Penguins Prospects: More on Sam Poulin; Tristan Broz’s NHL Push (+)

WILKES-BARRE, PA — Rutger McGroarty might be the high-profile prospect working his way from the AHL to the NHL, but that doesn’t mean the list of players with big goals in their hearts ends there.

The incredibly deep Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins roster has won 11 of its first 17 games, a significant upward trend from a team that was prospect-barren just a couple of years ago. Unlike recent years, the roster sports several players with NHL potential and a handful more with NHL experience.

Not long ago, the only prospect in the system seemed to be 2019 first-rounder Sam Poulin, who is still fighting an uphill battle.

Read More: Pickering Moves Past Ryan Graves, Still Trending Upward

For Poulin, it’s been a rocky road. He’s played just three NHL games in each of the last two seasons before getting the longest run of his career, a solid six games, this season.

However, his run ended just as the others did, with no goals and re-assignment back to WBS. He’s no longer waiver-exempt but went unclaimed after he didn’t make the NHL club out of training camp. In that situation, one could imagine a young player who was supposed to be part of the future might feel a few raw emotions after another uncomfortable conversation.

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