Bingo. Thomas looks like he can top out as a high-end 2C to me, and I could see him being in the NHL in a couple years. I'm hoping he falls to us and we take him.
For those that are high on Poehling, have you been able to watch him play? The highlights that you find of him tend to be of goals he gets through deflections. There's not much out there that highlights his shot or playmaking ability. Does anyone have any thoughts on what his upside would be?
Yeah, that's going to be mostly Poehling's game. He's a net-front presence, but his shot is pretty good in of itself, even if he doesn't use it all that often. I think he looks a little slow out there, heavy feet, but in the highlights (I'm sure we're talking about the same ones), he seems to get to the right place in time regardless.
He's
very similar to Trent Frederic, who earned his own comparisons to David Backes, and that's really the kind of players you're getting in either of them. I know that isn't the sexiest skill in the world, but it is a critical component to any successful PP. As we've seen with Jaskin, it isn't quite enough to make you successful on that alone. But Poehling does have good vision and IQ, and seems to play at a high tempo even with his heavy feet. Good leadership, high compete level, good two-way play, and probably primed for a big year next year with St. Cloud.
My personal opinion is that he will probably be a frustrating player for most people here, even if he does produce. He'll pass instead of shoot too much, he'll choke on some open nets or off a breakaway, and he'll drive to the net less than he's capable of. But at the same time, he'll get 30 points just by hanging out around the net, or driving to it when he feels so inclined.
I think about Poehling in relation to Thompson and Sanford, and while all 3 are big (presumably) centermen, Thompson and Sanford's games aren't necessarily built around their size, but are built around their skill and they just happen to have size as well. For Poehling, he seems to be much more of the "I'm big and I'm going to play a big game" kind of guy. He's ready to crash and bang right now, even if his weight isn't quite there. I don't see the same timidness I see from Thompson and Sanford, I guess is what I'm trying to say. So maybe he's more like Jaskin and Barbashev in that regard.
He seems to be a Blues kind of guy, and so I won't be surprised if we take him, and I'll think that it is a good decision if everyone else is already gone by that point. But that's sort of also my main beef with him: we already have guys that are an awful lot like him. With Rasmussen, you're getting better skill, bigger size, about equal skating, and better production, so even though he is also like our other guys, I'd be more ok taking him because he's got a good chance of being better than anybody else we've got. I don't see the same upside in Poehling, per se, but just because
I don't see it doesn't mean it's not there. But in general, I'd like to see us take somebody with a little bit different of a game.
At 20, for my money, I'm praying that Thomas or Andersson fall to us there, if for nothing else than I think their skills complement what Yeo will be trying to do a little bit better than what Rasmussen or Poehling can do. But any of the 4 will be good gets.
