Penguins forward prospect Sam Poulin ready to get back to hockey
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The details are sparse.
Sam Poulin keeps the circumstances of his three-month hiatus to address his mental health private.
But his intentions remain clear.
He still wants to be a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Poulin is participating in the organization’s ongoing development camp for prospects. He is the only member of the franchise’s 2019 draft class in attendance.
Typically, players with some substantial professional experience on their resumes don’t attend these camps. Especially those who have played a handful of NHL games like Poulin has.
But given that Poulin, 22, was absent for the bulk of his second professional season in 2022-23, just being in the Penguins’ nest is invaluable for him as a player.
And a human.
“I’ve played hockey since I was 3 or 4 years old,” said Poulin, who declined to speak about his leave of absence that lasted from December until March. “It’s what I like to do with my life, and things haven’t really changed. Always happy to be at the rink and on the ice.”
The 2022-23 season started well for Poulin, the team’s first-round draft pick (No. 21) four years ago. He was among the final cuts from training camp, and were it not for some salary cap limitations, he might have opened the campaign on the NHL roster. As it was, he was recalled by Oct. 23 and appeared in three games, recording one assist.
That cup of coffee lasted until Nov. 11 when he was reassigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League.
Just over three weeks later on Dec. 4, Poulin stepped away from hockey and returned home to Quebec to address his ordeal.
By March 15, he rejoined Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and was slowly worked back into the fold, appearing in only two games before the end of the season.
He still is working on regaining the form that made him a top prospect.
“I didn’t play for a couple of months,” Poulin said. “So my body is not really used to that stress again. I just got to be patient with the process and I know eventually, I’ll get back to where it was.
“I just don’t want to put too much pressure on a timeline. I know that time is going to take care of itself, so I just got to have faith in that and be confident with that.”
Management is confident the left-handed Poulin (6-foot-1, 208 pounds) can get back on track in his development as a center.
“He’s a moose,” Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins coach J.D. Forrest said. “He can battle down low with anybody. He wins those battles most of the time. Whether it’s in the defensive end or the offensive end, down low he’s just really hard to play against. Can’t get the puck from him. Then, when he’s defending, he defends hard.
“… Then he’s able to get the puck and distribute and keep his feet moving. That’s what we liked a lot about putting him in the middle of the ice. He’s a competitor. As a young player in the (AHL), I haven’t seen too many guys hang onto the puck as long as he has below the dots with big guys on him.”
While Poulin remains true to his pursuit of being a full-time NHLer, he acknowledges the route to that terminus is different given his time away from the sport as he enters his third professional season.
“If I got to go back to (Wilkes-Barre/Scranton), that’ll be fine,” Poulin said. “And if I make the team, that’ll be fine, too. I just want to be better as a person every day and hockey will come second after.
“I worked a lot on myself in the past couple of months, and right now, I’m just in a good place and just ready to play hockey.”