Benoit Pouliot made his Bruins' debut last night while Jordan Caron took a seat in the press box in the latest segment of the battle for a spot on Boston's third line. Pouliot only saw 7:30 of ice time, but on his first shift, he laid a good hit on Lightning defenseman Brett Clark. He also had two shots that were good scoring chances. "Everybody seemed to like him tonight for the amount of ice he got," said coach Claude Julien. "I thought his energy was good, he competed hard, he made some good things happen, and I like the direction he took tonight. He's certainly continuing to show us that as he gets more comfortable, he seems to be bringing a little bit more. We all seemed to be happy with his game."

Benoit Pouliot and Jordan Caron appear to be in a battle for a spot on Boston's third line. "It's not easy coming to a new team," Pouliot said. "You've got to learn everything. In the preseason, I tried to stick to the small, little things. The big things are going to fall into place after that, like the goals and the points. For now, I've just got to learn everything that's going on and work on the things I have to work on." He's had to adjust to a new system, but has shown some strong play during the preseason. We'll keep you posted on what the team decides. The Bruins kick off their 2011-12 season on Thursday night when they host the Philadelphia Flyers.

Benoit Pouliot is excited to face his former team in the next two preseason games. The Bruins play the Canadiens tonight in Halifax, Nova Scotia, then again tomorrow night at the Bell Centre in Montreal."I'm pumped," Pouliot said. "It's going to be fun going back there. The last few years I played there were good. Now I'm playing with the Bruins. I know how much fun these games are. It's going to be awesome." We don't anticipate seeing a drastic rise in his fantasy value this season now that Pouliot is a member of the Bruins.

Benoit Pouliot's boarding penalty on Wednesday might be an example of the league cracking down on those times of hits. In an effort to minimize concussions, the league seems to be cracking down on boarding calls. Benoit Pouliot found that out first hand when he was issued a penalty for boarding in the third period of Wednesday's preseason contest. "That was weird, I don't know about that penalty there," said Pouliot. "I thought I had shoulder to shoulder and it was a little far from the boards. But there are new rules every year. You'll get used to it. It's going to eliminate a lot of injuries if they keep calling it that way. It's just a matter of us adjusting to it. The guys will pick it up pretty quick."

Benoit Pouliot is expected to face competition at training camp for his spot on Boston's third line. Tryout Chris Clark and Jamie Arniel are projected to be in the mix for the position, but Pouliot's speed and ability to score may give him the edge. Coach Claude Julien said that Pouliot could be a consistent contributor back when the team signed him as a free agent, but we don't anticipate seeing a drastic rise in his point totals this campaign.

Bruins coach Claude Julien thinks Benoit Pouliot can be a consistent contributor in Boston. Pouliot, a former fourth overall pick, has never scored more than 15 goals or 30 points in a single season. "We've seen Nathan Horton come in here, and everybody knew about his skill level but they kind of questioned whether he can get consistent, and he showed that he can," Julien said. "So we feel the same way about Pouliot, that he's going to come in and be that same kind of consistent player and kind of grow from there. He's a young player, I think 24, so a lot of potential there." We like what Julien is saying for the most part, but we have to take issue with using Horton as an example. Although Horton was a big help for Boston, he went from recording 57 points in 65 games in his last season with Florida to 53 points in 80 contests with Boston. So, at least in terms of the numbers that matter most to fantasy owners, Horton didn't really take his game to another level after the move. All the same, we recommend keeping an eye on Pouliot.

Benoit Pouliot has signed a one-year/$1.1 million contract with the Boston Bruins. Pouliot became an unrestricted free agent after the Canadiens decided against giving him a qualifying offer. He had 30 points and 87 penalty minutes in 79 games last season.

Benoit Pouliot didn't get a qualifying offer from the Montreal Canadiens on Monday. He will become an unrestricted free agent on July 1 as a result. Pouliot recorded 13 goals and 17 assists in 79 games with Montreal this past season, but he appeared in just three playoff contests after being relegated to the press box as a healthy scratch. He'll be looking for another team on Friday along with defenseman Alexandre Picard and forward Tom Pyatt after they weren't tendered qualifying offers from the Canadiens either.