Viktor Stålberg Signed Puck

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Three years ago today, journeyman checking left winger Viktor Stålberg retired from hockey after nine NHL seasons and four more in the Swiss League (plus a 29-game stint in the KHL after his second season in Switzerland).

Hailing from Gothenburg, Sweden, Stålberg grew up idolizing Toronto Maple Leafs star Mats Sundin, so it was a dream come true when the Leafs selected him 161st overall (in the sixth round) in 2006, after which he signed on to play with the University of Vermont Catamounts, where he was the school's first Hobey Baker finalist since Martin St-Louis. He has since rejoined his alma mater as an advisor to the coaching staff.

After just one season in Toronto, he would be traded to the Chicago Blackhawks, where he would post a career-high 43 points (22 goals and 21 assists, both marks nearly double what he would be able to produce in any other NHL season) and win the Stanley Cup in 2013, before leaving as a free agent to join the Nashville Predators on a four-year, $12M deal that would be bought out halfway.

He would sign on with the New York Rangers for the 2015-16 season and split the following year between the Carolina Hurricanes and the Ottawa Senators, with whom he reached Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Final.

Throughout his NHL career, Stålberg was officially diagnosed with three concussions (one of which he barely missed a couple of games for) and a slew of shoulder, knee and rib injuries, often playing through pain and grinding out tough minutes at a rate of 13-14 per game on average.

Upon returning to Europe, free from covering the other team's top players, he finished fourth in Swiss League scoring with 22 goals and 50 points in 48 games, making the media's All-Star Team and being named Best Forward by the same group. His final two seasons were also productive, as he posted 31 points (14 goals and 17 assists) in 46 games in 2019–20 and 29 points (13 goals and 16 assists) in just 35 games in 2020–21.

He signed this Rangers puck in thin silver sharpie while playing for the Canes in 2016:

The Rangers are currently the best team in the East and should make the playoffs in the Metropolitan Division with the Hurricanes and New Jersey Devils, and it is my impression that whoever wins between the Rangers and Devils will make it to the Stanley Cup Fiinal.

Pavel Buchnevich Autograph Card

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The New York Rangers made waves yesterday by trading 26-year-old Pavel Buchnevich to the St. Louis Blues for Samuel Blais and a second-round pick; I've read a lot of nonsense online about how the Rangers got fleeced in the deal, essentially giving up a first-liner for a bottom-six forward and a pick that will at best be a plugger - but that is simply not true. Blais often played on the Blues' top unit, making space for Ryan O'Reilly and David Perron to create plays, and was a heart-and-soul member of the 2019 Stanley Cup-winning team. Buchnevich, on the other hand, finally played up to his offensive potential, posting a career-high 48 points in just 56 games - two more than he had put up in 68 games in 2019-20 - just in time to cash in on a four-year deal worth $5.8M per season; he was arbitration-eligible and could have gone to free agency next summer.

That's deifnitely top-6 money, and he's definitely a top-6 talent, but some Blues fans may be asking too much of him to fill in for injury-depleted former star winger Vladimir Tarasenko - prime-level Tarasenko was elite, whereas Buchnevich's upside is a one- or two-time All-Star "at best" (it's still pretty freaking good on a team that won a Cup recently and has hardware winners).

Both teams will get what they want out of this trade,but chances are the Rangers have a better shot at feeling like they got more than expected, whereas the Blues may end up 115% underwhelmed compared to what they felt they were obtaining.

Here is Buchnevich on one of my favourite themed sets, the Signature Pucks sub-set from Upper Deck's 2018-19 Trilogy collection, wearing the Rangers' classic white (away) uniform and featuring a silver-sharpied autograph on a minuscule puck embedded in the card itself:

That level of penmanship is rare nowadays. This card once had a book value of roughly $15, it now oscillates between $40-50.

Rangers Preview: Anson Carter Jersey Card

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This will likely be the preface to all of this year's Season Preview posts: 2020 is a different beast and requires adaptability; in my case, it means the joint posts with my "main/personal" blog will not be in the "player here/analysis there" format but rather the entire scope of the analysis will take place here and the player will have some sort of direct connection to what's written. Caveats: at this point, despite the season being set to start in Mid-January, several impact players haven't found a team yet and quite a few teams are currently above the salary cap, which means there is much maneuvering left to do.

That being said, the New York Rangers are, surprisingly, one of the few teams who have some kind of control over their current cap, with just under $4.9M in cap space (including the $3.95M cap penalty because of all the bonuses on their contracts), and they only have 43 NHL contracts when most teams are near the limit of 50. They can acquire a star at the deadline to help push them over the edge and into a playoff spot if at all possible for GM Jeff Gorton (Covid-19 regulations and quarantine rules pending).

What makes their odds look good:
The Rags fast-tracked their rebuild last season with the acquisition of Artemi Panarin, who helped Mika Zibanejad complete his development into a true #1 centre. Ryan Strome has found his niche centering the middle-six in Manhattan, and he will be able to draw on his own experience to help guide the first-overall pick in the last draft, Alexis Lafrenière, around the difficulties that lie with high expectations. Speaking of high expectations, expect 24-year-old rookie Igor Shesterkin to be annointed the #1 goalie, ahead of Alexandar Georgiev - a duo David Quinn and the rest of the coaching staff were so confident in that the team bought out Henrik Lundqvist on a year where it will be mandatory to have three healthy goalies on hand. Vitali Kravtsov is another highly-touted rookie, but even though he is 20 years old (two years older than Lafrenière), he shouldn't be expected to make the team for another two seasons, because at 6'3" and 189 pounds, he's expected to become a power forward, and they take longer to develop and get comfortable with their bodies; he will also need to add more muscle to his frame.

