Prospect Info: 25th Ryan Poehling

[habsterr]

Man if he can develop into a big two way 2nd line C would be great; good start for him this season.

 

[Habs Halifax]

Teams are swooning over signing College FAs that are 22 and at a PPG. We have ourselves an 18 year old at over a PPG and he’s a 6’2 C. Everyone should be happy.

Agreed. Poehling was what we needed. He’s got the size/skill/skating package and yup... he plays center!

 

[DramaticGloveSave]

Poehling was a perfect pick, exactly what we needed, a true all situations centerman. I love guys who compete and can think the game, and he clearly has talent. He got underrated due to being 17 in the NCAA. Our benefit.

 

[The Great Weal]

Would be curious to look through that thread.

http://hfboards.mandatory.com/threads/2017-nhl-draft-post-your-draft-list.2361151/

 

[dackelljuneaubulis02]

Okay you win. You figured me all out without knowing a thing about my posting. I'm certainly solely comparing both guys based on what Chipchura careed ended...I mean...I keep talking about 3rd line C potential, and we all know Chipchura's career is a testament of how great a 3rd line NHL C he has become..lol.

I think 3rd line C is pretty much base line for him. I can see a #2 C there. Mind you things never work out for us so conservative estimates are probably best lol. He just seems more skilled than he was given credit for initially when many of those #3 C predictions were mostly made. He just seems to make smart decisions and is a really impressive passer. If he had any better hands then I'd be super pumped but that shouldn't hold him back.

 

[BaseballCoach]

Okay you win. You figured me all out without knowing a thing about my posting. I'm certainly solely comparing both guys based on what Chipchura careed ended...I mean...I keep talking about 3rd line C potential, and we all know Chipchura's career is a testament of how great a 3rd line NHL C he has become..lol.

All this sniping back and forth!

It seems to me that the situation is simple. Whitesnake has a lower projection for Poehling than the average here. That's ok, there's noting sinister about it. He probably feels that Chipchura is an example of a player that got hyped in the past and became nothing more than a 4th liner.

Doesn't mean that Whitesnake is a bad person.

It also doesn't mean he will be right.

Personally, I think Poehling has very good top 6 potential, based on his skating, vision and hands, all of which seem better than Chipchura's at the same age. And he is willing to go to dirty areas.

But I too could be wrong.

Time will tell.

 

[NotProkofievian]

I think 3rd line C is pretty much base line for him. I can see a #2 C there. Mind you things never work out for us so conservative estimates are probably best lol. He just seems more skilled than he was given credit for initially when many of those #3 C predictions were mostly made. He just seems to make smart decisions and is a really impressive passer. If he had any better hands then I'd be super pumped but that shouldn't hold him back.

This is the thing. One would like to draft the fewest busts possible, such that we still draft some useful players. With that in mind you're going to have to exclude some guys from consideration who might not bust. To me it's worse to say that a player won't bust and be wrong about it than the other way around.

 

[Whitesnake]

All this sniping back and forth!

It seems to me that the situation is simple. Whitesnake has a lower projection for Poehling than the average here. That's ok, there's noting sinister about it. He probably feels that Chipchura is an example of a player that got hyped in the past and became nothing more than a 4th liner.

Doesn't mean that Whitesnake is a bad person.

It also doesn't mean he will be right.

Personally, I think Poehling has very good top 6 potential, based on his skating, vision and hands, all of which seem better than Chipchura's at the same age. And he is willing to go to dirty areas.

But I too could be wrong.

Time will tell.

Poehling has CLEARLY better wheels than Chipchura. Though we will never know how much Chipchura would have improved without his injury, chances are it would have clearly never been as good as Poehling. Poehling does have great vision but people don't remember a lot what Chipchura was all about in his draft year. He was also a good passer and was not a bad scorer too. While Poehling do seem to have a better C pedigree based on vision, hockey sense and passing.

