Thursday, October 10, 2019

Zach Bogosian Autographed Card

I started following Zach Bogosian's career when the Atlanta Thrashers selected him third overall in 2008, a strong year that also featured Steven Stamkos (1st), Drew Doughty (2nd), Alex Pietrangelo (4th), Luke Schenn (5th), Colin Wilson (7th), Tyler Myers (12th), Erik Karlsson (15th), Jake Gardiner (17th), Luca Sbisa (19th), Michael Del Zotto (20th), Jordan Eberle (22nd), John Carlson (27th), Jacob Markstrom (31st), Slava Voynov (32nd), Jake Allen (34th), Roman Josi (38th), Justin Schultz (43rd), Derek Stepan (51st), Travis Hamonic (53rd), Marco Scandella (55th), Braden Holtby (93rd), T.J. Brodie (114th), Gustav Nyquist (121st), and Cam Atkinson (157th).

At 6'3", 215 pounds, decent speed, a good shot and above-average passing, I expected a Jay Bouwmeester-like career trajectory for him - 30-35 points most year, a three- or four-year run at or around 40, fewer penalty minutes than would be warranted at his size and perhaps a Stanley Cup run or two in a 15-to-18-year career. I expected that, like Bouwmeester, some folks might feel he was drafted too high, but that he would carve out an interesting career regardless.

J-Bo's career currently looks like he could perhaps even reach the 20-year plateau while Bogosian's been struggling with injuries since 2010, affecting his stats line and standing, first with the Winnipeg Jets and now with the Buffalo Sabres. I would never go as far as this "fan" did on Twitter (kudos to Bogosian for the adequate reply), but I would understand if his salary was cut in half on his next deal (his $5.142M cap hit expires in June).

Still, we're talking about a guy who is young enough to play for at least five more seasons at the level of a #4D if he wanted to; he'll just have to decide if it's worth the trouble; maybe he'd even prefer playing overseas in a less aggressive, talent-first league, such as in Switzerland, Finland or France.

Here he is on card #538 from Panini's 2013-14 Score set, showing him wearing the Jets' white (away) uniform:
He signed it with someone else's skinny blue sharpie in late 2018 after a game against the Montréal Canadiens, and the #47 he tagged it with represents the number he wore in Buffalo at the time - he's currently assigned to sweater #4 - not the #44 he wore in Winnipeg, which is where I'm slotting him in my Jets Numbers Project.

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