In other words, he's a complete, coachable prospect with well-above-average size, strength, skating and two-way tools, and thus comes with a very high probability of having a long NHL career. It's just a matter of how high in the lineup scouts believe he can play.
While he wasn't a dynamic point producer this season with St. Cloud State as a true freshman, he certainly displayed a rather mature game while being the youngest player in college hockey. Poehling finished the season with seven goals and 13 points in 35 games for the Huskies, including an overtime game-winner versus eventual national champion Denver on Jan. 20.
The experience of playing against high-level competition translated nicely for Poehling at the 2017 IIHF World Under-18 Championship, where he displayed his explosive skating and puck-hounding ability en route to scoring five points (2+3) at the tournament, capped by forcing a turnover for the primary assist on the game-winning goal in the gold medal game.
The writing is on the wall for Poehling to have a breakout season as a sophomore in 2017-18. With a steady ramp-up year under his belt and a boatload of confidence in his physical tools, the expectation is that he will more than double his offensive production while earning a spot on the United States' entry at the 2018 IIHF World Junior Championship in Buffalo, which will again be coached by his St. Cloud State bench boss, Bob Motzko.
For more on all the youngsters in the Sabres pipeline, check out Kris Baker's website,
SabresProspects.com
. You can also follow him on Twitter (
