Ducks Sign Ryan Poehling To Four-Year Extension
The Ducks announced they’ve signed center Ryan Poehling to a four-year extension. It carries an average annual value of $3.75MM for a total value of $15MM, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports. He’s now under contract through the 2029-30 season.
Poehling, 27, would have been an unrestricted free agent this summer. He’s in the back half of a two-year, $3.8MM deal he signed with the Flyers in 2024. Anaheim was likely never keen on letting him hit the open market after making him the key piece of the return they received from Philadelphia for Trevor Zegras last summer.
A first-round pick by the Canadiens back in 2017, Poehling has taken the long road toward being a stable top-nine contributor, but it’s looking like he’s finally arrived. He played mostly fourth-line minutes for the first several years of his career, but he first got an extended look on Philly’s third line last season. A defensively responsible pivot who’s featured heavily on the Penguins’, Flyers’, and Ducks’ penalty kills since the 2022-23 campaign, the offense arrived in earnest with a 12-19–31 scoring line in 68 games for Philly.
Anaheim was banking on him keeping that production up while continuing to feature as a #3/#4 center. So far, that’s been the case. Despite a five-point regression in shooting percentage from last season, his 7-17–24 scoring line through 54 contests as a Duck is roughly in line with his points per game output in 2024-25. He’s done that with what seems like a never-ending rotating cast of linemates while also leading Anaheim forwards in shorthanded ice time.
Poehling’s 46.3% faceoff win rate isn’t anything to write home about, but his +7 rating is tied with Troy Terry for the team lead, and his 62 blocked shots are the most among Ducks forwards. That kind of skillset, plus what seems like a consistent ability to score in the 30-to-40-point range, is valuable considering how low he generally plays in the lineup, and he’ll now be filling that role behind core centers Leo Carlsson and Mason McTavish through the end of the decade.
Image courtesy of Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images.
Pacific Notes: Oilers, Walman, Poehling, Parekh
It has been a consistently inconsistent season for the Oilers who have shown flashes of dominance at times and have struggled mightily at others. The end result has been a middling 9-9-5 record to start the campaign. Despite that, Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic suggests (Twitter link) that management isn’t quite ready to start making moves yet and would like to get closer to the 30-game mark which would allow them to ideally have a healthier roster to help them better assess what they need to do. More specifically, the better assessment might be what they can afford to do as they’ve been operating in LTIR all season and will have very limited cap space when the team is fully healthy, putting them in a money-in, money-out situation when it comes to the trade market.
More from the Pacific:
- Still with the Oilers, defenseman Jake Walman is listed as day-to-day with an undisclosed injury, notes team reporter Tony Brar (Twitter link). Head coach Kris Knoblauch suggested that the blueliner should be back within a week, meaning an IR placement is unlikely. Walman is in his first full season with Edmonton after being acquired near the trade deadline last season and has been impactful, collecting 10 points in 17 games while logging a little more than 20 minutes per night of ice time.
- Ducks center Ryan Poehling took to the ice today for the first time since suffering an upper-body injury a week and a half ago. However, it will still be a little while before he’s cleared to return as head coach Joel Quenneville told reporters, including Derek Lee of The Hockey News, that the earliest that Poehling could return is next weekend. The 26-year-old is in his first season with Anaheim and had a goal and five assists in 16 games prior to the injury.
- Flames defenseman Zayne Parekh has resumed skating as he works his way back from an upper-body injury, relays Flames Nation’s Ryan Pike (Twitter link). He has missed the last couple of weeks due to the injury and even if he’s cleared to return sooner than later, he won’t be with the team for long as he has already been confirmed to be going to the World Juniors if healthy by then. Parekh is in his first full professional season after recently surpassing the nine-game threshold and has an assist in 11 outings so far while averaging a little less than 15 minutes per night of playing time.
Flyers Acquire Trevor Zegras From Ducks
The Flyers are nearing a deal to acquire forward Trevor Zegras from the Ducks, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports. Anaheim will receive center Ryan Poehling, the Blue Jackets’ 2025 second-round pick (No. 45 overall), and Philadelphia’s 2026 fourth-rounder in return, Friedman adds. The Flyers have since made the trade official.
That’s a relatively quick ascent from Friedman’s report under two hours ago that the Ducks were in deep talks with multiple clubs on a Zegras move. While it didn’t appear anything was particularly imminent at the time, that’s now changed.
While Zegras has spent the past two seasons mostly on the wing, he’ll presumably shift back to his natural center position in Philadelphia. The Flyers have been on the hunt for a young, established NHL center with a top-six projection for a while now. They were previously connected to pending Wild RFA Marco Rossi, but his cost uncertainty and desire for a long-term deal made those talks stall. Instead, they’ll opt for a player with a slightly riskier projection in Zegras, but land someone signed through next season at a cheaper cap hit than what a Rossi contract would have cost them.
