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Derrick Pouliot

Roster Moves: Noesen, Barberio, Mueller

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The Anaheim Ducks have decided to bring up Stefan Noesen from the San Diego Gulls today as Rickard Rakell missed the morning skate with an upper-body injury. Noesen is a big, angry winger who can contribute at both ends of the ice but has faced injury throughout his young professional career. Selected in the first round in 2011, Noesen has only played in 116 games over the past three and a half seasons but is fully healthy and ready to make an impact at the NHL level. He’s played two games on emergency call-ups in the past, but was held scoreless in each. This year he’s collected 11 points and 28 penalty minutes in 18 AHL contests.

  • Mark Barberio has been sent back to the AHL by the Montreal Canadiens after six games with the big club. The 26-year old defenseman recorded a single assist and four penalty minutes in his time up with the club and will now wait for his next chance. A veteran of 139 NHL games, Barberio hasn’t been able to carve out a spot for himself with the Canadiens since signing as a free agent in 2015. The move likely means that Nathan Beaulieu is ready to come back after taking a puck to the throat two weeks ago.
  • The Canadiens have also sent Charles Hudon down to the AHL. Hudon had been called up earlier this season but suffered a broken sternum in practice on November 25th and was placed on injured reserve. The young forward played in just three games and recorded two assists prior to the injury.
  • While the Canadiens send down a defender, the San Jose Sharks have brought one up. The team recalled Mirco Mueller today though it’s not clear what the corresponding move will be.  The 21-year old Mueller was the Sharks first-round pick in 2013 (#18th overall) and broke in as a youngster in 2014-15 before spending most of last year in the AHL for more seasoning. In 16 AHL contests this year, Mueller has six assists and six penalty minutes. The Swiss-born defender has drawn rave reviews for his calm, safe play in his own end and is expected to develop an offensive game as he matures.
  • In Pittsburgh, the Penguins have sent both Jake Guentzel and Derrick Pouliot to Wilker-Barre/Scranton ahead of their matchup Thursday against the Florida Panthers. As Bill West of TribLive reports, the Penguins didn’t want their young players just sitting on the sideline. While Guentzel and Pouliot have been held out of the lineup for different reasons, they’ve played just six games combined in the NHL this season and at 22-years old can still benefit from the added ice time in the minors. Pouliot, coming back from a lower-body injury had recently completed a conditioning stint with the WBS Penguins and will now likely skate on their top pairing.

Penguins Notes: Pouliot, Ownership, Expansion

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The Penguins will soon be facing a tough decision with their defense corps, writes Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.  Derrick Pouliot has been on injured reserve since October 21st with a lower body injury.  However, he has been practicing since the middle of November and is nearing a return to the lineup; he recently completed a three game conditioning stint with their AHL affiliate in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton with no setbacks.

At the beginning of the year, the 22 year old found himself routinely as a healthy scratch.  He has only played in one game this season, the one he was injured in.  That’s hardly an ideal spot for any young blueliner to be in, especially one that was a first round pick and is expected to be a key part of Pittsburgh’s future plans.

Head coach Mike Sullivan acknowledges that Pouliot is nearing a return and that they are working on a game plan that will allow him to see more game action when he’s activated off of injured reserve.

The tough decision moving forward will be who comes out of the lineup.  Kris Letang is their top rearguard and won’t be sitting while Trevor Daley isn’t likely to sit either.  Ian Cole and Justin Schultz have formed a strong third pairing which leaves Brian Dumoulin and Olli Maatta, who are third and fourth in ice time per game for Pittsburgh defenders.  Both of them take regular turns on the penalty kill, an area that Pouliot doesn’t typically play.

[Related: Penguins Depth Chart]

Suffice it to say, the Penguins are going to be hard pressed to find regular ice time for Pouliot.  It’s one thing to give a player a night off here and there but that’s not the type of playing time that is needed to develop a young player.  Pouliot admitted that he hasn’t given any thought to the possibility of a trade yet but acknowledges his immediate future may be a bit murky moving forward:

“I’m not too sure (of what the future holds). We’ll have to see where things go down the road here. Trades happen. You never know what could unfold.”

