It's safe to say Pouliot is the biggest name to come out of tiny St. Isidore, Ontario. It's also safe to say that few monitoring Pouliot's youthful hockey career would have seen big things coming for the forward, who was selected by the Minnesota Wild with the No. 4 pick in the 2005 NHL Draft.
As a gangly, 155-pound 15-year-old in 2002, Pouliot was cut by Sudbury, the team that had chosen him in the 11th round of the Ontario Hockey League Draft that year, and released by Hawkesbury of the second-tier Canadian Junior Hockey League.
It's safe to say Pouliot is the biggest name to come out of tiny St. Isidore, Ontario. It's also safe to say that few monitoring Pouliot's youthful hockey career would have seen big things coming for the forward, who was selected by the Minnesota Wild with the No. 4 pick in the 2005 NHL Draft.
As a gangly, 155-pound 15-year-old in 2002, Pouliot was cut by Sudbury, the team that had chosen him in the 11th round of the Ontario Hockey League Draft that year, and released by Hawkesbury of the second-tier Canadian Junior Hockey League.
Sylvain Pouliot, Benoit's father, who was also his minor-league hockey coach, inspired his son to make the most of his size, speed, powerful shot and strength (Pouliot is 6-foot-3, 200 pounds). Sylvain Pouliot, who died at 44 from leukemia, never got to see his middle son play in the NHL, but Benoit did crack Sudbury's OHL lineup before his father's death.
That was during a brief, late-season call-up in February 2004. Pouliot followed that with a pair of strong, full OHL seasons with Sudbury and earned a spot with Team Canada, which won a gold medal at the 2006 World Junior Championship.
After parts of four seasons with Minnesota, Pouliot was traded to the Montreal Canadiens on Nov. 23, 2009. He signed with the Boston Bruins on July 1, 2011, and spent one season each with Boston and the Tampa Bay Lightning before signing with the New York Rangers for 2013-14. He played a key role as a gritty, two-way wing as the Rangers advanced to the Stanley Cup Final, where they lost to the Los Angeles Kings in five games.
Pouliot's strong season prompted the Oilers, who were looking to add size at forward, to sign the free agent left wing to a five-year contract in July 2014.
NOTES & TRANSACTIONS
- OHL All-Rookie Team (2005)
- OHL First All-Star Team (2005)
- OHL Rookie of the Year (2005)
- Canadian Major Junior All-Rookie Team (2005)
- Canadian Major Junior Rookie of the Year (2005)
- Traded to Montreal by Minnesota for Guillaume Latendresse, November 23, 2009.
- Signed as a free agent by Boston, July 1, 2011.
- Traded to Tampa Bay by Boston for Michel Ouellet and Tampa Bay's 5th round pick (Seth Griffith) in 2012 NHL Draft, June 23, 2012.
- Signed as a free agent by NY Rangers, July 5, 2013.
- Signed as a free agent by Edmonton, July 1, 2014.
- Signed as a free agent by Buffalo, July 1, 2017.