The defense is impressive, particularly the right side with Jacob Trouba, Adam Fox and Tony DeAngelo. Someone on the right might actually get sacrificed to spruce up the left side, where veterans Brendan Smith and Jack Johnson have seen better days.

Question marks:
Can rookie goalies actually cut it in today's NHL? Does Kaapo Kakko require a couple of seasons in Europe to perfect his game and learn to play against, equal and eventually dominate against men? How long will Chris Kreider be worth his cap hit before age or karma start to collect on the many hits he's dished out over the years?

Outlook:
The Rangers are definitely on the rise and will be fighting for the last playoff spot in their division with the injury-depleted Boston Bruins and the fading Pittsburgh Penguins; they might surpass the Pens next season, but we're probably not there yet.

Prediction:
Sixth in the Metropolitan/East Division.

When the NHL and Adidas announced their "Reverse Retro" program in November, my very first thought was to feature the Lady Liberty jersey in my preview post, I just wasn't certain which player I would go with; I opted for Anson Carter, because I liked him a lot and because the jersey appears very clearly on card #110 from Upper Deck's 2003-04 SP Game-Used Edition set and SP Star Fabrics sub-set:

What a great jersey! The card itself features a blue game-worn swatch, but it could be from the Rangers' traditional uniform, as it's brighter than the Liberty one, I believe.

Kids these days mostly know Carter as a "former player" and NBC Sports and MSG Network analyst, but he was a heck of a hockey player. Originally a Québec Nordiques draft pick, he was sent to the Washington Capitals by the relocated Colorado Avalanche for a fourth-rounder after failing to sign a contract with the team despite having been named a CCHA First-Team All-Star in 1993-94 and 1994-95 and Second Team All-Star in 1995-96 with the Michigan State Spartans (my guess is the team was already overcrowded with offensive talent, having just won the Stanley Cup, and they wanted to kick the can of integrating young talent farther down the line).

He didn't stay long in Washington, as the team packaged him with Jason Allison, Vezina-winning goalie Jim Carey, a 1997 third-round pick (Lee Goren) and a conditional 1998 pick in a trade for the Bruins' top centre Adam Oates, starting goalie Bill Ranford and declining power forward Rick Tocchet. His 13 points in 19 games to close off the 1996-97 season were an instant hit in Boston, and while his 43 points in 78 games the following year had Bruins fans worried, he quickly gained back their trust and admiration with 46 goals, 41 assists and 87 points in his next 114 games in consecutive, injury-filled seasons in which he showed a lot of grit and emotion.

The turn-of-the-millennium Bruins were rebuilding around 20-year-olds Joe Thornton and Sergei Samsonov, so anyone 25 and older was trade bait, even long-time captain Ray Bourque, so Carter was sent to the Edmonton Oilers with the first-round pick that became Ales Hemsky and the second-rounder that became Doug Lynch, as well as a conditional pick in the 2003 draft, for Bill Guerin and a first-rounder in the 2001 draft (Shaone Morrisonn).

Carter would excel in Edmonton, posting 42 points in 61 games in 2000-01 and exploding with 28 goals, 32 assists and 60 points in 82 games the following year in the midst of the Dead Puck Era, a production he followed with 25 more goals and 55 more points in just 68 games until the Oilers pulled the trigger on a deal themselves, sending him along with Ales Pisa to the Rangers for Cory Cross and Radek Dvorak.

He became a bit of a journeyman at this point, spending just under a calendar year in NYC, with the Rangers themselves sending him back to Washington (for the services of Jaromir Jagr, no less), who themselves sent him to the Los Angeles Kings a couple of months later after just 19 games (10 points); he'd close out the 2003-04 season with 15 games (with 1 assist) in L.A before signing a one-year deal with the Vancouver Canucks in 2005-06 and splitting the 2006-07 campaign between the Columbus Blue Jackets (54 games, 27 points) and Carolina Hurricanes (10 games, 1 goal).

His year in Vancouver was as remarkable as his time in Edmonton, hitting the 30-goal mark for the first time (33) to go with his 55 points.

He's also a three-time gold medal winner with Team Canada, at the 1994 World Juniors and 1997 and 2003 World Championships. He now resides in Atlanta.

Rick Nash, Henrik Lundqvist & Chris Kreider Jersey Card

A guy who had a good run. A Hall of Fame goaltender who for a brief period (3-5 years) was the best at his profession on the planet. A guy who has a habit of running into goalies:

That's Rick Nash, Henrik Lundqvist and Chris Kreider on an all-New York Rangers jersey card, although the Nash swatch looks like it's from his Columbus Blue Jackets days. It's #PT3-NLK from Upper Deck's 2015-16 Premier set, Premier Teammates sub-set, and is numbered 79/99.

Nash was the NHL's first-overall draft pick in 2002, and despite a slew of injuries that took him from team captain and Rocket Richard Trophy winner elite player to depth checker, he still has a good chance of finishing first in career points of his class even if he never plays another game: his 805 points are nearly 200 more than his closest pursuer, Alexander Steen, who himself has slowed down to a 35-to-40-point pace at this point. Duncan Keith is probably the only Hall Of Famer of that draft year.

