Sam Poulin’s path to Montreal comes with a simple promise: a reset.
The Canadiens signed the 25-year-old to a one-year contract over the summer, giving a former first-round pick another shot to turn AHL production into something more permanent. For Poulin, who has spent most of his pro career trying to force his way into an NHL lineup, the move offers a different backdrop and a new development staff in Laval.
Poulin was taken 21st overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2019 NHL Draft, a spot that usually comes with big expectations and, at least eventually, a real runway in the league. That part never fully arrived. Over five professional seasons, he played in just 15 NHL games, all with Pittsburgh, while doing most of his damage in the AHL with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and later Bakersfield.
The numbers at that level tell a more complete story. Poulin has 164 points in 256 AHL games, along with 10 points in 13 Calder Cup Playoff appearances.
He also put together his strongest stretch in 2024-25, when he scored 43 points in 57 games and finished fourth on the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton roster. That season included 11 multi-point games and a five-point night - three goals and two assists - against the Belleville Senators on March 8, 2025.
His first pro season in 2021-22 looked like a solid beginning. The 6-foot-2 forward played all 72 regular-season games for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and posted 37 points, then added four more in six playoff games. But the next year brought a much more difficult stretch.
On Dec. 7, 2022, the Penguins said Poulin was stepping away from the organization for “personal reasons” and returning to Quebec while continuing his on- and off-ice workouts. Three months later, Poulin posted on Instagram that he had taken time off to focus on himself and his mental health. He played two more games that season before the year ended.
His NHL chances with Pittsburgh were brief, but not empty. Poulin picked up his first NHL point in his debut on Oct. 25, 2022, when he earned the secondary assist on an Evgeni Malkin goal against the Calgary Flames.
Pittsburgh’s only goal in that game came on that play, though the night still ended with a minus-2 rating, a slashing penalty, and a 4-1 loss. He later logged two more games that season, then a three-game stint in 2023-24, and finally his longest look in 2024-25, when he appeared in seven games and finished with one point.
The Penguins also put him on waivers twice during his time in the organization, but Poulin didn’t sound bitter about the stops and starts. On Nov. 18, 2025, he said, “It’s always an honor.
It’s the Pittsburgh Penguins. There’s a lot of history down here.
I wouldn’t want to play anywhere else,” while discussing a call-up that season. He played only two games during that stretch.
His Penguins run ended when he was dealt to Edmonton in December 2025 as part of the Tristan Jarry-Stuart Skinner trade, with Brett Kulak and a 2029 second-round pick also involved. Poulin finished out his contract with the Bakersfield Condors and was never called up by the Oilers.
Now he’s with Montreal, and the fit starts at the AHL level. The Rocket will be led by newly appointed head coach Daniel Jacob, whose background includes assistant coaching stops with the San Diego Gulls, Syracuse Crunch, and Rocket.
Jacob also has ties to the QMJHL, having worked with the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada from 2014 to 2018. Poulin spent three years with the organization’s youth developmental team, the Blainville-Boisbriand Jr.
Armada, just before that.
The connection doesn’t stop there. Jacob coached Team Canada’s U18 team in the Hlinka Gretzky Cup in 2017-18, and Poulin played for that same squad in 2018-19. For both men, the new partnership comes with familiar threads.
Montreal did not sign Poulin to give up on him. The Canadiens are betting there’s still another level in there, and Poulin now has a chance to chase it in a place that has become known for giving young talent a real look. If this works, he could finally make the jump for good in 2026-27.
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Canadiens Just Lost One More Veteran Option For Kent Hughes
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For Kent Hughes and a roster still looking for experienced depth, it is another reminder that the pool keeps shrinking as summer rolls on. Several notable players are still unsigned, but Jarnkrok is no longer part of that conversation, and the Canadiens will have to keep looking elsewhere if they want to add a proven veteran option. [Read more 🡒]