Injuries have robbed Zegras of nearly half his potential workload over the past two seasons in Anaheim since signing a three-year, $17.25MM contract in 2023. He’s had just an 18-29–47 scoring line in 88 games during that time, but still averaged over 17 minutes per game and saw his defensive performance improve significantly this past season with positive relative possession numbers in less sheltered offensive deployment at even strength.
That offensive regression was still highly disappointing considering how Zegras burst onto the scene. In his first two full NHL campaigns, Zegras hit the 20-goal and 60-point marks on both occasions and finished as the Calder Trophy runner-up to Moritz Seider in 2022. It looked like he was fully set to hit on the upside the Ducks thought he had when selecting him ninth overall in 2019, but his subsequent injuries and contract stalemate two years ago threw that plan off course.
He now gets a fresh start in Philly for an acquisition cost that Flyers general manager Daniel Brière certainly won’t lose any sleep over. While Poehling was a high-end fourth-line piece for them, they have plenty of internal replacement candidates for that role and still have three second-round choices in this year’s draft after dealing away the Columbus pick.
While it’s an underwhelming return for the Ducks considering where his value and projection were two years ago, it’s presumably more than they could’ve gotten him had they cut bait following Zegras’ 15-point showing in just 31 games in 2023-24. They also gain $3.85MM in cap space and more roster flexibility among their top-nine forwards as they pursue a major free agent addition this summer.
Giving Zegras top-six minutes will allow names like Bobby Brink and Noah Cates to serve in more comfortable third-line minutes in Rick Tocchet‘s first season as head coach. Whether the high-ceiling playmaker gets deployed on a unit with 2023 No. 7 overall pick Matvei Michkov out of the gate remains to be seen, but his pickup suddenly offers Tocchet a much more offensively dynamic center-winger duo than he could have otherwise constructed.
While Zegras is entering the final year of his contract, he’ll be a restricted free agent in 2026 and still has another year of team control left after that. Swapping out Poehling for Zegras does drop the Flyers to a still-comfortable $15.1MM in available cap space with notable RFAs Jakob Pelletier and Cameron York still to sign and two other roster spots to fill, per PuckPedia.
Poehling actually had a standout offensive showing in 2024-25, posting a career-best 12-19–31 scoring line in 68 games while averaging 13:53 per game. He was nonetheless expendable with Cates recently receiving an extension and 2024 first-rounder Jett Luchanko pushing for an NHL job next year. He also shot at a 16.9% rate that will presumably regress in Anaheim.
He’s still a solid bottom-six pickup for the Ducks, even if the futures they’re receiving are underwhelming. He’s a 2026 UFA at a cap hit of just $1.9MM and could be flipped at the deadline for a decent return if things don’t pan out the way Anaheim hopes they will next year. He’s a short-term upgrade down the middle over a name like pending RFA Isac Lundeström and could push him or someone like Ryan Strome to a spot on the wing.
Image courtesy of Jeff Curry-Imagn Images.
Flyers To Activate Ryan Poehling, Yegor Zamula From Injured Reserve
The Flyers will activate center Ryan Poehling and defenseman Yegor Zamula from injured reserve before tomorrow’s game against the Oilers, the team announced. With two open roster spots, they won’t need to make any corresponding transactions. They’ll also be accompanied by defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen and winger Owen Tippett, who missed time before the 4 Nations Face-Off break with injuries but never landed on IR.
Poehling, 26, hasn’t played since sustaining an upper-body injury, a suspected concussion, on a hit from Islanders winger Maxim Tsyplakov on Jan. 16. The hit earned Tsyplakov a three-game suspension but held Poehling out of the lineup for much longer. He’ll be available after missing 11 games for the Flyers, who went 4-6-1 in his absence. It’s unclear where he’ll slot into the lineup, but he’s held down a bottom-six role for most of the campaign.
The Minnesota native is in the first season of the two-year, $3.8MM extension he signed with Philadelphia in January 2024. He signed with the Flyers after being non-tendered by the rival Penguins in the summer of 2023, and he’s since emerged as a good fourth-line option with fringe third-line upside. The 6’2″ pivot has 4-11–15 through 43 appearances this season after recording a career-best 11-17–28 lines in 77 games last year. He’s complemented that with an even rating and a strong 51.2 FOW% while averaging 13:18 per game, down from last year’s 15-minute average.