Lundqvist "only" has one Vezina Trophy to his name, but his dominance and consistency is something I never witnessed from any other goalie in my lifetime - and I saw almost every game of Patrick Roy's career, most of Martin Brodeur's and possibly half of Dominik Hasek's. Like Roy, he elevated his game under pressure, but not to the point of winning a Stanley Cup by himself. He needed all the might of Team Sweden to win Olympic gold in 2006.

Kreider is an asshole. He has the size, grit and overall talent to be on the same level as Blake Wheeler or Brad Marchand, but instead seems to rest on his laurels when the situation would require him to step up. He rarely scores less than 20 goals but has never reached the 30-goal plateau; he rarely gets fewer than 40 points but has never reached 55. His first two playoff goals were game-winners, but it seems like that's where he stopped putting any effort in.

He's delivered a ton of dirty hits to opposing players (those on Scottie Upshall and Elias Petterson come to mind), but even dirtier, he specializes in dangerous contacts with #1 goaltenders, among them Jaroslav Halak, Marc-André Fleury, Craig Anderson, and Carey Price.

He's the type of player I wouldn't mind never hearing of again, like Marchand.

Henrik Lundqvist Jersey Card

(As per years past, this is a twin-post with my "regular" blog, where I predicted the New York Rangers would finish sixth in the Metropolitan Division in 2019-20).

9/11 seems like as good a day as any to mention the team playing in Manhattan and its best player of the past 15 years, star goalie Henrik Lundqvist.

"Hank" is one of only eight active NHL goalies with a Vezina Trophy on his resume, and one could certainly make a case for why he should have two. If there was an award for most consistent over the longest period of time, he'd definitely get it:

from HockeyDB

I mean, so many seasons under 2.50 goals-against average, so many seasons above a .920 save percentage, most of them hovering near or reaching the 70-game plateau, so it's almost not surprising he's the only goalie in NHL history with 11 30-win seasons in his first 12 seasons - a feat even workhorse and trap benefactor Martin Brodeur never achieved.

He's even better in the postseason:

from Hockey-Reference

There has been a decline, however, as the Rangers have gone through a rebuilding process - not just of his play and stamina, but of the team's entire defense corps, meaning he gets better quality chances against, so he has a tougher job, so it's a bit of a vicious circle.

Many consider him a butterfly goalie, but I don't: he plays too deep in his crease (pictures 1-2), his glove is a tad too high (3, in that regard, he really has inspired the styles of many goalies a generation younger than he is) and his stance is too wide  - butterfly goalies' feet should be at of near the shoulders, whereas King Henrik's skates are usually out past his gloves even when standing (4-5). He does have the flat pad that butterfly goalies have perfected (6).

1. Instead of challenging the shooter, he gives him ample room to aim and get his bet shot in.

2. Instead of cutting the angle by coming out, Lundqvist remains deep and relies on his reflexes.

3. High glove, the high end even above the crossbar.

4. Wide stance ready for either a shot of a pass across.

5. This wider stance means he's expecting a shot and is ready to go down.

6. The "butterfly" technique's main advantage is that the flat pad nullifies the bottom 20% of the net completely.

Instead, I like to call his style "the brick wall", where he is usually right in front of the goal line, relying on his laser-accurate reflexes to stop high pucks with his glove or blocker, and expecting the rest to hit him on the pads or chest (7-9):

7. Remaining along the line enables Lundqvist to slide across while remain perpendicular to the middle of the net, parallel to the position of the net.

8. While remaining deep even on breakaways, by moving along the goal line, he is less likely to get thrown completely out of position.

9. Giving the shooter ample room and staying square in front of the net enables Lundqvist to stop shots in a butterfly-like position to kick the pad out of danger.

The thing about reflexes is they fade over time, sometimes drastically.

Still, it's extremely difficult to dismiss Lundqvist's mental strength and ability to will himself into one final spectacular season, provided he gets enough rest and plays no more than twice a week during the regular season and can accept being in net for, say 12-14 of the 16 wins a Stanley Cup victory requires, letting the younger Alexandar Georgiev handle the rest (and even outplay him for weeks at a time).

Here's the King, wearing the Rangers' classic white (now-away) unifrom on card #GJ-HL from Upper Deck's 2015-16 Series 2 set and UD Game Jersey sub-set, sticking to his goal post as he should, watching the puck in the corner:

It features a matching white game-worn jersey swatch. What a beautiful card and picture!

Kevin Klein Jersey Card

In case you missed it, former NHLer Kevin Klein announced his retirement in March, after two seasons as the alternate captain of the Zurich ZSC Lions of the Swiss league, which itself followed a retirement from the NHL's New York Rangers, a move that was decried at the time as being cap circumvention, as he was due $2.9M in the final year of his contract, which would have counted as "dead money" against the cap due to his supposed back spasms but would have stopped him from playing elsewhere, whereas by retiring, his entire cap hit was off the Rangers' books and he was free to pursue a career in Europe.

He did pretty well in Switzerland, too, with 22- and 24-point seasons (in 45 and 47 games, respectively) from the blue line. In his first year in Zurich, the team won the Swiss championship, but failed to make the playoffs in 2018-19.

Injuries were a constant in Klein's career; he has never suited up for a full 82 games, finishing with 81 twice (both times with the Nashville Predators), then 77, then 69. He had his best seasons in New York, however, hitting the 26-point mark twice in a row, in 2014-15 and 2015-16; his next best season was a 21-point output in 2011-12.

In his prime, he was fine playing 18 to 20 minutes on a second or third defensive pairing.

