Penguins A to Z: Colton Poolman will likely need to move on (again)

With the Pittsburgh Penguins entering the offseason for a third consecutive year without a playoff appearance, TribLive will offer Penguins A to Z, a player-by-player look at all 57 individuals signed to an NHL contract – including those whose deals do not begin until future seasons — with the organization.

Starting with Noel Acciari and going on through to Philip Tomasino (regrettably, there is no Z on the payroll), every player will be profiled in alphabetical order.

This series is scheduled to be published Mondays through Saturdays leading up until June 24, four days before the start of the NHL Draft. In the event of a transaction, that schedule will be altered as necessary.

(Note: All contract information courtesy of Puckpedia.)

Colton Poolman

Position: Defenseman

Shoots: Left

Age: 29

Height: 6-foot-1

Weight: 200 pounds

2024-25 AHL statistics: 20 games, five points (one goal, four assists),

Contract: Signed to a one-year, two-way contract with a salary cap hit of $775,000. Pending unrestricted free agent this upcoming offseason.

Acquired: Trade, Jan. 3, 2024

This season: After four seasons as a steady presence in the lineup for Calgary Flames’ American Hockey League affiliates — the Stockton Heat and Calgary Wranglers — Colton Poolman joined the Buffalo Sabres during the 2024 offseason as an unrestricted free agent.

That change in scenery led to less playing time, however. Poolman was scratched for 26 of a possible 31 games with the Rochester Americans, the Sabres’ AHL affiliate. In total, Poolman had one assist in the five games he dressed for Rochester.

With the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins going through a surge of injuries and absences on the blue line around New Year’s Day, Poolman was acquired via trade to add a steady veteran on the battered back end.

Placed in the lineup immediately on the left side of the third pairing, Poolman skated in 11 of 12 games between Jan. 4 and Feb. 7, collecting two assists over that span.

After being scratched for seven consecutive games, Poolman returned to the lineup on Feb. 23 and scored his only goal of the season during a 5-4 road overtime loss to the Providence Bruins.

Pools scores his first as a Pen! pic.twitter.com/pfRl0PZIcU

— Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) February 23, 2025

The rest of the season was uneventful for Poolman. He played in three additional games, none past March 16. An undisclosed injury virtually ended his season by mid-April. He did not play in either of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s two postseason games.

The future: It’s probably safe to assume Poolman will be moving on as a pending unrestricted free agent.

He was almost strictly brought in to help fill out the roster when injuries sidelined a handful of incumbents and it’s difficult to say Poolman, a defensive defenseman, made much of a notable impact.

Additionally, there will be an influx with younger defensive prospects such as Daniel Laatsch, Emil Pieniniemi and Chase Pietila who will be battling for ice time with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton next season.

To be clear, Poolman has been a viable AHL-level defenseman. In his three previous seasons, he routinely skated in 60 or more games for the Flames’ affiliates, helping those squads reach the postseason all three times. But for a variety of reasons, things fell off a cliff for him in 2024-25, with two different teams.

Poolman, who turns 30 on Dec. 18, will likely need to move on (again) to get another opportunity.