Derrick Pouliot

Derrick Pouliot
Pouliot with the Penguins in 2016.
Born	January 16, 1994 Weyburn, Saskatchewan
Height	6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight	208 lb (94 kg; 14 st 12 lb)
Position	Defence
Shoots	Left
NHL team	Pittsburgh Penguins
NHL Draft	8th overall, 2012 Pittsburgh Penguins
Playing career	2013–present

Derrick Pouliot (born January 16, 1994) is a Canadian ice hockey defenceman. He is currently playing with the Pittsburgh Penguins organization of the National Hockey League (NHL). Pouliot was selected eighth overall in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft by the Pittsburgh Penguins and signed an entry-level contract with them the following September.

Playing career

Midget

Pouliot made his appearance at the midget level for the Moose Jaw Warriors Midget AAA of the SMAAAHL in 2008–09 with a short, five-game stint,^[1] though he still qualified to play in bantam at the time. A highly regarded prospect, Pouliot was taken at the 1st overall pick in the 2009 WHL Bantam Draft by the Portland Winterhawks,^[2] who placed him on their protected list. Pouliot then rejoined Moose Jaw for the full season in 2009–10, finishing as a point-per-game player (14 goals, 29 assists).^[3] Pouliot finished fourth on his team in scoring and as the top-scoring defenceman. During the course of the season, Pouliot found time to play for the Winterhawks, first in January and again after the Warriors were eliminated,^[4] recording a single assist in seven games, as he played against players who were three to four years his senior.

Major Junior

2010–11

Pouliot joined the Winterhawks for the 2010–11 season. On a team laden with talent (2010 4th- and 5th-overall picks Ryan Johansen and Nino Niederreiter along with future first-round picks in 2011 Sven Bärtschi and Joe Morrow), Pouliot played the majority of the season and finished with 30 points in 66 games.^[5] During the season, Pouliot was invited to play for Canada-West at the 2011 World U-17 Hockey Challenge, finishing with three assists in five games as Canada-West lost in the fifth-place game to Canada-Atlantic.^[6] Portland finished the regular season with 103 points in the standings, finishing one point ahead of US Division rival Spokane to clinch the top spot in the Western Conference.^[7]

Pouliot with the Winterhawks in 2010.

In an opening-round sweep of the Everett Silvertips, Pouliot scored a goal in the Game 2 7–2 rout, his only point of the series. Following a win in the conference semifinals against the B.C. Division champion Kelowna, the Winterhawks lost 4–1 to the Kootenay Ice. Pouliot posted an assist in each of Portland's first two games in the series, including a helper on Ty Rattie's overtime power play game-winner in Game 1. While Portland had a successful post-season, Pouliot's 4 points in 21 games were considered disappointing after a regular season in which he had averaged a half-point per game. Over the summer, Pouliot was a member of Canada's gold-medal team at the 2011 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament.

2011–12

Pouliot entered his draft year with a 4-assist night in only his second game of the season^[8] and while his output dipped as the season went along, he was performing much better in his second full season with the Winterhawks. Despite being left off Canada's roster for the 2012 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, Pouliot was listed in the top 10 of North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting in the mid-season rankings though, once again, not as the best defenceman.^[9] Pouliot finished the season with 59 points, almost doubling his output from the season before, while playing in all 72 of Portland's games. The Winterhawks again had a stellar season, ending up as the most prolific offensive team in the WHL, due in part to Pouliot's scoring prowess.

Portland swept their opening round playoff series against the Kelowna Rockets, in which Pouliot produced 2 assists, and beat the Kamloops Blazers to move on to the conference finals versus the Tri-City Americans, a matchup which pitted the top offensive and defensive teams in the WHL against one another. In another four-game sweep of the Americans, Pouliot put up a 4-assist performance in Game 2, assisting on each of the Winterhawks' goals except the overtime game-winner.^[10] In their second consecutive finals appearance, the Winterhawks were matched up against the Edmonton Oil Kings, who finished the regular season with the best record in the league. Portland lost the series in seven games, and Pouliot, who had been effective in the first five games of the series, was silent in the last two, including being on the ice for two of Edmonton's goals in Game 7.^[11]

