The Calgary Flames have officially traded Jeremie Poirier to the Dallas Stars’ organization in exchange for AHL defenceman Gavin White. This is a very small move in the grand scheme of the Flames’ world, but it marks the end of the road for a once highly touted prospect in Calgary. What went wrong for Jeremie Poirier?
Who is Jeremie Poirier?
Once expected to be a late first-round pick, the Flames ended up selecting Poirier in the third round in the 2020 NHL Draft. That season for the Saint John Sea Dogs, Poirier had nearly a point-per-game as a defenceman, which put him second in the league in scoring behind his teammate and defence partner William Villeneuve.
The problem for Poirier wasn’t putting the puck in the net, but rather keeping the puck out of his own net. Defensively, Poirier struggled with both his zone defence and with keeping guys to the outside. This was a major problem, but one that the Flames likely thought to be fixable.
At that point, there was some talk about potentially playing him up front. When The Win Column interviewed Poirier, he specifically talked about how he enjoyed being able to drive play up the ice from the back end.
Poirier would go on to play the next two seasons in the QMJHL with Saint John, and while his point totals got smaller, his defensive game got better. He went from a -25 in his draft year to winning the Memorial Cup and finishing with a +30 in his final year.
The Q is a scorers’ league and is not known for developing players with the same strength along the boards as other leagues are. This is a challenge that faces many players across the NHL that spent time in the league, including current Flame Jonathan Huberdeau.
Poirier’s AHL career
Poirier made the jump to the AHL the following season and put up 41 points in 69 games as a rookie. This was good for 16th among defencemen league-wide, and second on the team behind Nick DeSimone.
Unfortunately, the following year, Poirier would suffer a nasty laceration when a skate blade tore through his arm. There were concerns that he wouldn’t play again after that, but he managed to put up a surprising 42 points in 71 games the following season. He led all defencemen on the Wranglers in points, and it was surprising that he didn’t earn a look at the NHL level last season.
A forgettable final season in Calgary
This year has been a major drop-off for Poirier. He has just a goal and six assists, and has fallen way down the depth chart. In his final game, he was playing on the second pairing behind a top pairing of Daniil Miromanov and Artyom Grushnikov. Yikes! You would expect him to be in the lineup ahead of this pairing after last season.
On top of that, the Flames have two rookie right-shot defencemen who have taken most of the space on the right side in Hunter Brzustewicz and Zayne Parekh. It’s hard to see how Poirier gets a spot in the NHL with those two pushing.
It was time for a change of scenery for Poirier, and it’s good to see him getting one in Dallas. The return isn’t great in White, but this isn’t a trade worth crying over. While it will be a story of what could have been, we wish Poirier nothing but the best as he goes on to join the Stars’ organization.