By the way, I'm NOT saying that Poehling will MOST DEFINATELY ONLY be a 3rd C. I don' t know. He might totaly become a Ryan Kesler and be a No2 C. I don't see him as a No1 C...but No2 would be damn fine. But my point was solely and totally about do you go for somebody that "seems" safe rather than what could be a boom pick when your pool prospect has to be one of the worst offensively in this whole league. And the reason I say that it is one of the worst is because the guys we are the most interested in are Poehling and Ikonen....last year prospects. And by the way, despite a tough start...I TOTALLY AND LOVED the Ikonen pick and will stand by it till the end. I'd love for people to bash me on that.....

I have no idea why that poster want to start something like that. My only point was NOT to say Poehling was a bad pick. Just to say that personnally I would have preferred Tolvanen. People say did you thought that at the time....well....am I using Poehling's "bad start" to praise Tolvanen? How could I....Poehling has a formidable start. Was just stating my opinion on the subject. But like a poster said.....let's just concentrate this year on what Ryan does and praise his play and really hope he turns for the best. But he has had a great start.

 

[montreal]

Wasn't Leblanc playing in a not very competitive conference?

I don't know much about strength of conferences in NCAA hockey...I'm assuming the Ivy League Circuit isn't very competitive.

Could be wrong though.

you are correct. the ECAC is a weak conference.

There are 6 conferences in the NCAA.

Hockey East, NCHC, ECAC, Big Ten, WCHA, Atlantic.

I would rank them,

NCHC
Hockey East
Big 10

ECAC

WCHA

Atlantic

The NCHC, HE and Big 10 have all the power house programs, the ones that win the most national championships, have the most NHL draft picks. The ECAC every year has a strong team or two at least. The WCHA is weaker imo, and the Atlantic is like ECHL teams playing in the AHL.

His development curve looks kind of impressive at the moment. It’s still way too early in the season to call him a steal, but I’m very happy with the pick so far. I would be thrilled if he can become a solid 2C.

I've been watching the games and the play by play guys for SCSU have raved about how much better he looks since last year, confidence, maturity, etc.. We'll see how it goes as you are certainly correct it's way too early to say much of anything on him one way or the other as we don't have a lot to go off. For me at the time of the draft I felt you really had to discount what he did in the NCAA at 17 as it's very difficult to compare since it doesn't happen that often. Now a days I think you would see more 19 year old Freshman then 18 year olds, so it shows just how rare 17 year olds are. Their schedule to date has been light outside of BC but that's about to change quickly. UMD, Denver, CC, UNO and North Dakota are the teams they face over the next 5 weeks. Going to be very interesting to see how things go. SCSU has moved into #2 in the rankings at USCHO behind Denver who will be very tough to beat this year.

 

[NotProkofievian]

I've been watching the games and the play by play guys for SCSU have raved about how much better he looks since last year, confidence, maturity, etc.. We'll see how it goes as you are certainly correct it's way too early to say much of anything on him one way or the other as we don't have a lot to go off. For me at the time of the draft I felt you really had to discount what he did in the NCAA at 17 as it's very difficult to compare since it doesn't happen that often. Now a days I think you would see more 19 year old Freshman then 18 year olds, so it shows just how rare 17 year olds are. Their schedule to date has been light outside of BC but that's about to change quickly. UMD, Denver, CC, UNO and North Dakota are the teams they face over the next 5 weeks. Going to be very interesting to see how things go. SCSU has moved into #2 in the rankings at USCHO behind Denver who will be very tough to beat this year.

It has been getting less and less rare these days. This year has Hughes (I'm omitting Tkachuk as he is 18 for the entire season). 2016 had Charlie McAvoy and Luke Kunin. 2015 had Eichel, Hanifin and Werenski. Some of these were late birthdays, but Werenski for example is a July birthday, and none were more than 2 months older than Poehling relative to his draft year. Moreover, we get to see plenty of 17 year olds play against NCAA competition. For example, Keller didn't play against the NCAA competition but we know he was about 1.5ppg against them in about a dozen games played. We also get to see 17 year olds playing in top leagues that are better than NCAA basically every year. The common theme is that sure it's not terribly common for a 17 year old to play in the NCAA, but we do have recent examples, and Poehling did by far the least among them.

