Kevin Poulin’s return to North America wound up being short-lived. The pending Kings unrestricted free agent has opted to head back overseas as IF Bjorkloven of the Swedish Allsvenskan announced that they’ve signed him to a one-year contract with a one-year option if the team earns a promotion to the SHL.
The 30-year-old found himself without a team for a good chunk of the season before Detroit brought him in on an AHL tryout on Boxing Day to serve as injury insurance. The Kings lured him away in February with an AHL contract and then converted him to an NHL deal two weeks later to give them the option to recall him later in the season following the trade of Jack Campbell to Toronto. However, the pandemic shut down any possibility of that happening and so his season wrapped up with just seven AHL games where he posted a 2.62 GAA with a .914 SV%.
Poulin has parts of five years of NHL experience under his belt, all with the Islanders and his deal with the Kings at least provided a chance for him to get another chance. However, with the uncertainty surrounding next year in the AHL, heading to Sweden where there is a likelier chance of games being played is the safer move for him at this point. Los Angeles likely won’t need to sign a replacement for him either as prospect Jacob Ingham will be eligible to turn pro next season and should take Poulin’s place with AHL Ontario.