prospects on Sunday evening. The team has called up Ryan Poehling from the Laval Rocket and placed Jesperi Kotkaniemi on injured reserve.
Poehling was the team’s first round pick in 2017 and played two seasons with the St. Cloud State Huskies before starting this season with the Rocket. He had a strong training camp with the Canadiens but was injured in a preseason game against the Florida Panthers, suffering a concussion, and missed most of camp.
The 20 year old centre was back healthy just in time for the start of the season but the team elected to send him to the AHL. He has played 13 games for the Rocket this season, scoring three goals and two assists for five points.
The Canadiens have recalled forward Ryan Poehling from the AHL’s Laval Rocket. He will be at practice on Monday. Forward Jesperi Kotkaniemi has been placed on the injured reserve list (groin).#GoHabsGo https://t.co/Z3xPviIcKv
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) November 3, 2019
Poehling is a smart, two-way center and will likely take over Kotkaniemi’s role as the team’s third line center. We will have to see the lines at tomorrow’s practice to be sure, but it would make sense to have step in as the third line centre with Paul Byron and Artturi Lehkonen. Perhaps Nick Suzuki will stay on the wing on that line after a strong showing in the past two games.
Kotkaniemi has missed the past two games with a groin injury. An official trip to the injured reserve means he has to miss at least seven days of action. His last game was against the Arizona Coyotes on Wednesday night.
That means he will be eligible to return as soon as Thursday night against the Philadelphia Flyers. We will have to wait for further update on the seriousness of the injury, but it is noteworthy that the Habs didn’t find it necessary to add anyone during their road trip last week when Kotkaniemi missed games in Vegas and Dallas.
That means it is very likely Poehling will suit up Tuesday night against the Boston Bruins. Poehling of course made his NHL debut in the Habs final game of last season. He scored a hat trick in that contest and added the shootout winner in a victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs.