What are the pros and cons to Benoit Pouliot game?
He’s really good at drawing penalties, and he can help drive a line. He showed real well with McDavid in limited numbers (who hasn’t). His contract is a big reason why people became dissatisfied. He had a disastrous 2016-17 that saw him score just 14 points and was relegated to the bottom six (or scratched) because the Oilers unloaded 42 million dollars on Milan Lucic. The emergence of Patrick Maroon on McDavid’s wing also contributed heavily to this.
Where do you see him as far as the line he’s on and what type of linemmates would he thrive in?
Right now, Pouliot fits on the mid six, I’ve got him going on Buffalo’s third line to open 2017-18, but he can absolutely play on the second line. You got him for a bargain bin price too, which is nice. He’ll do well with an uptempo attack. Putting him on a line with Zack Kassian didn’t do well for him, and I don’t think putting him with Girgensons would be a good idea.
Why did you guys buy him out?
He had a real bad 2016-17, and the Oilers are about to enter cap hell in 2018-19. I’m not really sure why they opted to take a 1.3 hit on their cap for the next four years instead of pumping him up with McDavid and trying to move him out if they lost interest.
I read he takes stupid penalties. Is that the case and if so what kind?
This is like when everyone wanted Tim Connolly’s head on a plate for being ‘soft’. Pouliot had 34 total penalty minutes in 67 games last year, which ranked him sixth on the Oilers. For reference, Adam Larsson had more than that. The knives have been out for Pouliot for a couple of years now. I’m surprised “he’s last on the ice, first off” hasn’t been trotted out yet.
The Sabres want to run a fast pace offense, how do you see him fitting in?
Put him on your second and wind him up. He’ll be fine.
Anything else worth mentioning about him as far as advanced stats or we haven’t covered?
He’s almost certain to bounce back from fourteen points If we forget about 2016-17, you’d be real excited about this signing. I feel comfortable saying 35-40 points on the third line, more if he’s in your top six.
For more great info on the former Oiler, be sure to check out The Copper and Blue on SB Nation!
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