His return will likely push veteran enforcer Nicolas Deslauriers to a press-box role, but head coach John Tortorella is likely mulling over more surprising options to scratch as per usual. Poehling has not been a healthy scratch this season – his absences have come either due to injury or personal leave.
The left-shot Zamula returns after missing eight games before the break with an upper-body issue. Now in his fifth NHL season, the 24-year-old is averaging a career-high 16:52 per game through 39 appearances. The undrafted free agent out of the Western Hockey League’s Calgary Hitmen has 3-8–11 with a -10 rating this year, matching his even-strength stat line in 66 games last year but failing to factor in on special teams. His 59 blocks rank sixth on the team, and his possession numbers – a 49.1 CF% and +2.2 expected rating at even strength – both rank 14th out of 29 skaters to suit up for the Flyers.
Flyers Place Ryan Poehling On Injured Reserve
Flyers center Ryan Poehling will miss at least two more games after landing on injured reserve Monday morning, per a team announcement. Philadelphia recalled center Rodrigo Abols from AHL Lehigh Valley in a corresponding transaction, keeping their active roster at a maximum of 23.
Poehling, 26, already missed Saturday’s win over the Devils with an upper-body injury. He sustained it last Thursday against the Islanders when New York rookie Maxim Tsyplakov delivered a hit to the head, earning the latter a three-game suspension.
In his second season in Philly, Poehling is delivering arguably the best performance of his six-year NHL career. The bottom-six fixture has four goals and 11 assists for 15 points through 43 games, putting him on track to match last year’s career-high 28 points before the injury but with better defensive play this time.
Averaging 13:18 per game, Poehling has won a career-high 51.2% of his draws, at least over an entire season, and leads Flyers forwards with 51 blocks. He’s started two-thirds of his even-strength shifts in the defensive zone, has seen time on their top penalty-killing unit with Scott Laughton, and his 2.7 GA/60 at even strength is fourth-best among qualified skaters behind Noah Cates (2.5), Garnet Hathaway (2.3), and Emil Andrae (2.0).
The decision to sign the Minnesota native to a two-year, $3.8MM extension midway through last season has turned out prudent for Flyers general manager Daniel Brière. He has 15 goals and 43 points in 120 games as a Flyer since they signed him in 2023.
Up comes the 29-year-old Abols, who receives the first recall of his professional career. A seventh-round pick of the Canucks back in 2016, they let his signing rights lapse before he landed an entry-level contract with the Panthers in the 2019 offseason.
Abols lasted one year in the Florida organization, recording 23 points in 36 AHL games before mutually terminating his contract ahead of the 2020-21 campaign. The Latvia-born Abols returned to the Swedish Hockey League, where he played in the 2017-18 and 2018-19 campaigns. He spent four years suiting up with Örebro HK and Rögle BK before generating NHL interest again this past summer.
On the heels of a 14-goal, 26-point campaign for Rögle, the 6’4″, 205-lb Abols landed a two-way deal with the Flyers. He has nine goals and 10 assists for 19 points in 34 games with AHL Lehigh Valley, tying for fourth on the team in scoring. He’s expected to make his NHL debut Tuesday against the Red Wings, while Laughton is doubtful due to a family matter, Jordan Hall of NBC Sports Philadelphia reports.
Flyers Place Jamie Drysdale On IR, Activate Ryan Poehling
The Flyers have placed defenseman Jamie Drysdale on injured reserve retroactive to Nov. 9 with an upper-body injury, reports Jackie Spiegel of The Philadelphia Inquirer. The 22-year-old will miss the team’s next two games, but there’s no timeline for his return beyond that. His spot on the active roster is going to center Ryan Poehling, who’s coming off IR and will play tonight against the Sharks, per Jordan Hall of NBC Sports Philadelphia.
Drysdale’s first full season with the Flyers hasn’t gotten off to a good start. He’s avoided being scratched, playing in all 15 games to date, but has struggled to produce offensively, with only one goal and two assists. While he is averaging a career-high 20:35 per game, his -10 rating is third-worst on the team, and the Flyers have controlled just 42.7% of shot attempts with Drysdale on the ice at even strength.
Acquired from the Ducks for forward prospect Cutter Gauthier midway through last season, injuries have plagued the once-promising right-shot defender. Shoulder issues have limited him to just 57 games since the start of the 2022-23 campaign.
Few bet on Drysdale ever becoming a two-way dynamo – instead, his offensive prowess and power-play ability led the Ducks to select him sixth overall in the 2020 draft. He flashed that potential in 2021-22, recording 32 points in 81 games as a 19-year-old in his only healthy season. Drysdale has averaged over three minutes per game with the man advantage this year, but it hasn’t led to a resurgence in offensive production. All three of his points have come on the power play.
