Next season is key for ex-No. 1 pick
Pouliot hoping to finally make impact in NHL
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
This is probably a proveit-or-else type of season for Derrick Pouliot, but the Penguins defenseman isn’t thinking about things that way.
“It’s hard to think that this is it, but obviously it is an important season,” Pouliot said by phone Thursday, nearly 24 hours after signing a one-year, one-way contract worth $800,000 at the NHL level.
“I’ve got to make an impact right away and show that I belong in the NHL. It’s been three years now. I haven’t fully established myself yet.
“I want to take it one step at a time and build as the year goes on.”
Pouliot’s path to the NHL has hardly been easy, and the first-round pick from 2012 admitted as much Thursday.
“By no means has it been a smooth road,” Pouliot said. “There have been ups and downs along the way.”
Since making his NHL debut in 2014-15, the number of games Pouliot has played in the NHL has steadily decreased, from 34 to 22 to 11. In 2016-17, Pouliot didn’t produced a point in 11 games and was a minus-4.
While injuries ravaged the Penguins on the back end this past season, Pouliot did not win a spot. There was little evidence he was even in contention for one.
General manager Jim Rutherford, however, has maintained that Pouliot finished the season strong in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. In 46 regular-season games in the AHL, Pouliot contributed seven goals and 23 points.
“I was playing with a lot of confidence,” Pouliot said of his play at the end of the season. “I was defending well, defending hard. That’s a thing that’s always been stressed by Pittsburgh and in Wilkes, to make sure you’re playing well defensively; everything else will take care of itself. Just playing an all-around solid game. I felt really good at the end of the season.”
That must transfer to training camp.
The same as last year, Pouliot is training this summer with Gary Roberts in Toronto. Physically there should be no issues, the same as it’s been for much of his career.
The bigger focal point will be own-zone passes, making smart reads at both ends of the ice and defending hard. As prolific as he can be offensively, specifically on the power play, Pouliot hasn’t always checked those first few boxes.
“I need to be a little more consistent with my defensive play, like I finished in the American League,” Pouliot said. “I need to come into camp in shape again, just like I did last year and not try and do too much out there. The offensive side will come for me. I’m not worried about that. It’s just playing well defensively and building some confidence with the coaching staff, for them to put me in the lineup every night.”
Nobody associated with the Penguins will protest Pouliot finally making the leap to NHL regular.
Right now he’s probably the Penguins’ seventh of eight defensemen, but that group rarely stays healthy, meaning there’s a real opportunity for advancement.
If, of course, Pouliot finds some of the consistency that has eluded him so far in his NHL career. To his credit, Pouliot has done a good job not letting this process get him down.
“At times you can get a little bit more down,” Pouliot said. “In the end, you try not to worry about it too much. If you let yourself sit in a rut, you’re not getting better. It’s hard to get out of it when you’re going through the motions. I’ve been trying to stay positive and focus on where I can improve.”