Other news from Pittsburgh:

  • The Penguins are in discussions to add a minority owner, notes Dave Molinari, also of the Post-Gazette. Owners Ron Burkle and Mario Lemieux are in talks with Ventas Inc. CEO Debra Cafaro about a $25MM stake in the team.  Last year, Burkle and Lemieux noted that they were looking into their options, including selling a small stake or potentially selling the franchise.  They will, however, retain the controlling interest in the club if this potential agreement comes to fruition.
  • ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun takes a closer look at Pittsburgh’s expansion draft situation. Their biggest concern comes between the pipes where Marc-Andre Fleury has a partial no-move clause (that can be waived) while Matt Murray needs to be protected as well; teams can only protect one goaltender though.  Accordingly, LeBrun is among many to expect that Fleury will be traded before then.  If that happens, they then would be without a goalie to leave exposed and since all teams must leave at least one goalie unprotected, GM Jim Rutherford would still have a bit of work to do to meet that requirement.

Snapshots: Burns, Ramo, Pouliot, Steen

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The Sharks and pending unrestricted free agent defenseman Brent Burns are making progress on a contract extension, reports ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun (Twitter link).  He does, however, note that the deal is not yet done.  LeBrun also adds in a follow-up tweet that there are still some deals to be ironed out but that lots of progress has been made.  Speculatively, one of the areas that likely would be getting worked on is the amount of no-trade or no-move protection and how it may vary – if at all – over the life of the contract.

Last season, Burns finished second in points among all NHL defensemen with 75 while he averaged just shy of 26 minutes per game.  He’s off to another strong start this season with seven goals and nine assists in 19 games; his 16 points lead all blueliners.

Back in September, we took a closer look at his contract situation and suggested that he could be in line for a seven year extension with an AAV of $7.875MM.

Other news from around the league:

  • Unrestricted free agent goaltender Karri Ramo is close to receiving the green light from doctors to return to game action, reports Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston (Twitter link). Ramo is currently skating with the Maple Leafs but does not have a contract, similar to UFA left winger Brandon Prust.  While the goalie market has been quiet as of late with Andrew Hammond passing through waivers, Ramo could draw some attention as potentially a cheaper option for teams.  He could also take a minor league deal to get in some game action and showcase himself to potential teams that way.
  • The Pittsburgh Penguins have assigned defenseman Derrick Pouliot to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL on a conditioning stint, the team announced. The former first round pick has spent the bulk of the season on injured reserve with a lower body injury and last played on October 21st, his lone game of the season.  The Penguins plan to play him in three minor league contests and then be re-evaluated by team doctors next week.
  • Blues forward Alex Steen is not with the team on their two-game road trip although the team hasn’t ruled him out of playing the second game on Wednesday in Washington, writes Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.  He has missed the last two games with concussion-like symptoms (though the team is stressing that it’s not a concussion).  Steen has two goals and eight assists through 17 games this season.

Eastern Conference Snapshots: Hoffman, Warsofsky, Pouliot, Weise

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Ottawa Senators winger Mike Hoffman has led the team in goal scoring in each of the last two seasons, a fact which prompted the team to sign the 26-year-old to a five-year, $20.75MM extension this summer. Even though he has totaled 56 goals since the start of the 2014-15 campaign, Hoffman is no stranger to slow starts and this season has been no exception. Despite the fact the Sens are tied for second in goals-per-game, Hoffman has yet to tally his first marker of the season. But, as Ken Warren of the Ottawa Citizen writes, it’s only a matter of time before he breaks through.

Hoffman is currently tied with Chris Kreider and Brent Burns in shots on goal with 20 and says he has been getting plenty of scoring chances.

“I’m just trying to keep a level head, I know the goals are going to come. You don’t want to hit the panic button too early. I feel like I’m getting a lot of shots, a lot of chances every game.”

Like Hoffman, head coach Guy Boucher believes the gifted winger will find his scoring touch soon enough.

