Sam Poulin headlines an interesting waiver situation brewing in Pittsburgh

How the Penguins handle training camp cuts will be noticed around the NHL

Many interesting players hit the waiver wire at the end of training camp each year. That’s still a few weeks away, since camps haven’t even officially opened yet, but Sam Poulin is already in some internet chatter about being a top candidate.

From Marco D’Amico at Responsible Gambling:

But it’s the rebuilding clubs like the Montreal Canadiens, Anaheim Ducks and Calgary Flames that may have the most to gain,” said the source regarding which teams could get involved in brokering trades or jumping on waiver claims.

In fact, those three teams all rank in the top 10 of the current waiver priority order due to finishing in the bottom 10 of the 2023-2024 standings. There are some roster holes to plug, especially in Calgary and Anaheim, and a list of intriguing waiver-eligible players is available this fall.

Players like Justin Barron (MTL), Samuel Bolduc (NYI), Ville Heinola (WPG), Zac Jones (NYR), Raphael Lavoie (EDM) and Samuel Poulin (PIT) could all be available on waivers in the right situation.

For a rebuilding club looking to give an opportunity to a younger player, this year’s waiver pool could be one of the more interesting ones. And, let’s not forget that there usually is and likely will be a few surprises.

The Penguins are looking at putting at least a few fairly interesting players on the waiver wire, no matter how training camp battles end up working out. Only Rutger McGroarty, Ville Koivunen and Vasily Ponomarev are waiver exempt this season of Pittsburgh’s young players on the fringe of the lineup. All of Poulin, Valtteri Puustinen, Cody Glass, Jesse Puljujarvi and Emil Bemstrom would have to be made available to the rest of the league as a waiver claim if they are cut from Pittsburgh’s NHL roster. Barring injury or trades, it figures there won’t be space for a handful of those names mentioned above.

As mentioned above, Poulin probably would be the most appealing around the league, he is a former first round pick and he hasn’t really had the opportunity to play in the NHL (just six career games) due to his development and a couple of unfortunately timed injuries. At this point he’s the poster boy for why waivers exist in order to give a young-ish player with potential upside the opportunity to move onto a new team.

This could be where the contract signed comes into play as a factor to help Pittsburgh retain Poulin if he’s subjected to waivers. Poulin is starting to a two-year, one-way contract in 2024-25 that will pay him a full NHL salary of $775,000 in both years, regardless of whether he’s in the NHL or not. That means the team that’s taking him on has to consider absorbing the real total salary of $1.55 million when taking a chance on him, should he not work out in the NHL and if no one else claims him away.

Such an issue would be absolute small potatoes and no problem at all for a large market team like Montreal to pay an NHL salary in the AHL (if it came to that), but a more budget conscious team like Anaheim or Columbus might think differently about a two-year commitment and turn to a less costly alternative.

The Pens could also try to find a way around waiving Poulin, especially should they come to the conclusion he would be claimed. There is enough cap space on hand to keep a 14th healthy forward this year, one more than the typically cap-strapped Penguins usually break camp with. It would make sense on some levels, should Poulin’s training camp performance merit it, to keep him on the team if they earnestly believe he’s got something to offer the club this season.

There’s also the fact that in recent years more often than not players who are claimed on waivers end up getting re-waived in the same season. That’s illustrated by the brief period in the fall of 2022 when Calgary claimed Radim Zohorna on waivers, only to put him back on the wire weeks later, or the plight last year of Matthew Phillips going from Washington to Pittsburgh and back to the Capitals’ organization in less than a month. Even if Poulin is waived and then claimed, odds would be fairly decent for the Pens to be able to foster a reunion, should they want it.

The waiver wire itself won’t be an A, B or even C storyline for training camp, but general team management will be interesting to follow.

The Pens have:

• Plenty of holdovers at the bottom of the roster from last year in Lars Eller, Noel Acciari, Puustinen, Bemstrom and Puljujarvi, but perhaps no locks to make roster other than the first two (or maybe three)
• A bevy of new forwards who are likely to make the roster in Blake Lizotte, Kevin Hayes, and Anthony Beauvillier
• A top prospect in McGroarty that is going to be in the NHL mix sooner than later, and possibly right from the start
• A yet unknown plan and placement for a newcomer in Glass
• AHL players they like in Poulin and Ponomarev
• And let’s not forget an injured but rehabbing Matt Nieto

That adds up to a lot to sort out and likely far more players than spots available when camp breaks. The quality doesn’t blow you away, the sheer volume sure does.

If Poulin hits the wire, the rest of the league will surely notice it and some teams will at least consider a claim. How the Pens navigate that, assuming they even feel the need to do so, will be yet another factor in the construction of the team coming out of camp.