 

[Habs4Life]

hopefully we can sign Jimmy Schuldt as well, captain of the team, 10 points in 5 games, would be a good addition to our prospects.

 

[cphabs]

Poehling was a perfect pick, exactly what we needed, a true all situations centerman. I love guys who compete and can think the game, and he clearly has talent. He got underrated due to being 17 in the NCAA. Our benefit.

Sweet! Lets not forget the additional bonus of having him in someone else's development program for 2 whole years!

 

[BaseballCoach]

My only point was NOT to say Poehling was a bad pick. Just to say that personnally I would have preferred Tolvanen. People say did you thought that at the time....well....am I using Poehling's "bad start" to praise Tolvanen? How could I....Poehling has a formidable start. Was just stating my opinion on the subject. But like a poster said.....let's just concentrate this year on what Ryan does and praise his play and really hope he turns for the best. But he has had a great start.

Fact remains, you are less impressed by Poehling than many others are. It's too early to tell. Personally, I can easily see a second center there, with a possibility he turns into a two-way first center of the Toews, Bergeron or Kopitar variety, or prime 70 point Plekanec, though not the Crosby, McDavid or Eichel kind.

I do NOT think that drafting this type of player at #26 is wrong. If Tolvanen is better, then so be it, and you get props for wanting him from the start, but right now Poehling might be our overall best prospect so I am happy to date.

 

[Whitesnake]

Fact remains, you are less impressed by Poehling than many others are. It's too early to tell. Personally, I can easily see a second center there, with a possibility he turns into a two-way first center of the Toews, Bergeron or Kopitar variety, or prime 70 point Plekanec, though not the Crosby, McDavid or Eichel kind.

I do NOT think that drafting this type of player at #26 is wrong. If Tolvanen is better, then so be it, and you get props for wanting him from the start, but right now Poehling might be our overall best prospect so I am happy to date.

Nope. I'm not less impressed by him based on his start. Doing what he does at 18 is impressive. My point, and we'll stop there, is just based on potential for the future. Let,s be happy for what he does now. But in no way is it exactly a sign of how great a player will be in the future. I don't have to remind people of my worst player crush in Danny Kristo. 58 points in 50 games in the USHL the year after he was drafted. 36 points in 41 games his 1st year in the NCAA. Now, I'M not comparing both players play here...just talking about stats in that case.

Everybody has to be REALLY impressed by what Poehling is doing. Absolutely no doubt.

 

[Scintillating10]

Nope. I'm not less impressed by him based on his start. Doing what he does at 18 is impressive. My point, and we'll stop there, is just based on potential for the future. Let,s be happy for what he does now. But in no way is it exactly a sign of how great a player will be in the future. I don't have to remind people of my worst player crush in Danny Kristo. 58 points in 50 games in the USHL the year after he was drafted. 36 points in 41 games his 1st year in the NCAA. Now, I'M not comparing both players play here...just talking about stats in that case.

Everybody has to be REALLY impressed by what Poehling is doing. Absolutely no doubt.

Kristo had attitude discpline problem. He fixed it later but lost a lot of development time. If not for that he would have been a third liner in NHL.

 

[Saxon]

It has been getting less and less rare these days. This year has Hughes (I'm omitting Tkachuk as he is 18 for the entire season). 2016 had Charlie McAvoy and Luke Kunin. 2015 had Eichel, Hanifin and Werenski. Some of these were late birthdays, but Werenski for example is a July birthday, and none were more than 2 months older than Poehling relative to his draft year. Moreover, we get to see plenty of 17 year olds play against NCAA competition. For example, Keller didn't play against the NCAA competition but we know he was about 1.5ppg against them in about a dozen games played. We also get to see 17 year olds playing in top leagues that are better than NCAA basically every year. The common theme is that sure it's not terribly common for a 17 year old to play in the NCAA, but we do have recent examples, and Poehling did by far the least among them.

