Prospect Info: 21st Overall Samuel Poulin, RW

[MrBurghundy]

One of the skills I noticed that he has is his shot is always high and up under the bar. Even if he's in tight, the shot is up over the goalie's pads. How many times do we have players on this team that seem to never be able to elevate a puck in tight?

Doesn't matter if it's on the backhand, or the forehand. It's always up high right under the crossbar.

edit: Plus I 100% see the prime Kunitz comparison after watching some of those highlights again.

 

[Tacitus Kilgore]

One of the skills I noticed that he has is his shot is always high and up under the bar. Even if he's in tight, the shot is up over the goalie's pads. How many times do we have players on this team that seem to never be able to elevate a puck in tight?

Doesn't matter if it's on the backhand, or the forehand. It's always up high right under the crossbar.

edit: Plus I 100% see the prime Kunitz comparison after watching some of those highlights again.

I'd even say that he looks even more flashy than Kunitz, idk if he can pull of those moves at the NHL level but i love his creativity. His skill set is hard to dislike

 

[HandshakeLine]

I am assuming he meant prime.

Yeah. I don’t know how many times a scout has compared a draftee to a player a season out of retiring.

“He skates just like an early 2000s Ian Moran!”

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

Yeah. I don’t know how many times a scout has compared a draftee to a player a season out of retiring.

“He skates just like an early 2000s Ian Moran!”

That said, watch any of his '18-'19 highlight packs. If anyone thinks that looks like prime Kunitz's skating, I don't know what to say.

Putting aside any kind of value judgment on Poulin overall, he clearly has a lot of work to do in terms of his first step and speed.

 

[HandshakeLine]

I think it’s hard to judge speed in the Q to be honest. At least, it is for me.

I’d rather wait until rookie camp in a few months to see how their speed stacks up.

 

[wej20]

Target for next year? 40 goals 90 points?

 

[HandshakeLine]

That said, watch any of his '18-'19 highlight packs. If anyone thinks that looks like prime Kunitz's skating, I don't know what to say.

Putting aside any kind of value judgment on Poulin overall, he clearly has a lot of work to do in terms of his first step and speed.

I don't really get it either, but I also don't remember Kunitz as being super fast in general, he just looked a lot faster because the speed of the league was so slow then. So, again, I find it really hard to judge.

 

[JTG]

I think his best case scenario is James Neal. Neal didn't have a powerful skating stride. He got around.

The thing is, speed is fine, but if a player understands where to go and can think the game on a high level, they can play like they are 3 strides faster than what they are. Poulin sounds like he has some hockey IQ and some snarl to go along with it.

 

[Ugene Magic]

I think the other speed aspect that can make up for the leg speed is his game thinking speed. Where to go/be.

Edit: I should have read a little more. JTG covered this.

 

[CheckingLineCenter]

Target for next year? 40 goals 90 points?

Yep

 

[CheckingLineCenter]

Poulin vs Hoglander is a non-contest. Please.

Ehh.. think both are in the same tier. I really like Poulin but Hoglander has the best hands in this draft imo.

 

[Malkinstheman]

I really like that this guy is considered one of the best passers in the draft. Adds another dimension to his game. Plus everything I read mentions that everytime scouts saw him, he kept getting better and better. Not a bad idea to bet on a guy with a work ethic like that. He's got the natural skill and the intangibles to make himself an NHLer.

 

[MrBurghundy]

That said, watch any of his '18-'19 highlight packs. If anyone thinks that looks like prime Kunitz's skating, I don't know what to say.

Putting aside any kind of value judgment on Poulin overall, he clearly has a lot of work to do in terms of his first step and speed.

Play style. Not foot speed. I don't think one person has said he doesn't have work to do on his skating.

 

[td_ice]

Again, what on earth is the "safe" part of Poulin? Scouts can be wrong, and often are, but this talk of him being the safe pick is so at odds with what everyone else wrote about him that I am genuinely confused as to where it's coming from.

Agreed. It's insane.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

Play style. Not foot speed. I don't think one person has said he doesn't have work to do on his skating.

The one I was responding to was referring to skating:

This one from Shane Malloy (scout/nhln radio).

"I had Poulin at #16. If Pittsburgh fans liked Chris Kunitz, they will love Poulin. Similar in style to Kunitz, but a better skater than Kunitz was. This kid is built for playoff hockey."

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

Again, what on earth is the "safe" part of Poulin? Scouts can be wrong, and often are, but this talk of him being the safe pick is so at odds with what everyone else wrote about him that I am genuinely confused as to where it's coming from.

Agreed. It's insane.

According to reports, he's strong on his skates, good on the cycle, he goes to the net, he's defensively responsible and a character guy. We know these are traditionally characteristics that allow a player to carve out some sort of NHL career even if his other traits don't end up translating as "NHL top 6" calibre. Plus he's big, which is an ever-present factor in the windmill tilting against the Ghost of Tom Wilson.

