Penguins Draft: Day 1

If you are a regular reader here, you will note that among my areas of concern for our Pittsburgh Penguins has been their lack of natural Wingers and bigger bodies. Well, maybe GM Jim Rutherford has had similar musings. Yesterday, rather than wasting the team’s first round pick on an ill-advised trade, Rutherford plucked Samuel Poulin from the Entry Draft tree. Fellow Penguin Poop writer Rick Buker and frequent comment contributor Mike should be pleased.

Samuel Poulin’s Profile

Date of Birth:  Feb 25 2001 (18 years old)
Place of Birth: Laval QC, Canada
Junior Team:  Sherbrooke Phoenix (QMJKL)
Height:             6’-2” (74”),                             Weight: 206lbs
Position:          Left Wing (LW),                     Shoots: Left
Father:             Patrick Poulin

			Regular Season
Team	League	Season	GP	G	A	Pnts	PIM	+/-
Sherbrooke	QMJHL	2017-18	55	16	29	45	42	13
Sherbrooke	QMJHL	2018-19	67	29	47	76	46	8
		Total	122	45	76	121	88	21
			Playoffs
Sherbrooke	QMJHL	2017-18	11	5	1	6	6	-2
Sherbrooke	QMJHL	2018-19	10	8	6	14	4	8
		Total	21	13	7	20	10	6

 

Physical Traits

Reading the scouting reports on Poulin, there is a lot to get excited about. Physically he is big and strong. Benoit Belanger has been quoted as saying he is a junior player in an adult body. Guillaume Lepage noted that he has size and power to protect the puck. HockeyProspects.com suggests that he “is strong on the puck along the wall and doesn’t mind going to the net with it.” The lastwordonhockey.com writes, “He is willing to drive to the net with the puck, and forecheck hard without it.

It sort of makes you wonder why Rutherford drafted him. All we ever seem to have on this team (outside of Patric Hornqvist) are perimeter players who do their best to avoid contact at all costs.

Offensive Traits

All of the scouting reports I have read on Poulin rave about his shooting ability. His wrist shot is said to be strong and accurate with a quick and deceptive release. Poulin is also said to have a powerful and accurate one-time shot. His snapshot is also said to be strong and Poulin is also said to have a very good backhand shot. Benoit Belanger and lastwordonhockey.com both extol Poulin’s ability to find the soft spots in his opponent’s defense and get there to get off a clean shot.

Another interesting point I have found in the scouting reports is that Poulin has a shoot first and ask questions later mentality. Again, this makes me wonder why our Penguins drafted him. In Pittsburgh, we get to witness our players pass up open shots for that last pretty pass, often ending up not getting any puck on net.

Poulin is also said to possess playmaking skills with a high hockey IQ. He anticipates his teammate’s movements and gets them the puck in open areas. He is effective at both cycling the puck and give-and-go plays (Sidney Crosby should like that). As noted above, he shields the puck well with his strength, giving linemates a chance to get open and then hits them with tape-to-tape passes (both Crosby and Evgeni Malkin should like that). Poulin is also willing to do the dirty work of digging the puck off of the boards or out of the corners.

Defensive Traits

Poulin already knows how to use his long stick. He disrupts passing lanes often creating turnovers. Poulin is willing to come back and put back pressure on opponents, taking away their time and space. Furthermore, he puts the hockey IQ mentioned in his offensive game to good use in the defensive zone as well, reading the plays and getting into position to break them up. Poulin is also willing to put body on body in his own end.

Playing a 200 foot game is a mantra of our Penguins and even though has been a bit lost these last couple season, was a hallmark of the championship teams. So, from that respect I understand the pick, but what surprises me here is that our Coach and GM would pick a player that puts body on body in the defensive zone. Not only is physicality a foreign concept in the offensive zone, it seems to be something the team frowns upon in the defensive zone. Defensively our Penguins have been a “let’s wave our sticks at them” kind of team.

Skating

I saved this for last because it is Poulin’s Achilles Heel. From what I have seen and read the kid is fast once he gets going and he is strong on his skates with good balance and “above average agility and edgework” (lastwordonhockey.com). Unfortunately he lacks not only a good first step but a first couple of steps. With all of the choppiness that an NHL game can become with stops and starts back the other direction and Mike Sullivan’s lip service to a fast game, this could be a serious limitation and a big question as to why the team drafted Poulin.

Hopefully this kid will get with a solid speed and agility coach to improve those first couple of steps and acceleration. Poulin is only 18, so he should still be able to improve this limitation. And from what I have read of the kid’s intangibles, he does have a good work ethic, so he just may do this.

Now let’s see what else this second day of the draft holds.

Go Pens!