Canadiens gamble on former first-round pick and announce two signings

The Canadiens added two more names to their crowded organizational depth chart on Wednesday, headlined by forward Samuel Poulin.

General manager Kent Hughes also brought in defenseman Ethan Samson, both signing one-year, two-way contracts.

It's been a busy day at the Bell Centre. Alex Bélzile and Kaapo Kähkönen already put pen to paper earlier Wednesday, and now Hughes keeps adding names.

Poulin is the one worth watching here. Pittsburgh took him in the first round back in 2019, and the Quebec native carried real offensive upside into the league.

That upside never translated. He's bounced around without ever locking down a permanent NHL role, and now, at 24, he's chasing a reset in Montreal.

Is this a low-risk flier or another retread heading nowhere? Depends who you ask, but Hughes clearly believes his development staff can find something others missed.

Samson brings a different kind of value. The 22-year-old defenseman joins the organization looking to keep climbing, adding another body to a blue line pipeline that already runs deep through Laval.

Kent Hughes bets on Laval's development track again

This isn't Hughes writing big checks on July 1. It's Hughes stacking depth pieces, the kind of move that barely registers on a Wednesday news cycle but can pay off two years down the road.

Poulin's size and versatility could make him a factor with the Rocket almost immediately. Whether that translates into another NHL look remains the real question.

Samson, meanwhile, gets more runway to prove he belongs, without the pressure of a one-way contract hanging over him.

Neither signing moves the needle today. But Hughes has built a track record of finding value in players other organizations gave up on, and Montreal's system is exactly the kind of environment where a stalled prospect either breaks through or fades out for good.