Poulin was never seen as a high upside pick. He was very much a "safe" pick in that he wasn't expected to be a top line scorer, but instead was a "safe bet" to be a middle six 20 goal guy. Obviously injuries/personal stuff has affected even that, but he was never seen as a "this guy could be a 40 goal, 80 point guy if he hits his ceiling" type.
Nah this is complete revision. Everything about Poulin at the time was his consistency and skating are shaky, but with his frame and offensive chops he'd be a
huge hit if he hit.
Super revisionist history here.
40. Samuel Poulin, RW, Sherbrooke (QMJHL)
Age: 18 |
Ht: 6-1 |
Wt: 212 |
Shot: L
67 GP | 29 G | 47 A
Poulin has been one of the toughest players for me to rank. There are times when you see a player showing what he can do with his size and skill. There are other times when he disappears. The effort needs to be better. Aside from that, the skill he has in that sturdy frame of his is tantalizing. If he finds a level of consistency to force his will more during games, he has a chance to outperform his draft ranking in a major way.
Chris Peters locks in his final ranking of the best 100 players in the draft class, starting, of course, with Jack Hughes and Kaapo Kakko.
www.espn.com
- Samuel Poulin, RW, Sherbrooke-QMJHL
Feb. 25, 2001 | 6-foot-2 | 207 pounds
Skating: 50
Puck Skills: 60
Physical Game: 50
Hockey Sense: 60
Poulin, the 2017 second-overall pick in the QMJHL draft, was a good junior player the past two years and got better as the season went along and in the postseason. He’s a smart and competitive winger. He’s very intelligent, flashing high-end vision and tending to make good decisions with the puck. As the season went along he showed more consistent playmaking and overall dynamic elements. He’s got some soft skill, but he’s more of a distributor than an individual creator. He’s got very good hands in tight and scored several nifty goals. His shot is also good, and he can score with his wrist shot in tight. Poulin works hard, is strong on pucks, and wins his fair share of battles along the boards and in front of the net. He’s already quite strong, measuring in at over 200 pounds. His skating is OK. Some days he flashes a good top gear and other times I don’t think his pace is anything noteworthy.
Hannah Stuart - theScore
May 1st: "He's a power-forward type, with the size that more traditional scouts like to see combined with a killer shot, passionate work ethic, and good puck-protection skills. He needs to work on his first step to improve his quickness and be more explosive in his skating."
When watching Poulin, the first thing you notice is his play within the offensive zone. His shot is NHL ready, and is a tool that will be deployed to improve an NHL power play. He is noticeable in possession, and is effective in both creating space below the circles for his linemates, and distributing when defenders play him too closely.
Size-wise, Poulin has a projectable frame which he has already started to fill. His combination of size and strength lends many to peg him as a power winger down the road, but it would be near-sided to think of him only as a hard-nosed net front presence. He certainly has the tools to be a playmaker as well.
A player of Poulin’s ability wouldn’t fall to the end of the first round if there wasn’t some room for improvement. His skating is above average, but not elite, and his transitions within the play could (and should) improve with time.
However, at this point in the first round, you bet on talent, especially if a player has the work ethic to improve.
Our mock draft selection this year is a bit later than we’ve been accustomed to. Still, we had our pick of some highly-skilled forwards, and went with a player who already has a Carolina connection.
www.canescountry.com
I don't see anything in here or during the time that says "safe bet to be a 200 ft player" with limited upside.
