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Over the weekend top Penguins defense prospect Derrick Pouliot was named the top defenseman in the CHL.
Pouliot played in 58 games and had 17 goals and 53 assists during the Portland Winterhawks regular season. He added an additional 5 goals and 27 assists in 21 playoff games.
Pouliot is a brilliant young player when it comes to the offensive side of the game. This season he saw an increased workload on the penalty kill as well as other more defensive situations. The importance of improving on the defensive side of the puck has not been lost on Pouliot:
“I learned that I had to work hard on my conditioning – making sure that I’m in shape – and especially my defensive game,… Pouliot said. “I just saw, when I was at camp, that you have to be able to play both sides of the puck equally as well as you can. So that’s something that I’ve been working on for the past four years in Portland and I’m lucky it’s a teachable skill, so I can definitely add that to my game and I’m going to keep improving on that.…Both Penguins coaches and players have said that when Letang focuses on defense first, the offense comes effortlessly. And Pouliot said having that same mentality throughout the season helped him record career highs across the board.
“When you play solid defensively and you can spend a very little amount of time in your end, I think my offensive abilities are pretty good and I have confidence in those,… Pouliot said. “So if you can get out of your zone and spend more time in the offensive zone, the numbers and the points and the rest of my game will kind of take over and speak for themselves.…
Pouliot had an outside chance of making the Penguins roster out of training camp next year but those plans will need to be put on hold because of his surgery to repair a torn labrum in his shoulder. Pouliot will miss the next 4-6 months and he will more than likely begin his professional career down in Wilkes Barre Scranton.
While winning the CHL defenseman of the year award is a great honor, it does not always guarantee NHL success. Here are some of the more recent winners of the award:
2013–14 Derrick Pouliot, Portland Winterhawks 2012–13 Ryan Sproul, Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds 2011–12 Dougie Hamilton, Niagara IceDogs 2010–11 Ryan Ellis, Windsor Spitfires 2009–10 David Savard, Moncton Wildcats 2008–09 Jonathon Blum, Vancouver Giants 2007–08 Karl Alzner, Calgary Hitmen 2006–07 Kris Russell, Medicine Hat Tigers 2005–06 Keith Yandle, Moncton Wildcats 2004–05 Danny Syvret, London Knights 2003–04 James Wisniewski, Plymouth Whalers 2002–03 Brendan Bell, Ottawa 67's 2001–02 Dan Hamhuis, Prince George Cougars 2000–01 Marc-Andre Bergeron, Shawinigan Cataractes 1999–00 Micki Dupont, Kamloops Blazers
It will be up to Pouliot to show that he can handle the defensive workload necessary in the professional game in order for him to make the big club. If he is able to make a seemless jump to the professional level his puck skills will be a trenmendous addition to the Penguins back end in the 2014-2015 season and beyond. An added bonus would be getting quality minutes from a player on his ELC, something the Penguins have not done a great job with in recent memory (sans Maatta).
Derrick Pouliot isn’t the only top Penguins prospect having success this year in the CHL. Penguins top goaltending prospect Tristan Jarry successfully led his Edmonton Oil Kings to the Memorial Cup Championship. This caps off what was a very successful season for Jarry.
Jarry led the WHL this season with 44 wins, a 2.24 GAA and 8 shutouts. During the playoff run Jarry had a save percentage of .925%.
Jarry is not close to being NHL ready but these are some good signs so far. Next year will say a lot of the young man’s potential moving forward as the Oil Kings will be losing some key personnel on defense, namely Griffin Reinhart. If Jarry can continue to play well in net while not competing with a championship caliber team in front of him that will be a positive sign moving forward.
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The Penguins have begun the process of completing their 2nd round of interviews for the vacant GM position. There has not been a lot of information leaked about who the actual candidates are to this point, everything so far has been speculation.
If and when the new GM dismisses Dan Bylsma the replacement will not be former Nashville Predators Head Coach Barry Trotz. Trotz was hired by the Washington Capitals yesterday.
Also of note is that the Capitals promoted Brian MacLellan to GM. He was previously the Capitals Assistant GM. This means that Ray Shero will not be joining the Capitals as their new General Manager.
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Hockeybuzz readership has spoken, it is time for Brooks Orpik to move on from the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Thanks for reading!
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