Veteran Defenseman Derrick Pouliot Adds to Blue Line Depth

Pouliot in an April 1 game in Cedar Park
(Credit: Ross Bonander/Texas Stars)

On the July 4th holiday, Dallas announced an additional free agent signing, inking Derrick Pouliot to a one-year, two-way deal. The contract will likely see Pouliot, a former first rounder, play the coming season in Cedar Park.

Texas will certainly need the depth with the expectation that up to four fresh rookies could be lacing them up on the blue line. Lian Bichsel, Artem Grushnikov, Gavin White and Christian Kyrou are all possibilities. Pouliot adds to the experience from alternate captain Alex Petrovic and recently re-upped Jerad Rosburg. There is also some expectation that Gavin Bayreuther, despite his one-way contract, could be destined for Cedar Park in the fall. Michael Karow is also with Texas on a two-year AHL deal.

Pouliot will be most familiar to Texas Stars fans from his time with the Rampage in the COVID-shortened 2019-20 campaign. He also skated for the Barracuda last year, playing against Texas just twice. He is a three-time AHL All Star and was a black ace during Pittsburgh's 2016 Stanley Cup win.

Here's the release:

Dallas Stars General Manager Jim Nill announced today that the club has signed defenseman Derrick Pouliot to a one-year two-way contract, which will run through the 2023-24 season.

Pouliot, 29, played eight games for San Jose in 2022-23 and recorded two assists (0-2—2). He played 37 games for the San Jose Barracuda of the American Hockey League (AHL), where he earned 25 points (4-21—25). He ranked second among club defensemen in goals (4), assists (21) and points, and led club defensemen in power play goals (3).

Pouliot has appeared in 221 career NHL games with Pittsburgh, Vancouver, St. Louis, Vegas, Seattle and San Jose and has earned 54 points (8-46—54). He played in two Stanley Cup Playoff games in 2016 with the eventual Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins. In the AHL, the Estevan, Saskatchewan native has tallied 167 points (36-131—167) in 276 regular season games and five points (2-3—5) in 12 Calder Cup Playoff games.

The 6-foot, 205-pound defenseman was originally selected by Pittsburgh in the first round (8th overall) of the 2012 NHL Draft.