Pouliot's Future?

[LaGu]

So... I definitely was no fan of the Pouliot signing.

I used to watch a lot of EC and until his second half of the 13/14 I must say that I though he was on his way to play himself out of NHL. He seemed to take nights off on a regular basis and many times had to play long stretches on the 4th line. Too me he was like the Hemsky many people to exception too on a bad night, but without the skill/hands (obvioulsy he was more physical and could throw hits, but still).

I did not want anything to do with that, too risky in general, and to hand that kind of player 5 year contract seemed utterly ridiculous to me.



There is still something in the back of my head saying that he may return to what I would say was his old ways. I want to see him for another season before admitting I was completely wrong about him. For now, I love what he brings, and my fingers are crossed that he keeps it up.



EDIT: To be clear, I actually think that it would have been almost impossible for anyone to not have been at least a little bit anxious about the Pouliot signing...

 

[hmminvisiblecola1279]

So... I definitely was no fan of the Pouliot signing.

I used to watch a lot of EC and until his second half of the 13/14 I must say that I though he was on his way to play himself out of NHL. He seemed to take nights off on a regular basis and many times had to play long stretches on the 4th line. Too me he was like the Hemsky many people to exception too on a bad night, but without the skill/hands (obvioulsy he was more physical and could throw hits, but still).

I did not want anything to do with that, too risky in general, and to hand that kind of player 5 year contract seemed utterly ridiculous to me.



There is still something in the back of my head saying that he may return to what I would say was his old ways. I want to see him for another season before admitting I was completely wrong about him. For now, I love what he brings, and my fingers are crossed that he keeps it up.



EDIT: To be clear, I actually think that it would have been almost impossible for anyone to not have been at least a little bit anxious about the Pouliot signing...

No for sure I was worried as it seemed Pouliot had skill and a big body, but just could not put it all together. It was also worrisome he was bouncing around so much suggesting a player that teams did not like his compete level. I have been impressed, but as you mentioned next year will be important to see if he can keep it up. It seems he is happy to be getting more minutes and an increased role.

 

[LaGu]

No for sure I was worried as it seemed Pouliot had skill and a big body, but just could not put it all together. It was also worrisome he was bouncing around so much suggesting a player that teams did not like his compete level. I have been impressed, but as you mentioned next year will be important to see if he can keep it up. It seems he is happy to be getting more minutes and an increased role.

Yeah, that about sums it up.

Who knows, maybe his "trigger" was the long contract, being relied upon as 1st line winger and/or being a leader/veteran. Whatever the reason, I will consider this a very good signing if he can keep it up for another couple of seasons. It is already on the level of a decent signing even though there are 4 years left

 

[StoveTopStauffer]

He's also easy to predict. He gets in the zone, forechecks and tries to tie up the puck along the boards until his teammates get set up. He only starts wandering once the cycle gets going and he lets Ebs and RNH handle that. Hall has amazing wheels and it seems like he's always trying to do something fancy in the zone for the big score.

I agree, you can see when they play with him vs Hall, it's way more erratic and complicated with Hall. Hall is good and boosts the line but imo he also a bit much to handle at times. He needs a line dedicated to support his play alone which is why I like seeing Lander with him.

Lander has the right defensive acumen and offensive talent to compliment Hall's style of play.

 

[hmminvisiblecola1279]

Yeah, that about sums it up.

Who knows, maybe his "trigger" was the long contract, being relied upon as 1st line winger and/or being a leader/veteran. Whatever the reason, I will consider this a very good signing if he can keep it up for another couple of seasons. It is already on the level of a decent signing even though there are 4 years left

He alludes to that in several interviews I have listened to and hopefully he can live up to the contract. Another thing that surprised me was he was bigger than I thought if that makes sense, he creates room for Eberle and RNH to do their magic.

 

[Replacement*]

tbh one of the things I was worried about specifically with this player was how he would endure going from a winning club and that team based excitement and hard work and a team with a great work ethic to a problematic team and experience.

My take was that pouliot had only recently progressed into being a workmanlike player and I worried a lot about relapse given being on an awful team and how that might impact. I still feel unsure which way its going to go. Perron looked really good here for one year and then it did start to kind of sour on him.

What is crucial is Pouliot being resilient. Its a big blessing to him in this contract if he's coming in at a time the team is finally turning the corner. My feeling is if he had come here during the Penner era it would have been messy for him. I sense a player that got a taste of winning and liking that who wants to have that. No different from say Hall in that regard. But with Hall being much more resilient, consistent, and professional in playing EVERY game well despite unfavorable circumstance.

Pouliot has been good, and as good as he's ever been, but I want that to continue of course.