Drysdale’s injury means the Flyers will be without two of their three top-used defensemen this season tonight against San Jose. Cameron York is close to returning but remains unavailable, Hall reports. He’s also on IR and has been out since Oct. 25 with an upper-body injury. Veteran Erik Johnson will return to the lineup in Drysdale’s place while rookie Emil Andrae takes over as the quarterback on the Flyers’ top power-play unit.
Meanwhile, Poehling returns to action after missing the past few contests with a minor groin injury and for personal reasons. The 6’2″ 25-year-old last played on Nov. 2 against the Bruins. Through 12 appearances this season, Poehling has five assists and a +2 rating. He’s averaging 13:31 per game, a number that will likely increase tonight as he’s set to center the team’s second line between Anthony Richard and Matvei Michkov, the latter of whom will return to the lineup after being scratched for the past two games, the team confirmed. He replaces Morgan Frost, who will be a healthy scratch tonight, according to Hall.
In more minor injury news, goaltender Aleksei Kolosov practiced this morning and is close to returning the lower-body injury that forced the Flyers to dress an emergency backup goaltender against the Lightning last week, per Charlie O’Connor of PHLY Sports. The newly-promoted 22-year-old has a .863 SV% and a 0-3-0 record through his first three NHL appearances.
Flyers Place Ryan Poehling On IR, Recall Anthony Richard
The Philadelphia Flyers have placed forward Ryan Poehling, retroactive to Saturday November 2nd. The details of Poehling’s injury weren’t revealed, though he didn’t join the Flyers on their three-game road trip that started on Tuesday due to personal reasons. Philadelphia hosts San Jose on Monday, November 11th – which will stand as Poehling’s next chance to return to the lineup.
Poehling appeared in all 12 of Philadelphia’s games before Tuesday, recording five assists, six penalty minutes, and 21 shot attempts while averaging just over 13 minutes of ice time. He’s searching for his footing this season after establishing a routine, middle-six role in his first season with the Flyers last year. Poehling earned 11 goals and 28 points in 77 games in that role. He also carried the heftiest faceoff responsibility of his career, winning 461 of 938 draws – good for a 49.1 faceoff-percentage, third-highest among Flyers centers. While his start to this season has been slow-coming, Poehling still leaves a noticeable hole in a struggling Flyers’ bottom-six.
In a corresponding move, the Flyers have also recalled centerman Anthony Richard from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Richard is in his first year with the Flyers organization, continuing his string of one-year tenures after spending the last three seasons in tenures with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Montreal Canadiens, and Boston Bruins organizations. Lehigh Valley has proven Richard’s best sparring grounds so far though, where he currently sits with a team-leading nine points in seven games. He’s pulled the thread of top-end minor-league scoring through yet another season, after netting 55 points in 59 games last season and 67 points in 60 games in 2022-23.
Richard not only stands as one of Lehigh Valley’s hottest scorers, but also one of the longest-tenured veterans in the program. He boasts 309 points across 488 games and 10 seasons in the AHL, adding eight points – split evenly – in 24 career NHL games. This season is standing as a career-year for Richard, marking the highest production of his career – on pace for 92 points across a full AHL season. He could now get a chance to carry that momentum into the NHL, but he’ll need to earn a lineup spot first. Philadelphia is currently utilizing Noah Cates and Nicolas Deslauriers to fill Poehling’s vacancy at fourth-line center. Cates has posted an impressive 57.1 faceoff-percentage on 63 draws this season – which should be enough to hold down the role in the face of new pressure from Richard.
Metropolitan Notes: Roy, Chychrun, Rakell, Poehling
The Capitals’ news cycle has been dominated by the health of a pair of top-four defensemen in recent days, and that hasn’t changed Tuesday. There’s good news to report regarding one of them – Matt Roy shed his no-contact designation in practice today as he works his way back from a lower-body injury, per Sammi Silber of The Hockey News. He’s been upgraded to questionable for tomorrow’s game against the Predators and could come off injured reserve before then, head coach Spencer Carbery added (via Silber).
Roy, 29, has suited up just once for the Caps since signing his six-year, $34.5MM contract with them over the summer. The longtime Kings defender sustained the injury in their season opener against the Devils and has missed the following 10 games. It was an inauspicious start for the usually trusty stay-at-home piece, who posted a -2 rating in less than 10 minutes of ice time against New Jersey.
