Ryan Poehling has signed a new contract with the Montreal Canadiens.

Middle 6 center or bottom 6 LW? My guess is we wont find out before 2023...

What an amazing deal. He's poised to crack the top 9 at some point during the season given how thin we are down the middle and when he does, having him on a league-minimum deal in 2022-23 is extremely valuable.

Now give him some offensive talent to work with, burying him with Thompson and Deslauriers when he was up was so pointless.

Lil Uzi Poehsss stays!!!!

You are very optimistic. Remember when they prefered playing Byron center than call him up even if he was doing well in the AHL?

I don’t think they see him as a NHLer short term. Most probably they would make a trade for a bottom 6 winger if an injury occurs this season.

He struggled in 2019 but was excellent as a 1C in the AHL last season, played an at times dominant 2-way game as the season got going. Big body, fast, lots to like ... he may only be a good 4C at the NHL level, but we'll take it if its the league minimum!

It's under odd circumstances that he will see ice time, with Byron injured, Perreault not having played center in years, unless they put Paquette at 4C and Evans on the 3rd, trading for a bottom-six guy instead of Poehling would be incredibly stupid and short-sighted. He has nothing left to prove in Laval that is now flooded with forwards.

I know I'm higher on Poehling than most, but I could definitely see him becoming some kind of Boone Jenner, a versatile middle-six guy.

Good! Just like Evans deal

MTL has the freedom to move him to Laval (no waivers) but he could win his spot this year, just like Evans did...

Love it. To me this shows Poehling means business this year. He probably could have haggled for a little higher but he doesn't care. He's all about the next contract.

Good deal, Poehling shows promise and should be our 4c or at least get some ice time

But Suzuki, KK, Evans, Perreault and Paquette are ahead of him



We did got Eric Staal last season instead of promoting him.

Im not disagreeing with you guys, I like him too. I just dont think he is in the team's plans for next season and this 2 years 2-ways contract seems to point in that direction....

Even if he is not the management's primary option, he has his roster spot handed on a silver plate, he just needs to get the most out of this opportunity in training camp.

Like it a lot

The second year of the deal is one-way NHL. So he is definitely in the plans if he doesn't crack the roster out of camp this season.

The second year of the deal is one-way NHL. So he is definitely in the plans if he doesn't crack the roster out of camp this season.

What "silver plate" are you talking about? He has minimal chances to get a spot on a healthy line up.

Habs have 4 other centers (11 fowards total) with 1 way contracts. He would have to be chosen over Evans and Caufield.

His only chance would be a lot of injuries and no trade for depth. That's a "paper plate" opportunity at best.

Read again.

"I just dont think he is in the team's plans for next season"

Drouin--Suzuki--Caufield
Toffoli--Kotkaniemi--Anderson
Hoffman--Evans/Poehling--Gallagher
Lehkonen/Perreault--Evans/Poehling--Armia

Edmundson-Petry
Romanov-Savard
Chiarot-Kulak

Extras - Lehkonen/Perreault, Paquette, Wideman
LTIR - Paul Byron, Shea Weber

Barring any trades, only having to beat a below replacement level center in Cédric Paquette and a winger in Mathieu Perreault to secure a center spot seems like a silver plate to me, or at least a bronze plate.

This is exactly what I predicted a few months ago, although the fact that it was taking so long made me think it was less likely to happen. This deal makes sense, and could be some needed money saved in year 2.

Well that’s guaranteed, especially because he becomes waiver eligible in 22-23.

Yeah. I’d say that right now Poehling is likely very lightly penciled into the AHL lineup, but he’ll have all the opportunity and needs to have a decent camp to win the 4C spot. Him and Armia together could work really well.

You said "2 years 2 ways contract". So.."read again".

Perrault isn’t a center and for Paquette depends on how Poehling does in training camp

He was hurt at the end of the season... or else he would've been on the playoff roster

Everyone had given up on Poehling after 2019-20, but he took a big step forward in the AHL this year. Time will tell if he's actually anything good.