Blackhawks To Acquire Derrick Pouliot

Speaking on Daily Faceoff Live, David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reports that the Chicago Blackhawks are acquiring defenseman Derrick Pouliot from the New York Rangers. Pouliot has spent the entire 2025-26 campaign with the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack.

Pouliot is nearly exclusively an AHL talent at this point in his career. Since the 2019-20 season, Pouliot has tallied six assists in 26 NHL contests, averaging 14:45 of ice time split between the St. Louis Blues, Vegas Golden Knights, Seattle Kraken, San Jose Sharks, and Dallas Stars.

Still, he’s been a stable top-four presence in the AHL throughout that stretch. Since joining the Stars organization ahead of the 2023-24 campaign, Pouliot has registered 18 goals and 127 points in 186 games.

Despite being a rebuilding club for the last several years, the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs don’t have that kind of stability on the blue line. Prospect Kevin Korchinski is the team’s leading scorer among defensemen with two goals and 23 points in 45 games. Pouliot will immediately become the team’s offensive leader on the blue line, despite playing in seven more games than Korchinski.

Unfortunately, it’s unlikely that Pouliot will enjoy a trip through the Calder Cup playoffs with the IceHogs. The team is on the outside looking in with a 19-31-2-2 record. They’re currently ranked sixth in the AHL’s Central Division. They would have to find their way into the top five of the division to qualify for the postseason.