Here he is wearing the Rangers' beautiful white 2014 Stadium Series uniform on card #SS-KK from SP Authentic's 2014-15 SP Game-Used Edition, by Upper Deck:

It features a fairly big matching white game-worn jersey swatch.

The Rangers have iconic jerseys, and I like the care that goes into making original yet classic-feeling new ones for the outdoor cash grabs games, be they Winter Classics or Stadium Series.

Anton Stralman Autographed Card

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One of the more puzzling moves this summer was the Florida Panthers signing defenseman Anton Stralman - to a three-year deal averaging $5.5M per, no less - when there were clear signs he has been regressing.

After all, the 33-yar-old missed 35 games in 2018-19 due to injury, and you would need to add his points total of the past two years (6 goals, 29 assists, 35 points in 127 games) to equate his final prime season (9 goals 25 assists and 34 points in 73 games in 2015-16). His possession metrics were also under 50% for only the second time in his twelve-year career, despite playing on one of the best teams of all time, the record-breaking Tampa Bay Lightning (63 regular-season wins). His plus/minus was also fifth on the team at +12, way behind his replacement, 21-year-old Erik Cernak (+25), and even farther from team leader Ryan McDonagh (+38).

A better contract would have had him at $4M a year for no more than two years, which would have better represented what he can do and how long he can do it for on the cap, allowing GM Dale Tallon more flexibility in tweaking the roster if needed, managing fan expectations, and making new head coach Joel Quenneville's job easier, too, by not having reporters raise uncomfortable questions when he's parked on the third pairing or even in the stands.

There is no way that current-day Stralman can aspire to dethrone any of the Panthers' top three defensemen (Mike Matheson, Aaron Ekblad and Keith Yandle) in total ice time, although turnover machine Yandle could benefit from seeing his five-on-five minutes diminish; then again, Yandle is the only one in that group who is a lefty. Matheson, Ekblad and Stralman all shoot right-handed. Ruh-roh.

There is also the "force of habit" factor... 2019-20 will be the first time Stralman will be playing in red. Whether it's for Team Sweden, the Toronto Maple Leafs, Columbus Blue Jackets, New York Rangers or the Bolts, he's always just worn blue.

Speaking of which, he's a card from his days in Manhattan, wearing the Rangers' white (now-away) uniform on card #291 from Upper Deck's 2014-15 O-Pee-Chee set:

He signed it in blue sharpie during the 2015 playoffs when the Bolts defeated the Montréal Canadiens.

All that being said, regardless of his cap hit and how troublesome it will be in Year Three, he is probably an upgrade over what they had on the third pairing. Sergei Bobrovsky is a definite upgrade over an aging, injured and now retired Roberto Luongo. Quenneville is one of the three best coaches in the NHL - another upgrade. The Cats already boasted a solid attack and core. After missing the postseason in six of the last eight seasons (with both playoff berths being division-winning teams), they are a good bet to enter the Spring Dance in April.

Pavel Buchnevich Jersey Card

The New York Rangers dealt with one of their more pressing issues by signing RFA Pavel Buchnevich to a two-year, $6.5M deal worth $3.25M per season on the salary cap, which amounts to more than triple his salary from the previous three seasons.

While his points-per-game average has improved in each of his first three seasons (from 0.49 to 0.58 to 0.59), his possession and shot differential stats have fallen quite a bit (50.1 CF to 48.6 to 47.4), showing that previous head coach Alain Vigneault had sheltered him at first and that perhaps current Blueshirts bench boss David Quinn can live with a few defensive lapses on his part if he can also produce at the other end of the rink.

While it's been a surprisingly reasonable summer for RFA contracts, the Rangers still currently sit at $4M above the cap with only 20 of 23 players currently on the roster after the signings of Buchnevich, Jacob Trouba and Artemi Panarin.

Common wisdom is they'll be shopping around forwards like Chris Kreider or perhaps even Buchnevich himself, but the smarter deal would be to find a way to rid themselves of an overpaid defenseman with some sort of no-movement/no-trade clause (like, say Kevin Shattenkirk or Brendan Smith) ahead of the Seattle expansion draft, or else they won't be able to protect the right players.

At age 24, we should get to see Buchnevich evolve into a flashy, consistent top-six forward who produces some 50 points per year for the two years of his bridge deal, then in the 60-70-point range on his next contract.

In the meantime, here's a jersey card from #89, card #RS-PB from Upper Deck's 2016-17 SP Game-Used Edition set and Rookie Sweaters sub-set:

It shows him wearing the Rangers' classic blue (now-home) uniform with a matching jersey swatch from a rookie photo shoot, and is numbered #499/499. I got it in a trade a couple of years ago.

Anthony Duclair Autographed Card

To many, Anthony Duclair is a mystery inside a riddle inside a maze that is lost somewhere in the vast confines of space. That's because he's a talented winger with all the tools needed to make an impact in today's NHL: tremendous speed, agile hands, a good shot and youth, as he's still just 23 years old.

But he doesn't backcheck hard enough and will make defensive mistakes (like Thomas Vanek still does at age 35, or more fittingly, like 27-year-old Evander Kane used to do, as he's closer to Duclair generationally). Or, as John Tortorella put it in late February, in his hometown of Montréal, with his parents watching the press conference on TV:

Duclair had many options to sign this summer, including a couple of two-year deals, and a two-way contract to play in his hometown (or more likely, a stint with the Montréal Canadiens' farm team, the Laval Rocket under Joël Bouchard's tutelage). Instead, he chose the Columbus Blue Jackets' one-year offer close to league minimum specifically to play under Tortorella, saying:

Before signing here, I talked to a bunch of guys that played for Torts and all I heard were good things. They all said he takes your game to another level and that's what I need, especially at this time in my career. You hear and you see all those interviews on YouTube, and all those rants, it's because he cares. He cares about his players. The main thing I heard is, "If you work hard for him, he'll battle for you."