Upon his return, he’ll look to improve a Washington defense that’s already fared pretty well without him. As a team, the Capitals are controlling 50.4% of shot attempts and 53.5% of scoring chances at even strength, led by some spectacular two-way play from John Carlson. Roy’s return will benefit Washington by pushing overtaxed veteran Dylan McIlrath down the depth chart – he’s been out-attempted 93-133 at even strength through 10 games and skated in second-pairing duties alongside Rasmus Sandin in the Caps’ last game, a role Roy will take over when he’s back in the lineup.
Unfortunately, there isn’t as much positive news regarding Jakob Chychrun‘s health. Carbery said he’s not yet returned to skating with the rest of the team but is at least continuing to take reps before practice with team staff. Chychrun landed on IR over the weekend and has missed the last three games with an upper-body injury he sustained on Oct. 29 against the Rangers. He’s now missed seven days and is eligible to come off IR at any time, although it doesn’t appear that will happen in the next few days. Chychrun had two goals and two assists in eight games before exiting the lineup, tying for the team lead with seven takeaways.
Elsewhere in the Metropolitan Division:
- After a tough 2023-24 campaign, Rickard Rakell is one of the few Penguins performing at or over expectations this season. The 31-year-old leads the team in goals with six through 13 games and is third on the team with nine points. Rakell spoke to Josh Yohe of The Athletic yesterday, detailing how he overcame a great deal of self-doubt about his age and potential permanent decline to rediscover his game.
- The Flyers will be without the services of center Ryan Poehling on their upcoming three-game road trip, head coach John Tortorella told Charlie O’Connor of PHLY Sports. He’s remaining in Philadelphia to nurse a minor injury and attend to a “family situation.” The 25-year-old had five assists and a +2 rating through 12 appearances this season, averaging 13:31 per game. He’s also posted great possession metrics for his heavy defensive-zone usage and is winning 50% of his draws for the first time in his six-year career. Noah Cates, who’s played in seven straight after being scratched four times in five games to start the season, will center the fourth line in his place.
Olle Lycksell Reassigned To AHL, Tyson Foerster Nearing Return
The Philadelphia Flyers announced this morning that they’ve reassigned forward Olle Lycksell to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms of the AHL. The 24-year-old has been a healthy scratch for the Flyers in six of their seven games since the All-Star break as he has been primarily serving as a depth forward. He has dressed in five games this season at the NHL level and has a single assist while averaging a tick under 10 minutes of ice time per game.
At the AHL level, Lycksell has registered 16 goals and 12 assists in 33 games with Lehigh Valley and has been nearly a point-a-game player the last few seasons. His demotion could signal that Tyson Foerster is healthy and nearing a return to the lineup.
Foerster is practicing in a regular jersey today and reportedly could play tomorrow for Philadelphia against the New York Rangers. He was hurt blocking a shot in a game against the Seattle Kraken back on February 10th and has missed the last four games. The former first-round pick is having a decent offensive season with 10 goals and 11 assists in 52 games but came into the season with lofty expectations after posting seven points in eight NHL games last year.
Based on the line rushes in Flyers practice, it seems likely that Foerster will play alongside Ryan Poehling and Noah Cates on the Flyers’ third line.
Philadelphia Flyers Sign Ryan Poehling To Two-Year Extension
The Philadelphia Flyers announced that they have signed forward Ryan Poehling to a two-year, $3.8MM contract extension. Poehling has appeared in 44 games with the Flyers this season, netting 14 points, six penalty minutes, and a -8.
Poehling is in his first year with the Flyers, moving away from the rival Pittsburgh Penguins. He’s earned a pay raise over the one-year, $1.4MM deal he’s on with Philadelphia, settling into a comfy role on the third-line and penalty kill. With this two-year extension, the 25-year-old will get his first chance to settle into a role since making his NHL debut with the Montreal Canadiens at the end of the 2018-19 season. He spent the next three seasons between Montreal’s NHL and AHL lineup – ultimately totaling 85 games and 22 points with the club. His year with Pittsburgh was his first spending an entire season with the NHL lineup. Poehling was part of a very strong late-first round in the 2017 NHL Draft, getting selected a few picks after Robert Thomas and Filip Chytil and just before Jake Oettinger and current teammate Morgan Frost.
Poehling signed his two-year extension on the same day that teammate Owen Tippett signed an eight-year extension with the Flyers. Tippett has become a favorite for Philadelphia’s top brass, largely thanks to the 18 goals and 30 points he has through 46 games this season. Tippett has become a force under head coach John Tortorella, scoring 27 goals and 49 points in 77 games last season and seemingly only getting better. It’s an exciting surge forward for the 24-year-old, who had yet to really get it going. Tippett was also a part of the 2017 Draft class, rounding out a top 10 that yielded Cale Makar and Elias Pettersson.
Kevin Kurz of The Athletic was the first to report the extension.