Ryan Poehling is a cautionary tale for reading too much into a debut. No, I’m not talking about his three-goal and shootout winner NHL debut. I’m talking about his struggles in his first professional season.
The expectations were high for Poehling, the Montreal Canadiens first-round pick in 2017. He was coming off of an MVP performance at the World Juniors and his NHL debut. Then, an injury cut his training camp short and he was sent to the Laval Rocket. He had one goal and one assist in 27 NHL games, and five goals and eight assists in 36 AHL games.