Émile Poirier

Émile Poirier (born December 14, 1994) is a Canadian professional ice hockey forward. He is currently playing for the Pétroliers de Laval of the Ligue Nord-Américaine de Hockey (LNAH). He was selected by the Calgary Flames in the first round, 22nd overall, at the 2013 NHL Entry Draft.

Émile Poirier
Poirier with the Iserlohn Roosters in 2022
Born (1994-12-14) December 14, 1994
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Height 6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Weight 200 lb (91 kg; 14 st 4 lb)
Position Right wing
Shoots Left
LNAH team
Former teams		 Pétroliers de Laval
Calgary Flames
HC Košice
Dinamo Riga
Djurgårdens IF
Iserlohn Roosters
NHL Draft 22nd overall, 2013
Calgary Flames
Playing career 2014–present

Playing career

A native of Montreal, Poirier began his junior hockey career with the Gatineau Olympiques of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) in 2011–12. He appeared in 67 games, scoring 15 goals and 40 points.[1] Previously unheralded, Poirier improved to 70 points in 65 games in 2012–13; he was the team's scoring leader, 16 points ahead of his nearest teammate.[2] He established himself as a top-40 prospect for the 2013 NHL Entry Draft. The NHL Central Scouting Bureau placed him 39th in their final pre-draft list, and Poirier moved higher in the projections with a standout performance in the playoffs; he had ten points in ten playoff games, including six "highlight reel" goals.[3]

Capable of playing at either the wing or at centre, Poirier is a fast skater, though he says his style is "not pretty".[4] Describing his playing style, Poirier stated: "I love to play hard. I compete, got to the net hard and fight a little bit, too. I want to bring energy."[5] He was invited to attend summer camp for the Canadian national junior team ahead of the 2014 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.[5] At the draft, Poirier was selected in the first round by the Calgary Flames, 22nd overall.[6]

Returning to Gatineau, Poirier had his best season as a junior in 2013–14.[7] He set career highs and led his team with 43 goals, 44 assists and 87 points to go along with a plus-minus rating of +30.[8] He also signed an entry-level contract with the Flames,[7] and joined Calgary's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Abbotsford Heat on an amateur try-out agreement after Gatineau was eliminated from the QMJHL playoffs.[9] Poirier scored a goal in his first professional game,[10] then added another to go with two assists in his second as the Heat prepared for the AHL playoffs.[11] Following the season, the Flames announced that Poirier had played the year with a bad shoulder that required surgery.[12]

Poirier missed the first month of the 2014–15 season while recovering. He was assigned to the AHL's Adirondack Flames when healthy and scored twice in his first game.[13] The 20-year-old forward scored 30 points in his first 42 games with Adirondack and was the youngest player in the AHL All-Star Game.[14] He was recalled to Calgary on February 23, 2015,[14] and made his NHL debut the following night in a 1–0 loss to the New York Rangers.[15] Poirier recorded his first NHL point with an assist on a goal by Mikael Backlund on March 3, 2015, against the Philadelphia Flyers.[16]

After his fourth full season within the Flames organization, Poirier was released as a free agent when he was not tendered a qualifying offer as a restricted free agent. Un-signed over the summer, Poirier without an NHL deal, accepted a professional try-out contract to begin the 2018–19 season, with the Manitoba Moose, affiliate to the Winnipeg Jets, on October 4, 2018.[17] Poirier was limited to just 24 games through injury, registering 8 points.

As a free agent following a full season with the Moose, Poirier was unable to secure a contract over the summer. Returning to attend the Manitoba Moose training camp, Poirier was signed to a professional tryout contract to begin the 2019–20 season on October the 4th, 2019.[18]

After spending his first season abroad with Slovakian club, HC Košice of the Slovak Extraliga, Poirier continued his career by moving to Latvian-based club, Dinamo Riga of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), on a one-year deal on June 3, 2021.[19] In the following 2021–22 season, Poirier made 39 regular season appearances with Dinamo, registering 9 goals and 18 points before leaving the club to close out the season with Swedish club, Djurgårdens IF of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL), on February 16, 2022.[20] He added 3 goals and 5 points through 11 games, however was unable to prevent Djurgårdens IF from relegation to the Allsvenska.

