Poulin Disappointed, But Prepared To Get Back To Playing His Game With AHL Penguins

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. - October is an exciting time of year as teams and players prepare for the start of a new season.

While excitement and anticipation of the upcoming season is a common theme for many, there's also a feeling of disappointment for some players who have just missed out on making the NHL roster and have been assigned to the AHL in advance of the regular season.

Unfortunately for Sam Poulin, he fits into the latter category after being cut from Pittsburgh's training camp roster - placed on waivers Saturday and back in the AHL with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins' lineup Sunday for their final preseason contest.

"Yeah, it wasn't what I expected, that's for sure," Poulin told InsideAHLHockey.com after the AHL Penguins' preseason finale Sunday afternoon. "But I think it means something. I need to keep working on certain things in my game."

Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan, when talking to local media Saturday in Pittsburgh, explained in detail that for Poulin it's about playing his game, finding his identity as a pro and how he will make his mark sticking at the NHL - not by lighting up the score sheet every night, but by playing a sound two-way game and being reliable in all three zones.

"It's more just trying to understand how his own personal game needs to adapt or evolve so he has a skillset that is complimentary to the group and gives him the opportunity to carve out a roster spot," Sullivan told reporters in Pittsburgh Saturday. "It's not so much scoring his way onto this roster. It's being a reliable player and the details around that. It's a lot of the thankless jobs that maybe go unnoticed."

In talking with Poulin after Sunday's AHL Penguins' preseason finale, that sentiment appeared to be agreed upon by both NHL coach and player.

"I think it's a matter of playing the same way, whether I'm here or in Pittsburgh," Poulin said, adding, "I think I was trying to please too many people by playing a certain way, and kind of went away from my game. I think if I just stick to my identity wherever I am, then it'll be much, much easier to just jump on the opportunity and stay up there."

Clearly, there's disappointment from Poulin that he didn't make the NHL roster out of camp, but it appears, at least for now, that Poulin has shifted his focus toward getting back to his game and channeling that disappointment in a positive way in the AHL.

"Obviously, every guy that gets sent down is disappointed in some way, like they want to stick around up there as long as possible," Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins head coach Kirk MacDonald told InsideAHLHockey.com Sunday. "And for us it's, okay, now you're here. We want to have a positive mindset. We want to get better. We want to win hockey games, and we talked about it yesterday, winning games developing players - they go together. Hopefully we can put guys like Sam, and any of the other prospects right that are with us, in a position where they're getting the call, and they can go up and and have success next level."

In Sunday's game at Mohegan Arena, Poulin was in a bit of unfamiliar territory - playing on the right wing on Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's top line.

According to MacDonald, Poulin playing right wing is likely something we'll see this season.

"You know, personally, I kind of like the wingers, playing their off side," MacDonald said, explaining, "it's easier to kind of make plays on the wall, like everybody's pinching their [defensemen] hard so it just gives you a little bit of extra ability to make a play and protect the puck."

Poulin didn't seem phased by playing on the right wing. In fact, in the first period of Sunday's game he set up the game's opening goal from the right-wing - collecting a drop pass from Jonathan Gruden and firing a crisp, accurate pass to the net for Tristan Broz's goal to get the Penguins off and running on their way to what ended up becoming a 5-1 victory.

"I played on the right wing when I was younger, but it's been a while," Poulin said of lining up at right-wing for the first time as a pro. "I think if I played this position for a couple of games I'd get used to pretty quickly, so [I'm] not too worried about it."

Ultimately, it will be up to Poulin moving forward in getting his game to a level where he will be ready when called upon by Pittsburgh during the season.

"I try to see it the good way, where I'm here and I got some time to get better and to work on specific things I need to work on," Poulin stated. "So, yeah.. but, you know, obviously I'm disappointed."