“I liked a lot of his game (against Arizona). The work is always when the guy is not getting (any chances) and you can see (the confidence) go down, which is not Mike’s case.”

Goal scorers like Hoffman are prone to slumps but when the get hot they tend to score in bunches. So far Hoffman’s inability to put the puck in the net hasn’t had much of an impact on Ottawa’s on-ice fortunes as the team has won three of their first four. Once he does ratchet up his output, the Senators chances of competing for a playoff spot will only improve.

Elsewhere in the Eastern Conference:

  • The Pittsburgh Penguins blue line is a little beat up which today prompted the recall of David Warsofsky from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL, according to Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. In a related move, the team placed Derrick Pouliot on IR. Pouliot has made just one appearance for the Penguins, and left that game in the second period with an undisclosed injury. It appears that whatever the injury, it could keep Pouliot out a while. In addition to Pouliot, Olli Maatta and Kris Letang are both banged up as well. Letang is considered day-to-day with an upper-body injury but as Mackey writes, he might be healthy enough to suit up Saturday.
  • Dale Weise of the Philadelphia Flyers is slated for a hearing with the NHL Department of Player Safety after his illegal check to the head of Anaheim defensman Korbinian Holzer in a game Thursday night. Weise wasn’t penalized on the play but the league wasted no time calling for the hearing. It appears it will be a phone hearing, meaning Weise won’t receive a suspension longer than five games. Weise, signed this summer as a free agent, has not yet recorded a point for the Flyers in four appearances.

Penguins Notes: Pouliot, Dumoulin

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While Pittsburgh defenseman Derrick Pouliot is hoping for a much better start to this season (including a regular spot in the lineup), that might be a tall task for him to achieve, notes Sam Werner of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.  Pouliot went into training camp last season with the expectations that he would become a regular player but instead was cut and spent most of the year with their AHL affiliate in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

Pouliot wound up getting into just 22 regular season games with the Penguins plus a pair of postseason contests, collecting seven assists along the way.  He was much more productive at the AHL level, scoring six goals and 17 assists in just 37 games.

While the departure of Ben Lovejoy to New Jersey potentially opens up a spot on their blueline, the team also brought back Justin Schultz who was acquired at the trade deadline who now figures to play a regular role.  Both of those players are right hand shots while Pouliot is a lefty but the 22 year old spent time on the right side at the junior level, making him an option on both sides.  When asked about possibly playing his off-side (much like Trevor Daley does), Pouliot noted that, “It’s something I’m comfortable with, and, if it’s a spot I could fit in, that’d be great.”

On his natural side, Pouliot will be looking to displace Ian Cole on the third pairing but Cole brings a physical element to the Penguins’ lineup, something that some of their other rearguards don’t bring to the table.

Further creating a challenge for Pouliot was Pittsburgh’s decision to bring in David Warsofsky, Steven Oleksy, Stuart Percy, Cameron Gaunce, and Chad Ruhwedel during free agency.  All five of those players have NHL experience and could potentially push for a spot as well.  On top of that, all of the newcomers are waiver eligible while Pouliot is exempt for this season so he could find himself a victim of a numbers game if one or more of those offseason additions impress in training camp.

Pouliot has long been regarded as one of Pittsburgh’s defensemen of the future but he will be in tough to secure a top six role with the team this season.

[Related: Penguins Depth Chart]

More from the Penguins:

  • Defenseman Brian Dumoulin is poised to have a breakout season, writes Jason Mackey, also of the Post-Gazette. The 25 year old saw his ice time jump to over 21 minutes a game in the postseason while playing a top four role, one he is expected to reprise in 2016-17.  While he didn’t score during the season last year, he picked up a pair of postseason goals including the opening tally in their Stanley Cup clinching victory over San Jose.  Dumoulin is entering the final season of a two year deal that carries a cap hit of $800K and should be in line for a sizable raise on his next contract.  If GM Jim Rutherford expects him to have a big season offensively, it wouldn’t be surprising if he tries to get an extension done sooner than later.

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