2024-25 Flyers Player Grades: Ryan Poehling officially solidified his role on NHL roster

In 2024-25, Ryan Poehling built on his performance from last season and truly clarified what his proper role on an NHL roster is moving forward.

Nov 20, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Carolina Hurricanes center Jack Roslovic (96) and Philadelphia Flyers center Ryan Poehling (25) face-off at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

Ryan Poehling’s 2024-25 season proved that his first season in a Flyers uniform was not a fluke: the former first round pick officially turned himself into a very useful, energetic bottom-six center that could be relied upon on both ends of the ice. 

Poehling’s strong play didn’t go unnoticed, in Philadelphia and beyond, as it was rumored that the Flyers were receiving calls on Poehling’s availability at the trade deadline. He played up and down the lineup this season, while also missing 14 games after a hit to the head in a January game versus the Islanders. So, let’s get into the season of Ryan Poehling, and his emerging role on this Flyers team. 

Remembering back to the start of the season, Poehling started the season between being the Flyers’ third-line and fourth-line center. The Flyers’ center situation, as everyone knows, was absolutely brutal, and Poehling frequently saw time in the top six as the season progressed (particularly post-Morgan Frost trade). He even had stretches centering Matvei Michkov, and while Poehling certainly was passable in that role, that’s not the best situation for the young Russian phenom. In his perfectly slotted spot, Poehling really showed this season that he could be an effective bottom-six center on a contender, even if that’s not on the Flyers three to four years down the road. Considering there were questions over whether Poehling was even an NHLer when the Flyers first acquired him, that’s an impressive place to be for Poehling. 

To his actual stats – Poehling put up solid numbers across most categories in 2024-25. Registering 12 goals and 19 assists in 68 games put him at a nearly 40-point pace, which is a pretty darn good output for a bottom sixer. Now, on a team as dreadful as the Flyers, someone has to score the goals and the points, but it’s still a testament to the player that Poehling is becoming to put up those numbers. He’s become a legitimately useful NHLer in the past two years, and while we shouldn’t expect the sky high shooting percentage (16.67%) to continue next year, we should expect the same solid process. 

By advanced stats, Poehling was largely a break-even player this year. At 5-on-5, the Flyers carried half of the expected goals with Poehling on the ice, a 46% Corsi-For, and slight majority of the high danger chances. That’s pretty solid for a bottom-six player, especially one that was playing up in the lineup. In the future, when the Flyers fill out their center depth much more, Poehling could really become quite effective at driving play with more favorable matchups against him. 

Finally, Poehling’s per 60 rate stats were also pretty strong for what we expected from the player. Averaging 4.68 shots on goal per 60, and 1.89 points per 60, Poehling was a consistent driver of offense on a team devoid of it. The high energy, high speed game that Poehling’s grown into has translated well to offensive creation, as Poehling is able to get his points through exploiting defenses primarily with his speed and overall motor. 

There was also flashes of some good puck skills too this season, and there is no highlight that shows this more than Poehling’s end-to-end rush versus the St. Louis Blues on Halloween. 

Three Questions

Did they live up to expectations?

Poehling met and exceeded reasonable expectations with his performance this year. He proved that he could be a useful and pesky bottom-six player, and that the player we saw in his first season in Philadelphia was real. It’s easy to forget with Poehling that he’s just entering his mid-twenties, and really just coming into his own in the league. It’s not entirely out of the realm of possibility that Poehling is on the next really good Flyers team, preferably on the fourth line. This season of strong play likely opened that door for him, so it’ll be interesting to see how much the Flyers value Poehling moving forward or if they view him as easily replaceable. Either way, strong season on all fronts. 

What can we expect from him next season?

More of the same, except some regression with his shooting percentage. An over 16% rate is very unsustainable, so it would be reasonable to expect that to fall a bit. But, in terms of playing style, we can probably expect more of the same from the last two seasons, and somewhere between 20-30 points. Hopefully, though, the 2025-26 version of Poehling will consistently be slotted into a better role for him in the bottom half of the lineup. Whether it’s through acquiring a talented center or with the call-up of a guy like Jett Luchanko, the Flyers shoring up their top of the lineup centers will help Poehling tremendously too. 

Grade: A-