He had already dealt with the expectations that come with being a high draft choice; at age 15, he was the No. 1 pick by Portland in the 2009 Western Hockey League Bantam Draft.

A swift-skating, puck-moving defenseman, Pouliot was selected by Pittsburgh with the No. 8 pick in the 2012 NHL Draft.

A swift-skating, puck-moving defenseman, Pouliot was selected by Pittsburgh with the No. 8 pick in the 2012 NHL Draft.

He had already dealt with the expectations that come with being a high draft choice; at age 15, he was the No. 1 pick by Portland in the 2009 Western Hockey League Bantam Draft.

Pouliot joined the team for the start of the 2010-11 season and fit right in, scoring five goals and 30 points in 66 games as Portland advanced to the Memorial Cup. Later that summer, Pouliot helped Canada's under-18 team win a gold medal at the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament.

Pouliot would spend three more seasons with Portland, helping the club reach the 2013 Memorial Cup championship game and make the WHL finals all four seasons. He had 13 goals and 60 assists in 85 playoff games and was named to the 2013 Memorial Cup All-Star team.

Pouliot earned Defenseman of the Year honors in the Canadian Hockey League - which constitutes three junior leagues - in 2014. He also appeared with Team Canada at the 2014 World Junior Championship before turning pro.

After he split time initially between Pittsburgh and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in the American Hockey League, his breakthrough came when he spent most of the second half of the 2015-16 season with the eventual Stanley Cup Champion Penguins.

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