Who cares how many mistakes he makes? Find out what he can and can not do.
It is a well established fact at this point that the Pittsburgh Penguins do not have a particularly deep farm system. Or even a good farm system. In fact, it is a pretty bad farm system. But the one player in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton that might have something of a future in the NHL is 2019 first-round pick Sam Poulin, and he is getting a call up to the big club following an injury to Noel Acciari.
You know what?
It’s time to find out about him.
He is 23 years old, he is not really a true “prospect” anymore (more of a suspect, I’d say), has produced reasonably well in the AHL this season and the Penguins, for all intents and purposes, have nothing else to play for this season.
I know they are not mathematically eliminated from playoff contention, but realistically speaking they are and everybody knows it. I know it. You know it. The coach seems to know it. The players probably absolutely know it.
So let’s find out about some people. Let’s find out about Sam Poulin.
He got a brief three-game cup of coffee in the NHL a year and played nine minutes per game. That’s not good enough. Other young players on the roster this season under head coach Mike Sullivan have been given laughably short leashes and get stapled to the bench as soon as they make a mistake. That can’t happen here.
Let him play.
I don’t want to see him be a healthy scratch.
Do not put him on the bench for a turnover or blown coverage in the defensive zone.
I don’t care if he doesn’t score a single goal.
Give him 15 minutes a night, turn him loose, and see what he can do.
What is the worst that happens? He doesn’t score and is responsible for some goals against? My friends, we are already there with everybody else on the roster.
Adding to the incentive to find out about him is the fact he is a restricted free agent after this season. You have to decide if he is worth tendering a contract to or re-signing, or if you just move on. You are not going to get a better chance than right now.
You have 12 games remaining, your team is playing for nothing, and he is one of the few reasonably young players in the organization that might be able to be a part of this team in the mid-range future. Play him. Play him a lot.
I have nothing else to add here other than play him.