Stars sign former top-10 pick to one-year contract

The Dallas Stars have inked defenseman Derrick Pouliot to a one-year contract worth $775,000 in the NHL and $325,000 in the AHL.

Pouliot played the 2022-23 season as a member of the San Jose Sharks organization. He played most of the season with the San Jose Barracuda in the AHL, scoring four goals and 25 points in 37 games there. He also played eight games for the Sharks, scoring two assists.

Pouliot is a depth defenseman who has been a full-time AHLer since 2019-20. At 29 years old, he solidified his role as a solid AHL defender but not a regular NHL player. He was drafted eighth overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2012 NHL Draft.

After two years in the WHL following the draft, he played a few years in the Penguins’ organization before being traded in 2017 to the Vancouver Canucks for Andrey Pedan and a fourth-round pick. In Vancouver, he had his most success in the NHL, playing two full seasons there of 71 and 62 games, respectively. He put up a combined 34 points in that span and in 2017-18 he ranked second in points among Canucks’ defensemen, behind only Alexander Edler.

Over the last few seasons, Pouliot has bounced from team to team on one-year deals and was once claimed off of waivers by the Seattle Kraken from the Vegas Golden Knights. Pouliot will be playing the 2023-24 season with the San Diego Gulls of the AHL as a depth defenseman for the Ducks.

Over his nine-year professional career, Pouliot has scored eight goals and 54 points in 221 NHL games as well as 36 goals and 167 points in 276 AHL games. He will join Drew Helleson, Brayden Tracey and other Ducks’ prospects in the AHL next year with the Gulls.