CRANBERRY, Pa. -- Sam Poulin is doing better and is focusing on the future.
It was back on Dec. 7 that Poulin, the Penguins' 2019 first-round pick, took a leave of absence for personal reasons. He left Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and went back home to be with his family in Quebec for the next three months.
Poulin announced his return on March 15, and disclosed that his absence was a result of taking care of his mental health.
"Three months ago, I made a decision to take a break from hockey and return home to take care of myself and my mental health," Poulin wrote on Instagram at the time. "After seeking the help I needed, I am now ready to return to Wilkes-Barre to rejoin my team. I want to thank everyone who helped get me through this difficult time, including my family, my girlfriend, my friends, my medical team, the entire Pittsburgh Penguins organization, my teammates, and the fans, who showed unconditional love and support."
Poulin ended his announcement with a message to those who might also be struggling with their mental health.
"I strongly encourage everyone to speak openly about mental health because it affects us all," he wrote. "For those who may be struggling, please know that you are not alone."
Poulin spent the last month of the AHL season in Wilkes-Barre, where he mostly practiced with the team and worked on getting back in game shape. He got into two games in April as part of that recovery process, then went back home to Quebec for the offseason.
Now, Poulin is back in Cranberry for the Penguins' annual prospect development camp. It's not a camp that players of Poulin's experience level would typically be included in, but it's another step Poulin is taking to get back up to his usual form.
"You know, I didn't play for a couple of months," Poulin said of the challenges moving forward. "For sure, my body is not really used to that stress again. I just have to be patient with the process and eventually I'll get back to where it was."
Where Poulin left off before taking his leave was pretty good. He had four goals in 13 games for Wilkes-Barre before, primarily centering the second line. He was recalled to the NHL during the Penguins' Western Canada road trip and made his NHL debut in Calgary on Oct. 25. He had one assist in his debut, his lone point in the three NHL games he played before being re-assigned to the AHL.
He learned a lot from those three games, as well as in the larger experience of practicing and being with the team before his re-assignment.
"The schedule's a bit different," Poulin recalled. "(The NHL) play every, like, two days, and they don't really practice that much compared to the AHL. So that was one thing that I noticed that was different. For someone that was not really always in the (game) roster, it's just a matter of always being ready. You never know when they're going to call your name, so you've just gotta be ready to play."
Poulin doesn't know if he's going to be able to push for a spot on the NHL roster out of training camp. He's not thinking about timelines or putting too much pressure on himself to get back up to form by any deadline. He's just focusing on remaining patient with the process.
"We'll see where it takes me," Poulin said. "And if I got to go back to Wilkes, it'll be fine.. And if I make the (NHL) team, that'll be fine too. I just want to be better as a person every day and hockey will come second after. It's just a matter of getting my health back to where it was."
Wilkes-Barre head coach J.D. Forrest didn't want to dwell on the past or timelines or anything like that either. The most important thing to him is just to see Poulin back and doing well.
"Right now we're just happy he's here," Forrest said Saturday. "You know, he's in a great spot. We're looking forward with all that. He's a great kid. We're happy he's involved in all this. He was fantastic out there today. So I'm sure he had a lot of fun, which I think is really important right now. We're just moving forward with it."
Maybe Poulin pushes for a mid-season call up after he gets some time to get re-acclimated at the AHL level. Maybe he can be a real contributor to the bottom six. Right now, that's all secondary to how Poulin is doing as a person. And he is having fun, that's clear from watching him in camp these last two days. That's better to see than anything else.
"I worked a lot on myself in the past couple of months," Poulin said. "Right now I'm just in a good place and just ready to play hockey. That's what matters for me right now. ... I've played hockey since I was three or four years old. That's what I like to do with my life. That hasn't changed. I'm just happy to be back at the rink and on the ice."
