Sam Poulin takes leave of absence from Pittsburgh Penguins for personal reasons

The Pittsburgh Penguins have announced that forward Sam Poulin has taken a leave of absence due to personal reasons.

The Penguins didn’t list the reason, and are not expected to. The team said he’ll continue training at home in Quebec and will return when he’s ready.

“The Penguins support Sam’s decision to take time away from hockey to focus on himself,” Penguins GM Ron Hextall said in a statement on Wednesday. “As with all of our players, our priority is them as individuals first. We look forward to having him back with the team when he is ready.” 

Poulin has skated in three games with Pittsburgh this year, recording an assist. He has four goals in 13 AHL games after a slow start to the season, his second in the QMJHL. Drafted in the first round in 2019, Poulin made his mark as a scoring threat with the QMJHL’s Sherbrooke Phoenix. He had a career-high 77 points in just 46 games as captain in 2019-20 and has represented Canada at the U-17 and U-18 level. He made his pro debut with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins last year, scoring 16 goals and 37 points in 72 games.

Poulin was considered a prime call-up candidate due to his status as one of the best prospects in the Penguins organization. For now, the focus is on making sure he takes care of himself and we can hopefully see him back before too long.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton currently sits fifth in the Atlantic with an 11-6-3 record. Despite that, the team has gotten good performances from prospects Valtteri Puustinen and Filip Hallander, while Dustin Tokarski has been one of the best goalies in the league. The Pittsburgh Penguins are one of the hottest teams in the league right now with an 8-1-1 record, including a three-game winning streak.