It has always been a problem with Sullivan. He does reward certain players, but it is never about blind merit. It always seems like there is an agenda.
He has never liked Poulin from day 1. He has never liked Puljujarvi. But Matt Grzelcyk got rewarded for some reason. He can't defend, so it can't be that. He passes the puck from left to right to Malkin better than Karlsson and Letang. So now he is the PP1.
You don't want to suggest that birth certificates matter a lot to the coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins, but we have seen too many instances where that certainly seems to be the case.
With Poulin I sort of get it though. He put himself in a tough position with bad camps, including this one. He was rough defensively in his handful of games at the NHL level.
He was not good in 2021-22 or 2022-23 for Wilkes. Then there's the injuries and the mental health.
However, last year he was strong in Wilkes and deserved the call. This year too.
I do agree with your overall sentiment. There's definitely an agenda. Some guys really need to do way more than expected to force their way in. Defensively-inclined players have a big advantage and are more a part of the plan.
I think the Grzelcyk move was more Quinn than Sullivan, since he runs the PP. But it surprised me. We were like 10th in the league on the PP at the time. Weird time to screw with it.
It hasn't worked either. We're now 15th. Maybe they just wanted to reduce Letang's minutes and workload?
Edit: Oh, snap. Poulin called up.