Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Michael Sgarbossa Autograph Card

Not all trades are blockbusters, and yesterday's deal between the Colorado Avalanche sending Michael Sgarbossa over to the Anaheim Ducks for stay-at-home minor-league defenseman Mat Clark didn't make many of the Trade Deadline recap shows, but the undrafted center from small-town Ontario has been pretty consistent at the AHL level, producing at half a point per game on terrible Lake Erie Monsters teams where no one in the top-20 in scoring is in the plusses.

Don't get me wrong, Sgarbossa will need to round out his play without the puck if he aims to stick in the NHL, and perhaps add some grit or will into his game, because his offensive skills - while not bad - aren't nearly enough for him to have a permanent spot on an NHL second line.

He had a spectacular 44-point (in 57 games) rookie campaign in the AHL that led him to an All-Star Game in 2012-13, but was limited to 20 points in 49 games last year (though he had 5 in his first 8 games) and 23 in 40 this season, both a sign of a regression and a testament to just how bad his surroundings were.

Here he is, wearing the Avs' burgundy (home) uniform with the awful piping, from Panini's 2013-14 Contenders set (paper-thin card #206 of the Rookie Ticket and Dual Rookie Class sub-sets), signed on-card in blue sharpie:

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