Poehling might not be a newcomer to camp like Kotkaniemi is, but he's still doing his fair share of learning, too.
"You're learning from the older guys who've been there and done that. I think the biggest thing is learning from the coaches. Frankie [Francis Bouillon] and Sebastien [Bordeleau], those are the skill guys who you can learn from all the time and take the little things that add up into the big picture for what makes a complete player," explained the 19-year-old Lakeville, MN native. "That's what I'm doing this week and I did that last year."
It definitely paid dividends for Poehling during his sophomore season at St. Cloud State University (SCSU), where he upped his production from 13 points (7g, 6a) in 2016-17 to 31 points (14g, 17a) in 2017-18.
Putting in the time in the weight room and maturing physically was a big help as well.
"I was playing my freshman year at 180 pounds, compared to last year when I was playing at 205 to 210," explained Poehling, who claimed a bronze medal for Team USA at the 2018 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship in January. "I think that overall off-the-ice physicality that I created kind of helped me and got me in better positions to put the puck in the back of the net."