With the departures of Phillip Danault and Jesperi Kotkaniemi, the Habs will undoubtedly need a backup at center. The acquisition of Christian Dvorak fills the second center spot behind Nick Suzuki, but there are still two big holes to be filled on the Habs' bottom three. These positions could be filled by Cedric Paquette and Jake Evans, but a certain Ryan Poehling could possibly surprise and get one of these two positions as a permanent player for the Tricolore.
Former NHLer Jack Han has analyzed the 22-year-old American center's game. Han writes extensively about player development, and he compared the Habs' 25th selection in 2017 to a forward who played last year with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Unfortunately, we're not talking about Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin.
Instead, the analyst compares Poehling to a certain Colton Sceviour. The 32-year-old center, who is currently a free agent, has not broken anything in the NHL since his arrival a decade ago. This is his third stint in the NHL. He played for the Stars and the Panthers before landing in Pittsburgh last year. In 500 games in the NHL, Sceviour scored 151 points including 64 goals.
Han adds that he sees Poehling as more NHL-ready. However, he is not ready for the big league as a center. Instead, he would be ready to make the jump to the big league on the wing. At this position, we can say that there will be congestion with the Canadiens. So it's probably the injuries that could open a door for him in Montreal.
