Penguins A to Z: An injury derailed Xavier Ouellet's first season with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton
With the Pittsburgh Penguins’ 2022-23 season coming to an end without any postseason action, the Tribune-Review will offer Penguins A to Z, a player-by-player look at all 49 individuals signed to an NHL contract — including those whose deals do not begin until next season — with the organization, from mid-level prospect Corey Andonovski to top-six winger Jason Zucker.
This series will publish every weekday leading into the NHL Draft on June 28 and 29.
(Note: All contract information courtesy of Cap Friendly.)
Xavier Ouellet
Position: Defenseman
Shoots: Left
Age: 29
Height: 6-foot
Weight: 200 pounds
2022-23 AHL statistics: 29 games, 17 points (two goals, 15 assists)
Contract: In the first year of a two-year, two-way contract with a salary cap hit of $762,500. Pending unrestricted free agent in the 2024 offseason.
Acquired: Unrestricted free-agent signing, July 13, 2022
Last season: For the better part of the two-plus decades the Penguins have had their American Hockey League affiliate based in Northeast Pennsylvania, they have not been shy about stocking Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s blue line with veteran defensemen.
Whether it was John Slaney, Patrick Boileau, Alain Nasreddine, Micki DuPont, Andrew Hutchinson, Corey Potter, Alexandre Picard, Dylan Reese, Taylor Chorney, Will O’Neill, David Warsofsky, Cameron Gaunce, Kevin Czuczman, Zach Trotman, Chris Summer, Stefan Elliott, Taylor Fedun or Matt Bartkowski, the Penguins have always seemed to have one (or two) defenseman around who can skate on Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s top pairing and provide a measure of veteran leadership to the team’s younger prospects.
Xavier Ouellet continued that tradition when he joined the Penguins last offseason.
An AHL All-Star, Ouellet served as captain of his previous team, the Laval Rocket, over four seasons with that squad. A former second-round pick (No. 48 overall) of the Detroit Red Wings in 2011, his blend of skill and presence made him a desirable target on the AHL market, and that led to the Penguins extending him a two-year, two-way contract that carries a price tag of $450,000 at the AHL level, a fairly high salary in that league.
Ouellet largely lived up to his billing upon arrival. Opening the season on the second pairing with right-hander Mitch Reinke, Ouellet, who served as an alternate captain, was a steady presence. As the team’s leading scorer among its defensemen, he was selected for the AHL’s All-Star Classic in early January.
His season came to an end in late December, however, as a result of an ankle injury that required surgery by mid-February.
The future: Presuming a full recovery, Ouellet will once again be one of the top players in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton next season.
A native of France, Ouellet, who turns 30 on July 29, is a high-end defenseman at the AHL level who can also provide plenty of guidance to the Penguins’ rising prospects. And in the event of absences on the NHL roster, he can even step in as a reliable recall.
Were he healthy, Ouellet, who is capable of playing either side of a defensive pairing, would have likely seen some NHL action in March — instead of Fedun — when injuries really ravaged the NHL roster.
As for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Ouellet could have offered so much more had his injury not derailed his first season with the organization.
Seth Rorabaugh is a TribLive reporter covering the Pittsburgh Penguins. A North Huntingdon native, he joined the Trib in 2019 and has covered the Penguins since 2007. He can be reached at srorabaugh@triblive.com.
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