Colton Poolman had unique role mentoring Jeremie Poirier last season

Colton Poolman has played his entire professional career in the Calgary Flames’ affiliation system. This season with the Wranglers, he had an important mentorship role on the second defence pairing with Jeremie Poirier (and we know how Poirier’s season turned out). He is one of those players that fills a lineup well. Doesn’t hurt or help the team exponentially but can play a role. Here’s a look at how his season looked with Calgary. 

By the numbers

Regular season

Poolman played the majority of the regular season skating in 64 of 72 games. He wasn’t super flashy about points and big plays, but he didn’t need to be. Being Jeremie Poirier’s regular defensive partner left most of the big plays to the other side of the blue line. 

Colton Poolman earned a total of 14 points in the regular season with two goals and 12 assists. One of his goals ended up being a game-winner. He wasn’t one to get into a lot of scrums either with only eight minutes of penalty time logged the whole year. 

With the 2022-23 season being his third with the Flames’ affiliate and second season under Mitch Love, he was in a great position to provide guidance to an up-and-coming rookie with a ton of potential. It may not have been super noticeable on the ice, but you have to give Poolman some credit for the confidence Poirier developed over the year. 

Post-season

Despite some of the shifts in the lineup once the Wranglers got deep into their playoff series, Poolman still played all nine post-season games. He did not register any points and finished up with a -7 rating. His shot totals finished up at 10. 

His defensive partner, on the other hand, finished second in team scoring in the post-season. Now Poolman doesn’t get a lot of media time, but if he were asked about his role on the team, he seemed to understand what he needed to do. 

Next season

This left-handed defender is one of the recent signings the Flames organization has made in the last few days. Poolman was a UFA and signed a one-year, two-way contract extension. He is expected to start the season with the Wranglers and while an NHL opportunity is not super likely at this point, the door is not completely shut. 

Rating 

Colton Poolman is one of those players that tends to slide under the radar and out of the spotlight some of his teammates take up. Even so, he helps lift his teammates up even if that means he doesn’t get all the glory. He gets his fair share of minutes too. For Poolman’s year, I give him a C rating.