On the same day as their eight-year extension of winger Owen Tippett, general manager (GM) Daniel Briere and the Philadelphia Flyers locked up forward Ryan Poehling to a two-year contract worth $1.9 million per season. Freshly off turning 25 years of age at the time of the deal, he’s still a fairly young player who has found a niche in Philadelphia.
The depth centerman’s new deal will expire after the 2025-26 season after a solid start with the Flyers. What does this move mean, and how has his career panned out thus far?
Who Is Ryan Poehling?
Poehling was drafted with the 25th overall selection of the 2017 NHL Draft by the Montreal Canadiens, but his expectations proved to be a bit lofty. While he scored a hat-trick in his lone contest with the Canadiens in 2018-19, he never hit it off with them and became an expendable piece of their core — he averaged just 11:36 of ice time, had 22 points, and finished with a minus-22 rating in 85 career contests.
He was sent to the Pittsburgh Penguins in a package deal before the 2022-23 season. His new destination was somewhat good for him, but he still wasn’t regarded as someone they wanted to keep. With seven goals and seven assists for 14 points in 53 games, his production showed he might be a good buy-low opportunity for Briere and the Flyers in free agency, as the Penguins let him go. Signed to a one-year contract in the 2023-24 offseason, he wasn’t really meant to play as well as he has in Philadelphia. However, he has found a consistent role with the Orange and Black.
Poehling has emerged as one of the Flyers’ more prominent penalty-killers, with the fourth-most ice time among forwards and two points to go along with that. Further proving his shorthanded dominance, he had just five goals against and saw three goals for when he was on the ice in his 71:04 of ice time. This elite goal differential contributed to the Flyers’ 85.6 percent kill rate when shorthanded at the time of signing.
In regular play, Poehling has been a nice spark for the bottom six while even serving as a second-line center from time to time. He is one of the fastest skaters in the league and very effective in transition, making him the perfect fit for head coach John Tortorella and his squad. With five goals and nine assists for 14 points in his first 44 contests, he should break his previous career-high of 17 points that he set back in 2021-22.
Even as a depth player, Poehling emerged as a must-sign for the Orange and Black. He has the intangibles to be a valuable player for them.
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