Despite the outcome, Pouliot produced 17 points in 22 games during the playoffs. The final Central Scouting rankings placed him as the #12-ranked North American skater.^[12] The draft host Pittsburgh Penguins took Pouliot with the 8th overall selection that they had obtained from Carolina in the Jordan Staal trade^[13] when Pittsburgh had their own first-round selection at 22nd overall.^[14] Less than a week later, Pouliot was invited to Canada's National Development Camp,^[15] the first stepping stone in joining the 2013 WJC roster. A few months later, Pouliot signed a 3-year entry-level contract with Pittsburgh^[16] just a few days before the 2012 NHL Lockout was to begin.^[17]

2012–13

With the departure of fellow Penguins draft pick Joe Morrow to the AHL, Pouliot became the Winterhawks' star offensive defenceman and immediately rose to the challenge. Pouliot took charge of the power play and increased his scoring. By the end of November, Pouliot had posted 24 points in 26 games, including 5- and 6-game point streaks, earning him an invitation to Canada's WJC selection Camp with fellow Penguins prospect Scott Harrington.^[18] However, after the second day of the camp, Pouliot was returned to Portland.^[19] Upon his return to the WHL, Pouliot immediately produced a 3-assist game and finished with 12 points in the month of December.

In the third game back in January, Pouliot suffered a high ankle sprain (unreported at the time), and would miss time intermittently over the next few months.^[20] Nevertheless, he finished the regular season with 45 points in 44 games. Portland finished with the best record in the WHL (57–12–1–2) along with the top offence in the league and the best defence in the conference.^[21] In a five-game opening series win over the Everett Silvertips, Pouliot finished with 9 points^[22] (6 coming on the power play) as well as assisting on the game-winner in the deciding match.^[23]

In a second round sweep of the Spokane Chiefs, the Winterhawks scored 18 goals and allowed only 3, and Pouliot recorded a 4-point night in the opening match.^[24] A win over the Kamloops Blazers in the conference finals propelled the Winterhawks into the WHL finals for the third straight season. Portland won in six games, during which Pouliot posted four assists, finishing the playoffs with 20 points in 21 games to lead all defencemen in postseason scoring.^[25]

Despite a disappointing loss to the Halifax Mooseheads in the Memorial Cup Final, Pouliot's seven points led all defencemen for the tournament.^[26] And with the Winterhawks finished for the season, Pouliot still joined Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for their last game of the 2013 Calder Cup playoffs.

2013–14

Pouliot returned to the WHL for the 2013–14 WHL season, allowing him to make the Canadian WJC roster before embarking on his professional career.

Professional

2014–15

On October 21, 2014, Pouliot was assigned to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the AHL by the Pittsburgh Penguins.^[27] On December 20, 2014, during a rash of injuries to the Penguins defencemen, Pouliot was recalled for the first time in his career subsequently he made his NHL debut and scored his first NHL goal on his first shot against Roberto Luongo of the Florida Panthers.^[28][29]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
2008–09	Moose Jaw Warriors Midget AAA	SMAAAHL		5	1	1	2	0		—	—	—	—	—
2009–10	Moose Jaw Warriors Midget AAA	SMAAAHL		43	14	29	43	38		4	0	2	2	4
2009–10	Portland Winterhawks	WHL		7	0	1	1	0		—	—	—	—	—
2010–11	Portland Winterhawks	WHL		66	5	25	30	38		21	1	3	4	16
2011–12	Portland Winterhawks	WHL		72	11	48	59	79		22	3	14	17	18
2012–13	Portland Winterhawks	WHL		44	9	36	45	60		21	4	16	20	12
2012–13	Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins	AHL		—	—	—	—	—		1	0	0	0	0
2013–14	Portland Winterhawks	WHL		58	17	53	70	74		21	5	27	32	13
2014–15	Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins	AHL		31	7	17	24	20		6	1	2	3	2
2014–15	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL		34	2	5	7	4		—	—	—	—	—
2015–16	Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins	AHL		37	6	17	23	26		—	—	—	—	—
2015–16	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL		22	0	7	7	2		2	0	0	0	2
NHL totals				56	2	12	14	6		2	0	0	0	2

International

Year	Team	Event	Result		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
2011	Canada Western	WHC17	6th		5	0	3	3	2
2011	Canada	IH18			5	2	1	3	4
2014	Canada	WJC	4th		7	1	4	5	8
Junior totals					17	3	8	11	14