Just look at every name you mentioned..... that is very good company to be keeping.....

 

[NotProkofievian]

Just look at every name you mentioned..... that is very good company to be keeping.....

He didn't keep it though. That was my point. What made those players special was not that they played in the NCAA at 17. It was that they excelled. The only thing Poehling's performance in the NCAA tells us is that he's probably not cut from that same cloth.

 

[Saxon]

He didn't keep it though. That was my point. What made those players special was not that they played in the NCAA at 17. It was that they excelled. The only thing Poehling's performance in the NCAA tells us is that he's probably not cut from that same cloth.

I think that's pretty obvious. Eichel is a franchise type player, Keller/Kunin are first Liners, and Werenski, McAvoy are top pairing d men. Pheoling's potential is second line centre.

 

[montreal]

It has been getting less and less rare these days. This year has Hughes (I'm omitting Tkachuk as he is 18 for the entire season). 2016 had Charlie McAvoy and Luke Kunin. 2015 had Eichel, Hanifin and Werenski. Some of these were late birthdays, but Werenski for example is a July birthday, and none were more than 2 months older than Poehling relative to his draft year. Moreover, we get to see plenty of 17 year olds play against NCAA competition. For example, Keller didn't play against the NCAA competition but we know he was about 1.5ppg against them in about a dozen games played. We also get to see 17 year olds playing in top leagues that are better than NCAA basically every year. The common theme is that sure it's not terribly common for a 17 year old to play in the NCAA, but we do have recent examples, and Poehling did by far the least among them.

I'd have to see the data to know if it's getting more or less rare.
According to this site, the average age of Freshman hockey players is 20 although I don't know if that's counting all college hockey or not,

http://www.collegesportsscholarships.com/ice-hockey.htm

not really helpful but found this interesting, this one shows the average age for each team,

https://www.collegehockeynews.com/almanac/funfacts-ageavg.php

here's where teams with Hab prospects rank out of 60 from oldest to youngest,

11. Alaska (22.1)
38. SCSU (21.5)
40. Northeastern (21.5)
53. Providence (21.2)
56 Notre Dame (21.1)

Kristo had attitude discpline problem. He fixed it later but lost a lot of development time. If not for that he would have been a third liner in NHL.

He did have his issues off the ice for sure, really thought he would have been an NHLer since he had the speed, skating and shot.

 

[Giacomo]

Poehling sounds as though he might become the successor to Plekanec.

He will do more than plekanec

These are 3 of your first 4 quotes about Poehling.....bust, bust and he sucks doesn't scream probably play in the NHL.......sounds more like we're gonna b lucky if he plays 30 games in the NHL.

Summer tournament was not against the university of Acapulco....they played against the best of each country (same age group) of countries who are hockey superpowers

WE must be talking about two different people.

The habs need more of that

You have to start somewhere

 

[NameInUse]

So far so good for Poehling... Since the draft, he's done everything expected of him. He's on the right track. I'm looking forward to see how far the train goes.

 

[DangerDave]

Funny as he was seen as a safe and boring pick at first. I'll admit I knew nothing about him prior to the draft but right now he looks like he could be a honerun.

Big two way center with skill is something this organization desperately needs.

 

[montreal]

So far so good for Poehling... Since the draft, he's done everything expected of him. He's on the right track. I'm looking forward to see how far the train goes.

I didn't know anything about him before the draft but have to say I'm very impressed with how he looks so far. Going to be interesting to see how it goes the rest of the year for him.

 

[DramaticGloveSave]

Part of the reason I really liked Poehling was that I knew he had a good chance to break out heading into his second year in college. A big part of drafting is predicting their post draft development, and I thought he was in great position to take a big step in his post draft year.