Penguins A to Z: Sam Poulin remains a part of the future
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With the Pittsburgh Penguins’ 2022-23 season coming to an end without any postseason action, the Tribune-Review will offer Penguins A to Z, a player-by-player look at all 49 individuals signed to an NHL contract — including those whose deals do not begin until next season — with the organization, from mid-level prospect Corey Andonovski to top-six winger Jason Zucker.
This series will publish every weekday leading into the NHL Draft on June 28-29.
(Note: All contract information courtesy of Cap Friendly.)
Sam Poulin
Position: Center
Shoots: Left
Age: 22
Height: 6-foot-2
Weight: 213 pounds
2022-23 NHL statistics: Three games, one point (zero goals, one assist)
2022-23 AHL statistics: 15 games, four points (four goals, zero assists)
Contract: In the second year of a three-year entry-level contract with a salary cap hit of $863,333. Pending restricted free agent in the 2024 offseason.
(Note: Poulin is exempt from waivers involving any transactions with a minor league affiliate.)
Acquired: First-round draft pick (No. 21 overall), June 21, 2019
Last season: Things looked really good for Sam Poulin during the Penguins’ 2022 training camp.
He got a pretty long look from management as the regular season approached. In fact, he was among the team’s final cuts from training camp before he was assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Nov. 8.
Had the Penguins not been bumping their heads against the salary cap ceiling, Poulin might have even opened his second professional season on the NHL roster.
As it was, he began the campaign as the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins’ second-line center skating between talented wingers Filip Hallander and Valtteri Puustinen and scored a goal in his team’s season opener, a 3-2 overtime home loss to the rival Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Oct. 15.
By Oct. 23, the Pittsburgh Penguins were dealing with injuries among the forward ranks and cleared enough salary cap space to recall him to the NHL roster for the first time in his career.
Appearing in three of a possible nine NHL games after that transaction, Poulin averaged 9:58 of ice time per contest during his cup of coffee with the big club. His first career point came in the form of a secondary assist on a power-play goal by forward Evgeni Malkin during a 4-1 road loss to the Calgary Flames in his debut on Oct. 25.
Serving as the team’s second-line center in his first two games, Poulin was dropped to the fourth line for his third contest before being re-assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton by Nov. 11.
The next four weeks were largely unremarkable for Poulin as he scored three goals in nine games over that span.
Things took a considerable turn on Dec. 7 when Poulin took a leave of absence to attend to an undisclosed personal matter in his native Quebec.
Three quiet months went by without much word on Poulin’s status but by March 15, he rejoined Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and bravely revealed he needed time to attend to his mental health.
Poulin was brought back into the fold slowly to allow him to regain his conditioning. As a result, he was limited to two games following his return to the organization.
The future: There are few players under contract with the franchise who will enter the 2023-24 season with more intrigue than Poulin.
A first-round pick, he is one of the best prospects in the organization (albeit by default given the limited candidates for that designation). And previous management seemed to be satisfied with his on-ice development before his hiatus. Had he been available and if the team had not been limited with regard to its salary cap figures, Poulin might have been a more regular part of the NHL lineup as issues with the bottom two lines persisted.
It will be curious to see where Poulin is physically and mentally when training camp rolls around in three months. After all, he has played in only two professional games this calendar year. His decision to take time away from hockey to address his well-being should not be criticized, but it did stagger his growth as an NHLer.
That said, given the overall malaise of the team’s bottom-six forwards, Poulin figures to merit some consideration to be part of the group due to his pedigree and skillset as a bullish power forward who isn’t afraid to shoot the puck.
Is he ready to be the Penguins’ third-line center or even a fourth-liner? Given the delay in his development, that might be too ambitious of a hope to open next season.
But Poulin still remains a part of the Penguins’ future.