Habs sign former 1st rounder Ryan Poehling

The Montreal Canadiens have re-signed restricted free agent forward Ryan Poehling to a two year contract worth $750,000 per year.

The 22 year old Poehling was drafted by the Habs in the 1st round (25th overall) in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft and has spent the past two seasons playing mostly with the team's AHL affiliate Laval Rocket. 

He led all Rocket players with 25 points in 28 games last season. The 6'2'' and 197 lbs forward set career-highs in goals (11), assists (14) and points in the AHL in his second professional campaign. He ended the year with a plus-5 differential. Poehling boasts 38 points (16 goals, 22 assists) in 64 career games with Laval. He has also appeared in 28 career NHL games with Montreal, scoring four goals, adding an assist, and serving four penalty minutes.

Four years post-draft though, Habs fans are still waiting for Poehling to show that he can be a regular, every day NHLer. I suspect that he'll be given the opportunity to play a more regular role with the big club over the course of this contract, especially if he can continue his production at the AHL level.