What's not safe about him is his skating, but that hasn't stopped a guy like ZAR from being a golden boy here...which is where the skepticism can start to creep in. I'm not saying that's how Poulin's going to end up by any means, but the org's been engaging in some serious double speak lately.

Cripes, these 2 articles were published less than 48 hours apart:

Size won’t be primary factor when Penguins make draft choice | TribLIVE.com

Penguins go big with selections at NHL Draft | TribLIVE.com

Bit of a disconnect there.

 

[HandshakeLine]

According to reports, he's strong on his skates, good on the cycle, he goes to the net, he's defensively responsible and a character guy. We know these are traditionally characteristics that allow a player to carve out some sort of NHL career even if his other traits don't end up translating as "NHL top 6" calibre. Plus he's big, which is an ever-present factor in the windmill tilting against the Ghost of Tom Wilson.

What's not safe about him is his skating, but that hasn't stopped a guy like ZAR from being a golden boy here...which is where the skepticism can start to creep in. I'm not saying that's how Poulin's going to end up by any means, but the org's been engaging in some serious double speak lately.

Cripes, these 2 articles were published less than 48 hours apart:

Size won’t be primary factor when Penguins make draft choice | TribLIVE.com

Penguins go big with selections at NHL Draft | TribLIVE.com

Bit of a disconnect there.

Almost every scouting report on him talks about how he's one of the best playmakers, goal scorers, and physical presences in the Q.

I mean, look at McKeen's: QMJHL: Samuel Poulin, LW

He is a goal-scoring winger with an excellent shot. There are several aspects of Poulin’s game that stand out, namely his shot and ability to get open for clean looks at the net. He can finish in a variety of ways on both his forehand and backhand, and his one-timer from the circles is devastatingly accurate. A shoot-first winger who knows how to find the back of the net. Sniping winger with a lethal shot, he is a high-volume shooter who does a lot of damage off the rush. Can score at will, but his playmaking is highly underrated.

Let’s not believe that with his stature he cannot makes a feisty finesse play, because he does. He drives the net and he is hard to deter because he has the size and the hands to score in many ways. Poulin impresses because of his skill set and size. He can handle the puck and he is strong enough to carry it through traffic.

So... you tell me how that's a "safe" pick (which seems to be, again, claiming that his ceiling is something like Rust) because I don't get it.

 

[Empoleon8771]

People say it's a "safe pick" as in it's a pick they don't like because the guy isn't Josh Ho-Sang.

 

[xlm34]

People also see power forward and think he’s Tyler Biggs. By all accounts he’s got legit offensive upside.

 

[wej20]

Is he even really that big? looked up the average size of an NHLer for 17-18 was 6'1 200lbs so he's pretty much average.

 

[FreeBobbyFarnham]

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

Almost every scouting report on him talks about how he's one of the best playmakers, goal scorers, and physical presences in the Q.

I mean, look at McKeen's: QMJHL: Samuel Poulin, LW

Kind of faint praise given the Q pool this year though, don't you think?

So... you tell me how that's a "safe" pick (which seems to be, again, claiming that his ceiling is something like Rust) because I don't get it.

Well, because of the traits I listed earlier.

I've gone out of my way to say I'm reserving judgment until I watch the kid regularly. But based on the overall reports, it's an odd class for a team that went out of its way to talk about how size wasn't a big factor and how important speed is in today's game one day before the draft.

A lot of defensiveness in this thread over legit concerns about the revisionist history the team's engaging in when it comes to moves on the main roster and what it prioritizes in its draftees. For a team that won its Cups with a well-defined identity, those two articles come off as schizophrenic.

 

[Jacob]

I see no disconnect.

Head scout Patrik Allvin said the choices the Pittsburgh Penguins made in the NHL Draft this weekend in Vancouver were, in large part, dictated by who the best available athlete was when their turn came around.
Quebec area scout Luc Gauthier said the top three characteristics the Penguins look for in draft picks are still character, speed and skill.

Allvin said they weren’t targeting size, the draft just happened to work out that way.

Poulin was picked roughly where he was expected to go and Caulfield and Legare went way lower than expected so they weren’t reaching for size.

One of our scouts even made the point that we draft based on adding value to the organization (IE trade value) and not necessarily on where a player would fit into the team now or even in the future.

 

[The Old Master]

Is he even really that big? looked up the average size of an NHLer for 17-18 was 6'1 200lbs so he's pretty much average.

when he's 18...yeah.

 

[The Old Master]

What's not safe about him is his skating.

most of that is old reports....he has improved over this year...it's now more like he lacks top end skating. so he's not a burner but I wouldn't call it bad. imo