Poehling's offensive game ignites after a slow start. Discover how his newfound scoring touch complements his established defensive reliability for the Ducks.
In a trade that seemed inevitable after 18 months of speculation, the Anaheim Ducks traded Trevor Zegras to the Philadelphia Flyers on June 23, 2025. Zegras is off to the best start of his career in 2025-26, as he’s tallied 35 points (15-20=35) in 34 games.
In exchange for Zegras, the Ducks acquired 26-year-old center Ryan Poehling, a 2025 second-round pick that they used to draft Swedish center Eric Nilson, and a 2026 fourth-round pick.
"You start imagining lines and how you want certain players to complement each other, and we started looking at the scenario, and ultimately we made the decision to move Trevor because of that," Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek told the media after the trade was announced. "I made the trade, and I got what I thought we wanted.”
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Since he was brought aboard, Ryan Poehling (25th overall in 2017) has been a staple of the bottom-six forward group and the Ducks' top penalty kill unit, typically alongside winger Alex Killorn. In a mostly fourth-line role, his speed has been a positive factor on the forecheck, where he can either disrupt or cut plays off early as they advance up ice. He quickly eliminates time and space afforded to puck carriers and consistently displays proper angles when backtracking to cut off rushing opponents.
His defensive habits were never in question, but he possesses unheralded offensive abilities, as evidenced by his very productive AHL career, and he produced an NHL career high of 31 points (12-19=31) in 68 games a year ago in Philadelphia.
Poehling got off to a slow start offensively for the Ducks, being utilized in a strictly defensive and energy role. He sustained an upper-body injury that kept him out of the lineup for seven games, and scored six points (1-5=6) in his first 23 games in Anaheim.
As a level of comfort has set in, his offensive game has broken through of late. The Ducks returned from a five-game road trip, where Poehling truly started impacting on the offensive side of the puck on the tail end and into the team’s current homestand. He’s tallied seven points (1-6=7) in his last six games.
“Pales and Roscoe: It seems like there’s something there between those two guys connecting with one another, some nice plays as well,” Ducks head coach Joel Quenneville said after the Ducks’ most recent 4-3 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. “They’ve been on the scoresheet a lot lately, and I think, underratedly, that line’s been getting a lot done for us.”
Including Poehling, the Ducks arguably deploy 11 top-nine forwards on a nightly basis, meaning he’s going to be centering a line with at least one skillful winger each game. During the last two games, that skilled winger has been Alex Killorn, and in the two before that, it was Ryan Strome. His last four have been his most productive in Anaheim.
In addition to appearing on the scoresheet more often of late, he’s accumulating more puck touches, especially in transition. He’s turning his closing speed on the defensive end into opportunities to fly into neutral ice with pace and possession. When he gains entry, he’s shown a willingness and aptness to drive defenders wide and lower his inside shoulder to gain position and cut to the net. He’s looking to drive pucks to the high-danger areas of the ice and forcefully manufacture offense.
With Killorn on his line, he’s added elements of a cycle game as well, spinning off defenders, utilizing space afforded to him by Killorn, working pucks from low to high, and maintaining possession for extended periods.
“He’s playing well. He’s got the puck a lot. You notice the speed off the rush,” Quenneville reiterated after Monday’s morning skate, ahead of the Ducks’ game against the Seattle Kraken. “Seems like him and Ross got a little bit of something, going good off the forecheck, offensive zone possession time, and net presence, doing all the things we want to do in the offensive zone. Defensively, he’s been reliable, useful, penalty killing, and he’s really been noticeable in this last stretch of games here.”
Poehling is seemingly just beginning to recognize when and how to provide offense for his new team in this depth role. If he can continue to do so, the Ducks have the capacity to provide an offensive threat for every second of even-strength play. Poehling has now accounted for 13 points (2-11=13) in 29 games for the Ducks while averaging 13:18 TOI per game and 2:08 TOI on the penalty kill. He’s in the final year of his two-year contract that carries an AAV of $1.9 million and will be an unrestricted free agent upon expiration on July 1, 2026.
He’s been a fit defensively since his arrival in Anaheim, and Poehling is now finding his way offensively as well. If Ducks management and Poehling agree that Anaheim is a fit for him long-term, it could make the prospect of losing a point-per-game forward (Zegras) a little easier to swallow.
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