Pittsburgh Penguins Acquire Defenseman In Surprise Trade With the Buffalo Sabres
The Pittsburgh Penguins have been fairly active thus far in 2024/25, and now they've made another move to acquire blue liner Colton Poolman from the Buffalo Sabres.
This season has been a whirlwind thus far for the Pittsburgh Penguins, and after putting together some solid momentum in recent times, they once again find themselves competing for a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
However, they've had some injury issues to deal with, especially on the blue line as they have just recently activated Marcus Pettersson from IR before sending veteran Kris Letang to Injured Reserve.
Now, they've made a move to get some solid depth, as the team have acquired defenseman Colton Poolman from the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for forward Bennett MacArthur.
Poolman was undrafted out of North Dakota, while making his professional debut in the AHL back in 2020, but since that point he has yet to develop into a potential NHLer, despite extensive gametime in the AHL with Calgary during that time.
The 29-year old Poolman will report to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the AHL immediately, and given that he's yet to play a game in the NHL, it's certainly an intriguing move for the Penguins to make.
At 29-years of age, Poolman has been an AHL regular for the last five seasons, tallying a career high of 14 points back in 2023/24 with the Calgary Wranglers, but with solid size at 6-foot-1, it's easy to see why he would be an attractive piece as a depth defenseman.
It's unclear if the Penguins see him as a potential piece on their blue line in 2024/25 or whether this is purely just an AHL trade, but for now it's easy to see that the team are being proactive in making moves, and with the team looking to build for the future and make a run in 2025, they've made some very intriguing moves.