My agent is Philippe Lecavalier, and his brother is [Vincent Lecavalier]. I talked to him a lot, about what happened in Tampa, when [Tortorella] came in and took the "C" away from him. We talked about what he went through. Then he told me it would be a good fit for me to play for him. It definitely opened my eyes, and it definitely was a no-brainer coming from a guy like that. (...)

If he calls me out, I don't take anything personal. He's just trying to make me a better player. He talks to me privately as well, he doesn't keep anything secret; if he has something to say, he says it, and as a player, you respect that a lot. Some coaches keep it to themselves and you don't get an explanation. He's going to give you that explanation every time. I like the challenge.

As usual, it's one thing to heed the warning, it's another to experience it firsthand. Torts is right in saying The Duke's got all the tools, and it isn't easy for a guy like Duclair, who was a goal-per-game regular-season producer and point-per-game postseason player on a Memorial Cup-caliber Québec Remparts team in Juniors, at point-per-game player on a gold-winning Team Canada club at the World Juniors and a 20-goal scorer in the NHL, to suddenly hear he doesn't know how to play the game, to be forced to play like old teammates of his who were never drafted, to not create plays out of nothing.

But that's the dilemma in the NHL. There are precious few who do not need to play defensively and can get their 50-60 points, but the vast majority of players need to play a perfect two-way game of chess to get middle-of-the-road stats (15-point guys turn in 25-point performances that way, and point-per-game AHLers get their 40-50 NHL points that way too). It evens the game down the middle, with creative plays fewer and further between - but they're still there at times, just once per week instead of once or twice per game; that means players can get a chance to win it for their team that once a week instead of tethering the edge of costing a game per week for their team.

That lesson is what turned Erik Karlsson and P.K. Subban into the best of their profession (although some still make the case that Subban remains risky a few times per year), and that's what separates that elite class from the decent-to-very-good, which holds the likes of Vanek, Ron Hainey in his prime, Morgan Rielly and Mike Reilly at the moment, and many more.

On the other hand, playing within the system is what makes late-round draft picks like Brendan Gallagher and projected spare forwards like Paul Byron into sure-fire 30- and 20-goal scorers.

NHL forwards are considered in their prime from ages 25 to 32; at 25, they're still in the shape they were in at 22, but stronger, and have started to use their experience to their advantage; from 30 to 32 is a stasis, where experience, health and nutrition help keep their production leveled, and after that, the toll on their bodies start showing, they slow down and must rely on their Hockey IQ more and more. Players like Duclair have more "innate hockey reflexes" (pure skill) than "Hockey IQ" (positioning and tactics), but all is not lost for him yet. The colour of his skin may mean a handful of teams in the U.S. might be more hesitant to give him a chance (I really hate to say this, but the past couple of years have shown that racism is not a thing of the past, unfortunately, even if hockey as a sport doesn't come with inherent biases against individuals - at least in my lifetime, it was probably different in Willie O'Ree's day), but he will probably be allowed another, final mulligan in North America before having to resort to playing in Europe if things once again turn sour between now and the end of April.

I just hope it doesn't have to get to that, and that he can find a permanent place within the Ottawa Senators organization. They need each other - but they need the best of what each has to offer, not the noise.

Here he is in happier times, as a member of the New York Rangers, when his future was at its most promising, Manhattan having already given him the nickname "The Duke", his spectacular play already winning the hearts of the team's fans:

That's card #U41 from Upper Deck's 2014-15 O-Pee-Chee Update collection and Marquee Rookie sub-set. I actually bought the unsigned card on Ebay then had him sign it in blue sharpie years later.

Derek Stepan Swatch Card

The Arizona Coyotes have been the most snake-bitten team in the NHL this season, and the news just got worse as their #1 center, alternate captain Derek Stepan, was just ruled out of the next 4-6 weeks with a lower-body injury. He joins #1 goalie Antti Raanta, shut-down center Dave Bolland, top-pairing defenseman Jason Demers, rookie Kyle Capobianco, middle-six winger Michael Grabner, and young star Nick Schmaltz on the injured reserve list.

Last year, Stepan posted 56 points for the Coyotes, his second-best career mark, one point less than during the 2013-14 season with the New York Rangers. He was also second on the team, behind only star rookie Clayton Keller.

He captained the gold medal-winning Team USA at the 2010 World Juniors, leading the tournament with 14 points (4 goals and 10 assists) in 7 games and being named to the tournament's All-Star Team.

Here he is wearing the Rangers' classic white (now-away) uniform with a matching game-worn jersey swatch on card #15 from Panini's 2011-12 Crown Royale set and All The King's Men sub-set:

Stepan's cap hit of $6.5M runs through the 2020-21 season.

Ryan Callahan Jersey Card

Fresh from pulling it in a recent Upper Deck 2018-19 Mystery Box, I figured I could talk a bit about Ryan Callahan via card #AF-RC from Upper Deck's 2013-14 SP Game-Used Edition collection and Authentic Fabrics sub-set:

It shows him wearing the New York Rangers' white (now-away) uniform and, although the scan doesn't do it justice, features two lines of stitching - one below the "n" and one below the "c" of the word "Authentic". If you look closely at the picture, you'll also see he was the team's captain at the time (2011-14), between the reigns of Chris Drury and current Tampa Bay Lightning teammate Ryan McDonagh.