On July 19, 2022, Poirier returned to North America after signing as a free agent to a one-year AHL contract with his hometown club, the Laval Rocket.[21] After attending training camp, Poirier was unable to make the Rocket season opening roster and was reassigned to ECHL affiliate, the Trois-Rivières Lions, before later opting to terminate his contract before the commencement of the 2022–23 season on October 20, 2022.[22]

On October 27, 2022, Poirier resumed his European career in signing a one-year contract with German club, Iserlohn Roosters of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL).[23] In 2022–23 season, Poirier recorded 14 goals and 26 points in 40 regular season games. With Iserlohn missing the playoffs for the second consecutive season, Poirier left the club at the conclusion of his contract on March 10, 2023.[24]

Career statistics
Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2011–12 Gatineau Olympiques QMJHL 67 15 25 40 53 4 1 0 1 8
2012–13 Gatineau Olympiques QMJHL 65 32 38 70 101 10 6 4 10 14
2013–14 Gatineau Olympiques QMJHL 63 43 44 87 129 9 7 3 10 26
2013–14 Abbotsford Heat AHL 2 2 2 4 0 3 1 0 1 2
2014–15 Adirondack Flames AHL 55 19 23 42 50 — — — — —
2014–15 Calgary Flames NHL 6 0 1 1 0 — — — — —
2015–16 Stockton Heat AHL 60 12 17 29 51 — — — — —
2015–16 Calgary Flames NHL 2 0 0 0 2 — — — — —
2016–17 Stockton Heat AHL 43 6 11 17 64 — — — — —
2017–18 Stockton Heat AHL 65 7 24 31 35 — — — — —
2018–19 Manitoba Moose AHL 24 3 5 8 17 — — — — —
2019–20 Manitoba Moose AHL 50 6 8 14 48 — — — — —
2020–21 HC Košice Slovak 18 9 8 17 14 4 1 2 3 4
2021–22 Dinamo Riga KHL 39 9 9 18 46 — — — — —
2021–22 Djurgårdens IF SHL 11 3 2 5 13 — — — — —
2022–23 Iserlohn Roosters DEL 40 14 12 26 48 — — — — —
NHL totals 8 0 1 1 2 — — — — —
KHL totals 39 9 9 18 46 — — — — —

References
  1. "Emile Poirier statistics". Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Retrieved July 1, 2013.
  2. Peterson, Torie (July 1, 2013). "Numerology: Emile Poirier". Calgary Flames Hockey Club. Retrieved July 1, 2013.
  3. Campbell, Don (June 26, 2013). "Olympiques star Poirier could be a surprise first-round pick". Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved July 1, 2013.
  4. Mellas, Connor (July 1, 2013). "Rebuilding Flames use first-rounders on forwards". National Hockey League. Retrieved July 1, 2013.
  5. Sportak, Randy (July 1, 2013). "Pressure on Poirier, Klimchuk". Calgary Sun. p. S5.
  6. Cruickshank, Scott (July 1, 2013). "Picks boiled down to best players available". Calgary Herald. p. C1.
  7. Vickers, Aaron (February 25, 2014). "Poirier has future in mind during QMJHL playoffs". National Hockey League. Retrieved April 20, 2014.
  8. "Skaters, 2013–14, Gatineau Olympiques". Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Retrieved April 20, 2014.
  9. Sportak, Randy (April 18, 2014). "Heat welcome Flames picks". Calgary Sun. p. S11.
  10. "Youngsters Poirier and Carr star as Heat blank Rampage 3-0". Abbotsford News. April 19, 2014. Retrieved April 20, 2014.
  11. "Poirier's three points sees Heat finish AHL season with 4-3 win against Stars". Vancouver Sun. April 19, 2014. Retrieved April 20, 2014.
  12. Cruickshank, Scott (June 6, 2014). "Flames kicking tires but won't pay a high price to move up in NHL draft: Burke". Calgary Herald. Retrieved November 3, 2014.
  13. Nearhos, Diana C. (November 1, 2014). "Emile Poirier shines in first game". Glens Falls Post-Star. Retrieved November 3, 2014.
  14. Gilbertson, Wes (February 24, 2015). "Poirier gets the call". Calgary Sun. p. S4.
  15. Sportak, Randy (February 25, 2015). "Poirier solid in NHL debut". Calgary Sun. p. S2.
  16. Cruickshank, Scott (March 4, 2015). "Flames survive lapses, top Flyers on Ramo's back". Calgary Herald. p. C1.
  17. "Moose reveal opening day roster". Manitoba Moose. October 4, 2018. Retrieved October 4, 2018.
  18. "Moose announce opening night roster". Manitoba Moose. October 4, 2019. Retrieved October 4, 2019.
  19. "Canadian striker Poirier will play with Dinamo Riga" (in Latvian). Dinamo Riga. June 3, 2021. Retrieved June 3, 2021.
  20. "Center Emile Poirier to Djurgårdens" (in Swedish). Djurgårdens IF. February 16, 2022. Retrieved February 16, 2022.
  21. "Rocket agree to terms on a one-year, two-way contract with Emile Poirier". Laval Rocket. July 19, 2022. Retrieved July 19, 2022.
  22. Laval Rocket (October 20, 2022). "Rocket announce mutual termination of contract with Poirier". Twitter. Retrieved October 20, 2022.
  23. "Emile Poirier moves to Iserlohn" (in German). Iserlohn Roosters. October 27, 2022. Retrieved October 27, 2022.
  24. "Results of the end of season talks" (in German). Iserlohn Roosters. March 10, 2023. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
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