Derrick Pouliot is the most notable name to ever wear No. 55 for the San Jose Sharks, even if his time in the organization was brief.
That’s a pretty sharp turn for a player who once carried serious first-round expectations. Pouliot went eighth overall in the 2012 NHL Draft, and at one point the Pittsburgh Penguins viewed him as a potential long-term piece.
They kept giving him chances after he turned pro, hoping his game would translate. At the AHL level, it often did.
In the NHL, the offense he was known for never really showed up.
Once the Penguins decided he wasn’t going to secure a regular NHL role, they moved on after the 2017-18 season and sent him to the Vancouver Canucks. Vancouver was hoping to get him back on track while also developing its own defensive prospect, Olli Juolevi.
Pouliot’s path kept winding from there. After time in St.
Louis, he landed in the Philadelphia Flyers organization with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, their AHL affiliate. He spent 25 games there before moving on to the Vegas Golden Knights, then being waived and claimed by the Seattle Kraken.
His stay in San Jose lasted one season, and after that he kept searching for another opening. Since leaving the Sharks, he has had stints with the Dallas Stars, New York Rangers, Tampa Bay Lightning, and now the Chicago Blackhawks.
Even with all those chances in the minors, Pouliot has not played in an NHL game since the 2023-24 season, when he appeared in five games for the Stars.
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For San Jose, Giles fits the profile of the depth player every roster needs, the kind who can move between levels without losing his role or his edge. He split the 2024-25 season between the Sharks and the Barracuda, appearing in eight games for each club, and carried that steady presence into the next season when he was named an alternate captain for San Joses AHL affiliate while also getting into three NHL games. [Read more 🡒]