An American from Rochester, NY, it felt like a perfect fit when the Rangers selected him 127th overall in the fourth round of the 2004 NHL draft, one of the best "value" picks of the later rounds (3-9) with Brandon Prust (70th overall, 486 games played, 1036 penalty minutes), Andrej Sekera (71st, 683 games, 232 points), Alexei Emelin (84th, 456 games, 81 points and lots of hard-hitting checks), Alexander Edler (91st, closing in on 800 games and over 350 points from the blue line), Johan Franzen (602 games, 370 points, a Stanley Cup and World Championship gold), Kris Versteeg (134th, 643 games, 358 points), Mikhail Grabovski (150th, 534 games, 296 points), Roman Polak (734 games and counting, 132 points and 599 penalty minutes so far), Anton Khudobin (206th, career GAA of 2.47, save percentage of .916 and currently a league leader in both categories), Troy Brouwer (214th, 351 points and 569 penalty minutes), Matt Hunwick (224th, 523 games), Pekka Rinne (258th, a Vezina Trophy and a Cup Final in consecutive years), Mark Streit (786 games, 434 points, captain of two teams and two-time Swiss Olympian and captain), Daniel Winnik (265th, 798 games) and Jannik Hansen (287th, 626 games).

As a matter of fact, if I had to re-do the 2004 draft, my first round would likely go as follows (half-knowing what I know now, following the development curb these players had, but notwithstanding injury occurrences, and accounting for the fact that I would normally advise against drafting a goalie in the first round, despite there being three here):

1. Alexander Ovechkin
2. Evgeni Malkin
3. Blake Wheeler
4. Rinne
5. Streit
6. Alexander Radulov
7. Franzen
8. Andrew Ladd
9. David Krejci
10. Mike Green
11. Edler
12. Callahan
13. Brandon Dubinsky
14. Alex Goligoski
15. Ladislav Smid
16. Emelin
17. Travis Zajac
18. Brouwer
19. Grabovski
20. Wojtek Wolski
21. Versteeg
22. Sekera
23. Drew Stafford
24. Devan Dubnyk
25. Andrej Meszaros
26. Bryan Bickell
27. Blake Comeau
28. David Booth
29. Carl Soderberg
30. Cory Schneider

Callahan had a few injury-laden first few seasons, but broke out in 2007-08 with 22 goals, good for third on the Rangers, then was named alternate captain the following year, posting roughly the same amount of goals and points as the previous season.

He missed some 20 games by breaking his hand to block a shot in 2010-11, which didn't stop him from posting career-high offensive totals for goals (23), assists (25) and points (48). He also suffered a broken ankle from blocking a Zdeno Chara shot - who held the record for hardest/fastest shot at the time - at the end of the season, earning the team's captaincy with his compete level and effort. He was the first Rangers captain to have been born in the State.

He followed that with 29 goals, 25 assist and 54 points in 2011-12, also suiting up for 20 playoff games (posting 10 points) en route to the Conference Final.

Contract talks stalled with New York, however, as the team wanted to add more offensive firepower to an already well-oiled machine, offering Callahan $36M for six years (at a $6M per season cap hit), while Callahan's camp remained first at $6.5M; at the 2013-14 trade deadline, the Rangers sent their captain, the first-round pick who became Josh Ho-Sang, the first-round pick who became Anthony Beauvillier and the seventh-round pick who became Ziyat Paigin to the Lightning for the remaining two seasons of disgruntled captain and superstar Martin St. Louis' deal and a second-rounder (Oliver Kylington).

It was such a blockbuster deal that both teams benefited from it immediately, facing off in the Conference Final, with Tampa winning in seven games.

He has been plagued by injuries ever since, however, as he was limited to 18 games in 2016-17, 67 in 2017-18 and 40 so far in 2018-19 with just 12 points (5 goals, 7 assists), ranking 16th on the team, behind four defensemen and Adam Erne, a rookie who has only suited up in 34 games. His ice time has mostly been below 10 minutes per game this year.

Many feel he will be ripe for a buyout this summer (provided he's not injured during the team's window to do so), but some Rangers commentators would like to see him come back home - at a fair price.

Either way would be fine for the romantic in me - finishing his career as the Rangers' two-time captain, or playing on Cup-contending teams with fellow former Rangers McDonagh, Anton Stralman, J.T. Miller and Daniel Girardi. Plus, as the Los Angeles Kings showed us with Mike Richards, having an experienced, dependable checker who can fill in in other roles temporarily is a plus come playoff time.

Brendan Shanahan Dual Jersey Card

I've been holding onto this card then losing track of it then waiting for the appropriate time to talk about it since 2010:

That's former head of the Department Of Player Safety and current Toronto Maple Leafs President Brendan Shanahan, sporting the New York Rangers' classic blue (now-home) uniform, on card #HS-BS from Upper Deck's 2008-09 Trilogy set and Honorary Swatches sub-set.

After predicting the Rangers would finish 5th in the Metropolitan Division but still make the playoffs as the Second Eastern Wild Card team, I figured now would be as good a time as any to feature the Hockey Hall Of Famer.

