The Tampa Bay Lightning have never been afraid of taking chances on young players who have struggled in other markets. Exhibit A, and perhaps one of the biggest steals post-lockout, is Teddy Purcell. The Lightning acquired a struggling Purcell from the Los Angeles Kings in a trade that has certainly helped the Lightning more than it has the Kings. Since the trade, Purcell has developed into a top-line threat with the Lightning and a great team player. So, it was with that in mind that Steve Yzerman went out and acquired Benoit Pouliot this summer.
Pouliot, the 2005 4th overall pick of the Minnesota Wild, has struggled over the course of his NHL career. After being a very solid scoring threat in junior, it was assumed that Pouliot, with his size, would easily step into the NHL game. On paper, he has all the attributes a team wants in a young asset; he’s big, he’s got good hands and he’s not a poor skater.
When the Lightning signed Pouliot, the dollar amount just seemed a little off. At $1.8million for the 2012-13 season, the Lightning seem to have some reasonable expectation that Pouliot will be able to produce at the NHL level. Unfortunately, history dictates that this expectation might be a little bit of a stretch. With 16 goals and 32 points for the Boston Bruins last season, Pouliot was far from an offensive force. Combine that with the fact that he’s not exactly a defensive specialist and all of a sudden this signing just got a hell of a lot more confusing.
With young guns like JT Brown, Cory Conacher and Brett Connolly all poised to take on a bigger role next season, does Pouliot really fit into the roster? If you ask me, no. Pouliot is simply another spare part for the Lightning to play around with. Those who have him penciled into a top-six role with the Bolts simply need to take a look at his career stats to see that he doesn’t fit in. Pouliot, as mentioned, is a former 4th overall draft pick. Throughout his career he has been given every opportunity on the face of the planet to succeed. Unfortunately, he hasn’t.
With all that said, it’s time, once again, to leave the decision making up to you guys. On the message boards, give me your thoughts on this signing. Are you as pessimistic as I am about Pouliot’s ability to contribute with the Lightning? As always, thanks for reading.
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