A Winning Habit
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Montreal Canadiens: 7 Talking Points on TDG, Reinforcements and the Expansion Draft

By Sebastian High

MONTREAL, QC - FEBRUARY 04: (L-R) Phillip Danault #24, Shea Weber #6, Ben Chiarot #8, Carey Price #31, Brendan Gallagher #11 and Tomas Tatar #90 of the Montreal Canadiens stand for the national anthem prior to their game against the Ottawa Senators at the Bell Centre on February 4, 2021 in Montreal, Canada. The Ottawa Senators defeated the Montreal Canadiens 3-2. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
MONTREAL, QC - FEBRUARY 04: (L-R) Phillip Danault #24, Shea Weber #6, Ben Chiarot #8, Carey Price #31, Brendan Gallagher #11 and Tomas Tatar #90 of the Montreal Canadiens stand for the national anthem prior to their game against the Ottawa Senators at the Bell Centre on February 4, 2021 in Montreal, Canada. The Ottawa Senators defeated the Montreal Canadiens 3-2. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /
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MONTREAL, QC – APRIL 06: Ryan Poehling #25 of the Montreal Canadiens scores on goaltender Frederik Andersen #31 of the Toronto Maple Leafs in a shootout during the NHL game at the Bell Centre on April 6, 2019 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Montreal Canadiens defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-5 in a shootout. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
MONTREAL, QC – APRIL 06: Ryan Poehling #25 of the Montreal Canadiens scores on goaltender Frederik Andersen #31 of the Toronto Maple Leafs in a shootout during the NHL game at the Bell Centre on April 6, 2019 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Montreal Canadiens defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-5 in a shootout. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /

2. Ryan Poehling

In his young professional career, Ryan Poehling has experienced stratospheric highs and crushing lows. He scored the 4* goals in his NHL debut against the Maple Leafs – I am counting his shootout winner and I think shootout winners should always count as a goal, but alas… He notched just 1 goal and 1 assist in 27 NHL games last season to go along with the measly 5 goals and 13 points he put up in 36 AHL games, and he then was the only forward in the Habs’ playoff bubble not to play a game after arriving at camp out of shape.

If his first professional season that consisted of a single game was a stratospheric high and last season was a crushing low, this season has been a nice consistent but not overwhelming high. Poehling has been playing some great hockey with Laval and has taken up the mantle from Jesse Ylonen as the team’s most dynamic forward since the Finn was injured from an ugly hit against the Manitoba Moose.

In 21 games, Poehling has notched 7 goals and 16 points, good for second on the team in both categories behind Joe Blandisi. 12 of those 16 points have come in Poehling’s last 10 games; his line with Bandisi and Joel Teasdale has been dominant.

Beyond the simple statistics, Poehling looks great on the ice. He is effective on the PK, dangerous on the powerplay and a driver at even strength. Most noticeable, however, has been his speed. He just flies on the ice. He has a gear in speed that very, very few players in the AHL do and he uses that to his advantage. He is developing into quite the power-forward.

Once Poehling cracks the Canadiens’ lineup, it should be nice to see Josh Anderson take him under his wing and teach him the ins and outs of his style of play. While Poehling will never be as heavy as Anderson and he is a playmaker rather than a goalscorer, there will be lots he can try to emulate from Anderson’s game.

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