The Montreal Canadiens can’t give up on Ryan Poehling, but it’s time to act

It was surprising that the Montreal Canadiens didn’t use Ryan Poehling in the playoffs, and although the team isn’t giving up on time, the clock is ticking.

When predicting the lines and pairings, the Montreal Canadiens would use in the Stanley Cup Qualifier and the eventual playoffs, there seemed to only be open spots on the fourth line and third defence pair. Claude Julien made it clear that the team would run four lines with Max Domi at fourth-line centre, but there were options on the wing. And surprisingly, despite injuries and need for tonal shifts in the lineup, Ryan Poehling was never considered once.

Jordan Weal and Dale Weise both came out of the lineup but were replaced with Jake Evans and Alex Belzile. Even when Brendan Gallagher needed surgery for his broken jaw, it was Charles Hudon drew into the lineup instead of Poehling.

The 2017 first-round pick always looked like a player built for the playoffs. He was never the fastest player on the ice, but he has a strong frame to deal with the physicality of heavy playoff hockey, and his awareness puts him in good positions. Unfortunately, Poehling only showed that update a few times this season, placing the ugly ‘consistency issue’ tag on his profile for the time being.

We were able to get some insight as to why Poehling wasn’t used at all save for practices and warm-ups. According to Matthias Brunet of La Presse, it doesn’t look like the 21-year-old arrived at training camp in the best of shape.

"Charles Hudon, Alex Belzile, Jordan Weal, Dale Weise and Jake Evans will all have played in the playoffs and Ryan Poehling not. If the young man doesn’t get the message now, he’ll never get it. It would have been a good idea for him to train during confinement … (translated)"

Poehling isn’t the only player to have done this. In Phase 2, the Calgary Flames kept Johnny Gaudreau with conditioning issues as well before working hard enough to start practicing with the team once again. Poehling still not getting a look as the playoffs continue to speak to how synergetic the Montreal Canadiens thought the team already was or how out of shape he was.

We’ll never know, but this is opening the conversation doors once again as to whether Poehling is finished with the organization or not.

There doesn’t need to be a long debate about this, or a debate at all, as Marc Bergevin set the record straight on Poehling’s standing with the Canadiens.

After his debut hat-trick game, injuries got in the way of a successful training camp seeing Poehling start the season with the Laval Rocket. He did eventually get back to playing with the Montreal Canadiens, but his performance in either league wasn’t anything to rave about.

Poehlng put up 5 goals and 8 assists for 13 points in 36 AHL games while only scoring a single goal and assist in 27 NHL games. There wasn’t that sense of domination that you’d expect from a coveted asset when going down to the minor leagues similar to Jesperi Kotkaniemi, who was at a point-per-game when he was sent to the AHL.

Although Bergevin said he expects Poehling to earn a spot on the team, it wouldn’t surprise me to see him spend a full year in the American League (assuming it happens). I wrote about the benefits a season in Laval would do for him, but it also comes down to roster space. If the Montreal Canadiens make no other additions, they’ll be space; however, that will change if Bergevin is busy over the offseason.

I understand the disdain for another first-round pick to go south for the organization. There are still fresh wounds from the Michael McCarron era in Montreal, who was a first-round pick in 2013. However, there is more upside for Poehling, and as much as it’ll take hard work, it’s also going to take some patience to put him in the right position to succeed.

That said, the clock is definitely clicking for Ryan Poehling. The Montreal Canadiens can’t sit in this limbo of wanting to be competitive without trading prospects forever. Eventually, assets will have to move, and Poehling has a lot to do to ensure he’s not one of them.