Poulin confident break put him in better place
First-round pick in 2019 left game last year to focus on mental health
Sam Poulin is in a good place these days.
Poulin, arguably the Penguins’ top forward prospect, took a three-month break from hockey last season to focus on his mental health. A recent injury sidelined him for all of November and half of December.
These factors contributed to Poulin, 22, playing in just 13 American Hockey League games — and none at the NHL level — in 2023. But in the early stages of 2024, Poulin is grateful to be back in the Wilkes-Barre/ Scranton Penguins lineup after what he called one of his hardest years of playing hockey.
“It was a really tough year on the hockey side last year, but I’m in a much better space right now,” Poulin said. “Obviously, I want to play hockey and I want to help my team win. I want to keep developing as a hockey player.”
Selected No. 21 overall by the Penguins in the 2019 NHL entry draft, Poulin showed signs of reaching his potential quite quickly. His first AHL campaign was a prosperous one, in which he netted 16 goals in 72 games. A year later, he made his NHL debut in October 2022, skating in three games for the Penguins and registering a point.
But two months later, Poulin stepped away from the game and went home to Quebec. He returned to the Baby Penguins for a two games last April and has been with the organization ever since.
During that time away from the team and throughout the year, Poulin said the most important thing he discovered was the importance of listening to his body.
“Everyone’s dealing with stuff, whether you’re a hockey player, whether you’re a plumber, doesn’t matter,” Poulin said. “We’re all humans, and I think it’s a matter of dealing with stuff once [it] show[s] up and not escaping a situation or not escaping a problem.”
After scoring his first goal in a Pittsburgh Penguins uniform during a preseason game, Poulin discussed a motto he was living by: Try to have a better day than the day before. It applies to all aspects of life, both hockey and away from the game. Poulin is continuing to live by it.
In turn, Poulin has been able to get back to focusing on the hockey career that remains so important to him. And now that he’s back from injury, Poulin couldn’t be happier.
“Honestly, it feels so good to be back,” Poulin said, “and just play hockey and be back to being healthy.”
Poulin isn’t just benefitting from some good health. Since returning to WilkesBarre/Scranton’s lineup on Dec. 16, he’s been excellent. The left-shot Poulin, who has been skating primarily at center, had four goals and two assists in his past nine games heading into the weekend.
“I didn’t feel like I had missed so many weeks, I felt comfortable right away,” Poulin said of his return. “I did the work to make sure that I was fine when I got back. So I think the work paid off.”
Now that he’s healthy, Poulin can get back to focusing on rounding out his overall game. He wants to be a more complete player and sees room for improvement. Among the aspects at which he wants to get better are managing the puck and decision making.
Yet addressing such parts of his game has been difficult as of late, considering he missed nearly seven weeks of practice and game time. So long as a healthy Poulin can improve in those aforementioned areas, he’ll be better suited to fulfill his goal of not only making it
back to the NHL but sticking around for what he hopes to be a sustained career.
Even with the Penguins adding as many depth forwards as they did over the 2023 offseason, Poulin remains of interest to the club as the second half of the NHL season arrives. If Poulin and his 6-foot-2, 213-pound frame can consistently provide some strong two-way play, a return to Pittsburgh isn’t out of the question.
He is grateful to be in such a position in 2024, especially with the challenges last year presented.
“It was a tough year, but I think the work I did to deal with the stuff that I was dealing with will pay off eventually,” Poulin said. “I’m just really confident in this overall process of doing things one day at a time. I know that if I keep doing those things, good things will happen.”