The Penguins are really pleased with the way 2019 first-round draft pick Sam Poulin has been growing and developing as a player since he turned professional last September.
“I think he’s light-years ahead of where he was a year ago,” Pittsburgh head coach Mike Sullivan said.
“He’s a player that looking at his progression, it’s like, jeez … if he can continue that, he’s going to be a scary-good player,” Wilkes-Barre/Scranton head coach J.D. Forrest added.
Sullivan believes nothing is inevitable when it comes to the roster between injuries, illnesses, trades, waivers, salary cap issues, and of course, pure merit. He said that Poulin is someone who is very much challenging for time in Pittsburgh this season, whether it’s coming out of training camp or in the foreseeable future.
“When you look at the depth that we have, a guy like Sam Poulin and his game and how it’s evolved – and the fact that he’s thrived at the center ice position – is really encouraging from our standpoint,” Sullivan said. “We now know that we can play him at the center ice position. He can also play the wing.”
Poulin, 21, got the chance to suit up as Pittsburgh’s fourth-line center in their 3-2 win in Detroit on Tuesday after returning from a short absence due to personal reasons. Skating between Brock McGinn and Josh Archibald, Poulin said his approach to that sort of role was to play simple and not overcomplicate anything, and felt satisfied with how he handled it.
“I thought he played with a lot of energy,” Sullivan said. “He had the puck. He was willing to shoot the puck. I thought he was assertive. He played with a lot of confidence. I thought he had a real good game.”
Poulin has had a lot of great moments over these past few weeks, starting with Rookie Camp and then transitioning into training camp. Like in his preseason debut in the first half of Pittsburgh’s doubleheader against Columbus, where Poulin registered a primary assist on a gorgeous setup to linemate Corey Andonovski for a late equalizer, which allowed the Penguins to win in overtime.
“I think it’s been my best camp in my three years here, so I’m pretty happy about the way I’ve played and the way things are going,” Poulin said. “So hopefully, it can stay that way.”
When the Penguins first took Poulin with the 21st overall pick, he was coming off his second season with the QMJHL’s Sherbrooke Phoenix, scoring 29 goals and 76 points. He improved both totals the following year, with 32 goals and 77 points in just 46 games (!).
Poulin’s final junior season was split between Sherbrooke and Val-d’Or, where he capped off his QMJHL career by collecting 11 goals and 19 points in 15 postseason games during the Foreurs’ playoff run.
But as Forrest put it, making the transition to the pro level is “a giant jump,” one that can be really tough regardless of how much players try to prepare. It led to Poulin being a healthy scratch for a game early in his first campaign with WBS, which was something he had never experienced before. Poulin called it a wakeup call, and from there, his goal was to stay in the lineup all year long, making sure that he had a lot more attention to detail in his game.
“One thing with Sam is that he’s a relentless worker. Whatever you want to say about Sam, he will not get outworked,” Forrest said. “I know he wasn’t satisfied with that first portion of the season. He took the message to heart and he changed a few things and stuck with it. Credit to him, he changed his game a bit, started putting himself in situations to be really successful, and he flourished.”
The WBS coaching staff also helped in that regard by identifying that Poulin could help them the most at center instead of the wing. “That’s where he touched the puck the most. That’s where he gets dialed in right off the faceoffs,” Forrest said.
After moving to the middle, Poulin got better and better as the year went on, finishing with 16 goals and 37 points in 72 games before scoring three times in six games during the first round of the playoffs. Pittsburgh assistant coach Mike Vellucci said Poulin has a great down-low game and does a good job of protecting the puck, which allows him to have success in that spot.
“I look at that as such a positive, because it’s not easy to move wings to the center position. It’s a lot easier to move centers to the wing position,” Sullivan said. “In my mind, you can never have enough center ice men on your team. So the fact that Sam is comfortable playing that position, and he thrives at it, I think bodes well for us moving forward.”
Poulin said he really does feel comfortable playing anywhere in the lineup, not just from a center/wing perspective, but from a top/bottom-six perspective as well. He’s got offensive instincts, but also likes playing a physical game. Wherever they need him – whether it’s sooner or later – he’ll be happy to answer the call.
“I just got to be ready for any opportunity that gets to me,” Poulin said. “I want to make the team, but I don’t want to put any extra pressure on myself. I just want to go out there, have a good time, have fun and work hard.”