On Monday morning, the Anaheim Ducks traded forward Trevor Zegras to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for Ryan Peohling, a 2025 second-round pick, and a 2026 fourth-round pick.
Moving on from Zegras after a pair of injury-riddled seasons that followed two 60-plus point seasons to start his career was a bold and divisive move by Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek, and one that has a likelihood of reflecting poor asset management.
Ducks Trade Trevor Zegras to the Flyers
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However, the Ducks did acquire a piece in the trade that fills a significant need within their depth chart and that provides a more suitable fit to what Verbeek is building in Anaheim.
"The big thing is we're trying to retool the roster in a way that all the pieces fit cohesively, where you have different players on different lines that complement each other," Verbeek told media following the trade.
"So, I think from that aspect, that's ultimately the decision that we came to, just kind of reshaping and retooling our roster."
Before Monday’s trade, the Ducks had $32.19 million in cap space and a need for a true two-way middle-six center who could provide depth offense, absorb difficult matchups, and boost the NHL’s 29th-ranked penalty kill.
Poehling (26) is on the lower end of the middle-six center spectrum, perhaps closer to the label of a bubble top-nine center, but he does provide what the Ducks were missing down the middle of their depth chart.
"Ryan's 6-foot-2, he's 215 pounds. He has really good speed and, as I had mentioned before, (improving) some of the special teams, Ryan is the No. 1 guy that goes over (the boards) for the Flyers on a penalty kill, and (we're) looking to improve in that area," Verbeek said.
"He is certainly going to add speed and he's going to add penalty-killing ability for our roster. I'm trying to shore up certain aspects of our special teams play, players who can do a good job there."
Career to Date
Poehling is a former first-round draft pick (25th overall in 2017) of the Montreal Canadiens out of St. Cloud State University and the USNTDP. He played three seasons in the NCAA between 2016 and 2019, tallying 13 (7-6=13) points in 35 games as a freshman, 31 points (14-17=31) in 36 games as a sophomore, and 31 points (8-23=31) in 36 games as a junior.
He signed his ELC in the offseason before the 2019-20 season and split his time that year between the AHL, where he scored 13 points (5-8=13) in 36 games for the Laval Rocket, and NHL, where he scored two points in 27 games for the Habs.
He spent the entirety of the 2020-21 season in the AHL, producing at a near point-per-game level with 25 points (11-14=25) in 28 games before suffering a wrist injury that required surgery, forcing him to miss the remainder of the season.
He played a total of 85 games for the Habs throughout his first three NHL seasons, totaling 22 points (13-9=22) before he was traded along with Jeff Petry to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for a 2023 fourth-round pick and Mike Matheson.
Poehling played one season with the Pens and scored 14 points (7-7=14) in 53 games, but wasn’t extended a qualifying offer and became an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2023.
The Philadelphia Flyers inked him to a one-year contract with an AAV of $1.4 million on July 1, 2023, and extended him to a two-year deal with an AAV of $1.9 million on Jan. 26, 2024.
In his two seasons on the Flyers, he assumed a third-line center role, produced 59 points (23-36=59) in 145 games, and was their second-most utilized forward on the penalty kill (235:16 TOI).
On-Ice Impact
Poehling has the makeup of a positively impactful two-way center who has prioritized the defensive side of the puck to this point in his career, and who hasn’t seen the offense fully click at the NHL level in his four full NHL seasons.
His skating stride isn’t technically perfect, but it doesn’t hinder his explosion, four-way mobility, or ability to cover vast amounts of ice. He’s tenacious on the forecheck and backcheck, displaying proper angling and sealing techniques with a disruptive stick, and he’s astute in defensive zone coverage.
An underrated aspect of his game is his ability to transition. He displays proper puck-supporting routes as pucks move throughout the defensive zone on breakouts, is confident and decisive with the puck on his stick, and makes smart decisions upon entry when the blueline is afforded. He makes deft connecting plays in the neutral zone and does well to present himself as a passing option. With a tad more effectiveness at the critical moments of a developing play, he could easily uncover another layer to his offensive production.
Poehling will likely never produce at a 50-plus point level consistently, but with his skill, 40 points per season is within reason, a decent output for a two-way third-line center behind an offensive duo of Mason McTavish and Leo Carlsson in the top six.
Poehling has one year remaining on his contract and is set to become an unrestricted free agent upon expiry. If the fit in Anaheim is seamless, he could earn an extension and a stable roster spot as a bottom-six center for the foreseeable future.
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Photo Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