I've hinted at it in the past, but in my view, Shanahan was an All-Star, but not a Hall Of Famer. He reached the 50-goal plateau twice, both times before the Clutch-And-Grab Dead Puck Era, the second being his lone 100-point season; in both instances, he played on a line with Brett Hull, who had more goals than he did. He failed to score 30 goals eight times in a 21-season career (notwithstanding lockout-shortened seasons), and never won a scoring title of any kind; as a matter of fact, he only finished in the top-5 for goals once, finishing fifth in 1993-94 with 52, his career-high. He only twice finished in the top-10 for points, finishing eighth in 1993-94 (with 102) and tenth in 1996-97 (with 88), yet stands 26th in career points (with 1354) because he played seemingly forever; having suited up for 1524 games, he is not a point-per-game player despite playing eight seasons before the New Jersey Devils made it so that the entire league started playing anti-hockey.

And his three Stanley Cups came before the salary cap, when the Detroit Red Wings spent all the money in the world to ice the likes of Shanahan, Hull and Luc Robitaille in bit roles for the chance of buying themselves at least a Conference Finals finish every season between 1995 and 2005. Prior to that, his Devils, St. Louis Blues and Hartford Whalers never amounted to much, and later in his career, it was more of the same with the Rangers and his second stint in Jersey.

That being said, he's the only NHLer with career stats that include over 600 goals and 2000 penalty minutes, and he has had a few noteworthy postseasons, such as the Cup-winning 1996-97 and 2001-02 Wings teams, where he finished second in points both times, first behind Sergei Fedorov, then tied with Fedorov behind Steve Yzerman.

Again, "star player" material, just not any performances for the ages.

Marcel Dionne Jersey Card

Congratulations are in order for the New York Rangers, who have eliminated the Montréal Canadiens in 6 games and will now likely face the Ottawa Senators in the Atlantic Division Final.

We are nearing the end of Henrik Lundqvist's prime, and he has precious little time to finally earn his first Stanley Cup, which brings me to a former Ranger whose name does not appear on hockey's most sacred chalice, Hall Of Famer Marcel Dionne.

For a long while, the Rangers were the team where old stars made their final big-contract stop before retiring, from Mark Messier's second run to Wayne Gretzky to Doug Harvey to Pavel Bure, and almost Jaromir Jagr, too, had he remained exiled in the KHL instead of coming back across the pond.

Dionne had requested a trade from the Detroit Red Wings, claiming he did not want to be part of a rebuild; in two and a half seasons with the Rangers, he was ousted twice in the first round and failed to make the playoffs once - they didn't rebuild or tank, they just sucked and underachieved. He wasn't so bad himself, posting 42 goals, 56 assists and 98 total points in 118 games in New York, but those aren't the type of numbers that got him an Art Ross, two Lester B. Pearson and two Lady Byng trophies, as well as a Canada Cup title (1976) and three World Championship bronze medals (1978, 1983 and 1986), including the Best Forward award in 1978.

Here he is in Ranger Blue, with a matching game-worn jersey swatch:

That's the "Black" version of card #M-41 from In The Game's 2010-11 Decades - The 1980s set.

Dan Blackburn Autographed Card

Congratulations are in order for the New York Rangers, who have tied their first-round series against the Montréal Canadiens on the strength of a 2-1 win tonight. The Habs did play lights-out in the third, but just couldn't solve Henrik Lundqvist, who was royal for the third time in the series.

Speaking of strong Rangers goaltending, Montrealer Dan Blackburn used to be the man-in-waiting between the pipes for the red, white and blue at the turn of the millennium until a shoulder injury forced him to choose between retiring or attempt playing with two blockers and no catching glove, because nerve issues had him incapable of rotating his would-be glove hand; an MCL strain at the Rangers' training camp then put him in a difficult position: he could either retire and receive $6M in insurance money, covering the end of his contract and a bit more, or forfeit any chance of future insurance and try to earn a spot upon recovery. He wisely opted to retire at age 22, his final game a 5-4 loss at the hands of the Canadiens, the team against which he won his first NHL game as the Rangers' second-youngest goalie of all time.

Here he is wearing the Rags' blue Lady Liberty former alternate (one of my favourite alternate uniforms in hockey history) on card #123 from Topps' 2002-03 O-Pee-Chee set and Topps All Star Rookie sub-set:

Most goalies in the set were pictured horizontally. He signed his card in black sharpie in 2002-03.

Injuries are always the ultimate "What If?", but in Blackburn's case, after winning the WHL Playoff MVP award, the CHL's Goalie Of The Year award and leading his Kootenay Ice to a berth in the Memorial Cup,  then making an NHL roster at just 18 years old - the fifth-youngest of all-time in the NHL - the sky was the limit. That, or nerve damage.

Brad Richards Dual Swatch Card

Once every four to six weeks, I go on Ebay to see if there's anything that would inspire me to look at a specific set to buy packs of, or just to see if I had missed anything with sets I was sort of familiar with, which is how I fell onto this card of Brad Richards' two weeks ago:

It's card #TD-RIC from Panini's 2012-13 Limited set and Limited Travels sub-set - one I had never heard of but I find is a terrific concept: it shows him both with the Dallas Stars and New York Rangers, and features a game-worn swatch of each - black for the Stars and white for the Rangers. I like how the picture of him with the Rangers is clearer, as he metaphorically faded from the Stars to the Blueshirts.

The back also has a nice tidbit of information, revealing that he holds Dallas' second-highest point production mark, among other things:

This is a much better alternative to Frankencards, very original, fun and informative. This one is numbered 14/199.

