The Chicago Blackhawks have moved veteran defenseman Derrick Pouliot onto waivers, setting him up for an assignment to the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs, according to PuckPedia.
Pouliot’s latest stop with the organization began when Chicago acquired him from the New York Rangers ahead of the 2026 NHL Trade Deadline in a deal that sent minor-league center Aidan Thompson the other way.
His time in Rockford last season was productive, even if it didn’t match the scoring heights he reached the two years before. Pouliot posted six points in 16 games with the IceHogs, finishing the year with 34 points in 68 games overall. That was a clear step down from his output in 2023-24, when he had 46 points in 64 games, and in 2024-25, when he finished with 53 points in 70 games.
A lot of that drop came in seasons where the teams around him struggled to score. The Hartford Wolf Pack closed the 2025-26 AHL season last in the Atlantic Division with 190 goals, while Rockford finished fifth in the Central Division with 196.
Neither club reached the postseason. Pouliot’s veteran presence kept him in a major role on both blue lines, but it wasn’t enough to push either offense much higher.
Looking ahead, Pouliot appears positioned to be a central figure again in Rockford, unless another NHL team views him as a possible seventh defenseman. The former eighth-overall draft pick is expected to anchor a young IceHogs defense that includes Tommy Budnick, Ashton Crumby, Taige Harding, and Jake Furlong.
Harding is the only one of that group older than 22. He’ll also have Connor Mackey alongside him, a former Hartford teammate and veteran minor-leaguer who signed with Chicago this summer on a two-year, two-way contract.
Among Rockford defensemen, Pouliot stands far apart in NHL experience. He has played 226 games at the top level over nine seasons and has added 54 points there.
In the AHL, his track record is even more extensive: 300 points in 478 career games. Now he’ll try to turn that résumé into a leading role for the IceHogs and push toward a bounceback season.
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