Awards and honours

Award	Year
WHL Bantam Draft Drafted First Overall by the Portland Winterhawks	2009	[30]
World U-17 Hockey Challenge Tournament All-Star Team	2011	[31]
Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament Gold Medal with Team Canada	2011	[32][33]
NHL Research, Development and Orientation Camp	2011	[34]
CHL Top Prospects Game – Team Orr	2012	[35]
Ed Chynoweth Cup Champion – Portland Winterhawks	2013	[36]
CHL Memorial Cup All-Star Team	2013	[37]
WHL First All-Star Team (West)	2013–14	[38]
CHL Defenseman of the Year	2013–14	[39]

References

1. "Moose Jaw Warriors: 2008–09". SMAAAHL.com. Retrieved May 28, 2013.
2. "Winterhawks Select Derrick Pouliot". Portland Winterhawks. Retrieved May 28, 2013.
3. "Moose Jaw Warriors: 2009–10". SMAAAHL.com. Retrieved May 28, 2013.
4. "Derrick Pouliot Game-by-Game: 2009–10". WHL Network. Retrieved May 28, 2013.
5. "Portland Winterhawks Skaters: 2010–11". WHL Network. Retrieved May 28, 2013.
6. "World Under-17 Hockey Challenge". Hockey Canada. Retrieved May 28, 2013.
7. "Standings: 2010–11 Regular Season". WHL Network. Retrieved May 28, 2013.
8. "Derrick Pouliot: 2011–12 Regular Season Game-by-Game". WHL Network. Retrieved July 6, 2013.
9. "North American skaters Midterm Rankings". NHL Network. Retrieved July 6, 2013.
10. "GAME SUMMARY 1008884". WHL Network. April 21, 2012. Retrieved July 6, 2013.
11. "GAME SUMMARY 1008896". WHL Network. May 13, 2012. Retrieved July 6, 2013.
12. "North American skaters Final Rankings". NHL Network. May 24, 2012. Retrieved July 6, 2013.
13. "Jordan Staal traded to Hurricanes". NHL Network. June 22, 2012. Retrieved July 6, 2013.
14. "2012 NHL Draft Results". NHL Network. Retrieved July 6, 2013.
15. "Derrick Pouliot Invited to Team Canada's National Junior Team Summer Development Camp". Pittsburgh Penguins. June 28, 2012. Retrieved July 6, 2013.
16. "Penguins Sign 2012 First-Round Draft Picks Derrick Pouliot and Olli Maatta". Pittsburgh Penguins. September 12, 2012. Retrieved July 6, 2013.
17. "NHL Lockout 2012: League Imposes Fourth Work Stoppage Since 1992". Huffington Post. September 16, 2012. Retrieved July 6, 2013.
18. "Penguins Prospects Harrington, Pouliot Invited to Team Canada's National Junior Team Selection Camp". Pittsburgh Penguins. December 3, 2012. Retrieved July 6, 2013.
19. "Pouliot Among Cuts at Canada's WJC Camp". Pittsburgh Penguins. December 13, 2012. Retrieved July 6, 2013.
20. "Winterhawks' defense strengthened with return of highly-regarded Derrick Pouliot". The Oregonian. March 6, 2013. Retrieved July 6, 2013.
21. "Standings: 2012–13 Regular Season". WHL Network. Retrieved July 6, 2013.
22. "Derrick Pouliot: 2013 Playoff Game-by-Game". WHL Network. Retrieved July 6, 2013.
23. "GAME SUMMARY 1009806". WHL Network. April 2, 2013. Retrieved July 6, 2013.
24. "GAME SUMMARY 1009822". WHL Network. April 6, 2013. Retrieved July 6, 2013.
25. "Top Scorers: 2013 WHL Playoffs – Defensemen". WHL Network. Retrieved July 6, 2013.
26. "Top Scorers: 2013 Memorial Cup – Defensemen". Mastercard Memorial Cup. Retrieved July 6, 2013.
27. "Penguins Assign Defenseman Derrick Pouliot to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton".
28. "Penguins Recall Defensemen Derrick Pouliot and Taylor Chorney".
29. "3 Impressions: Pens 3, Cats 1".
30. "Derrick Pouliot impresses early".
31. "Ontario crowned U17 Challenge champions". Winnipeg Sun.
32. "CHL Network". CHL Network.
33. "Canada routs Switzerland, advances at Hlinka". Fox News.
34. "CHL Network". CHL Network.
35. CHL stars show off skills before Prospect Game – CityNews
36. "WHL Network".
37. "Memorial Cup".
38. "WHL ANNOUNCES ALL-STARS & AWARDS FINALISTS".
39. "Former Penguins first-rounder Derrick Pouliot named top defenseman". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

External links

• Career statistics and player information from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database