Pat Lafontaine Stamp And Swatch Card

I mentioned a Tony Gwynn card from the same 2010 Donruss Americana Century Collection and Souvenir Stamps sub-set by Panini a few years back, and my opinion hasn't changed. This one (#42 in the set, numbered 227/250, featuring a dark blue swatch that could have come from a shirt, a sock or a game-worn jersey from any number of teams or occasions) may well feature Pat Lafontaine - which is why I traded for it - it is still too vague in its description of what you're getting:

Unless you're clear that you're getting a stamp card, first and foremost, and one that has nothing to do with the former member of the New York Rangers, New York Islanders and Buffalo Sabres, except for the fact that he's an American:

The stamp takes up more room than he does! Also, the Hall Of Famer deserves more than a four-cent flag stamp.

Mark Messier Jersey Card

I've debunked the Mark Messier myth on this blog a few times; it's not that I don't respect the man - he was, after all, the centerpiece of the New York Rangers' historic 1994 Stanley Cup run; he also captained the Edmonton Oilers to their only post-Wayne Gretzky championship in 1990, making him the only player in NHL history to captain two teams to the Cup.

But there's no way he gets to second in all-time scoring ahead of Gordie Howe if he doesn't play on the 1980s Oilers. He wasn't even the second-best Oiler on his team - that was Jari Kurri. In that regard, I was doubly happy when Jaromir Jagr surpassed his mark earlier this week.

And that compliment that Gretzky bestowed upon him, "the greatest leader in all sports"? Come on! If he was that great a leader, how do you explain his disastrous run with the Vancouver Canucks, where he was handed the captaincy right off of Trevor Linden's chest and insisted on wearing his usual #11 despite the fact that the team had retired it for deceased player Wayne Maki? The Canucks rightfully failed to make the playoffs in all three seasons he was there, resulting in two head coaches (Tom Renney and Mike Keenan) and one general manager (Hall Of Famer Pat Quinn) losing their jobs in that short span.

He also had a tendency to be mean and dirty, his elbows high and his stick always ready to disappear in someone's rib cage. Not unlike Howe, come to think of it.

But man, the longevity. 25 seasons spread over four decades; 1992 overall games, 1767 of them in the regular season, 11 less than Howe (who played longer in the WHA, hence the discrepancy). Messier was also the last player from the WHA - and last to have played in the 1970s - to retire.

Though he never won a scoring title, he has two Hart trophies and Lester B. Pearson Awards (1990 and 1992) to go with his 1984 Conn Smythe, and was a 15-time All-Star Game participant. He's the only active player to have played in an official Winter Classic/Heritage Classic alumni game (2004).

He almost hit round-number milestones for career goals (694) and assists (1193). Cementing his reputation as a big-game player are his postseason statistics, with 109 goals and 186 assists for 295 points in 236 games, although his teams failed to make the playoffs in his final seven seasons in the NHL, where his least productive years thus did not affect his career totals.

Here's a very special card which first appeared in In The Game's 2012-13 Decades - The 1990s set, as part of the Game-Used Jersey sub-set, which features a fairly large white game-worn jersey swatch

If you look in the top-right corner, however, you will see that mine is a 1/1 Fall Expo 2013 edition. On it, he is pictured as the Rangers' captain.

Randy Moller: Two Autographed Cards

In keeping with my Month of Toughness, I thought it was time to go blue with former Québec Nordiques first-rounder (811th overall in 1981) Randy Moller.

First things first, he was a solid defender. His +/- statistics were usually among his team's best, such as his second-place on the Nords in 1984-85 (+29) and his team-leading +13 (yeah, sad), on the New York Rangers in 1990-91.

One of the reasons his +/- was so high despite never hitting the 30-point mark was that he was feared. While he could take the puck away and make a decent first pass, his main attributes were his shoulders, which delivered extremely hard hits, and his fists, which he used to bruise opponents' faces relatively often. Those attributes made the Battle of Québec (Nordiques versus the Montréal Canadiens) a much bloodier rivalry than its cousin Battle of Alberta.

And yet, he didn't necessarily look so tough or mean on card #297 from O-Pee-Chee's 1983-84 O-Pee-Chee set, which he signed in blue sharpie:

I assure you, however, that he was.

As the team entered the 1990s in a devastating rebuild, they sent him to the Rangers for fellow defensive defenseman Michel Petit, a local boy.

However, all the hits and fights started taking their toll, and with the Rangers, he only dressed for 60, 61 and 43 games in just under three seasons, leading them to trade him to the Buffalo Sabres (for Jay Wells), with whom he played for in 126 games over two seasons, including 78 in 1993-94, the year he posted his third-highest career penalty minutes totals, with 154 - but also his lowest full-season points total, with 13.

Of his days in New York, I have this signed card from Pro Set's 1991-92 Series 1 set (card #163 in the series):

He signed with the Florida Panthers prior to the 1994-95 lockout-shortened season, but only suited up in 17 games before announcing his retirement, his body aching too much to continue playing.

Younger readers may remember him as the Panthers' radio play-by-play announcer, whose goals celebrations were often tinged with pop culture references:

He was so enjoyable that when a spot opened for him to be the team's TV colour commentator, he was the only possible choice.

He's also the obvious choice to represent #21 in my Nordiques Numbers Project.

Darren Langdon Autograph card

Let's continue with our month of toughness with 11-year NHL enforcer Darren Langdon, whose career 1251 penalty minutes is comprised of more fighting majors than any other type combined. It makes sense, then, that the undrafted winger from Newfoundland started in the ECHL, with the Dayton Bombers, accumulating no less than 429 PIMs in just 54 games (along with 23 goals and 22 assists, mind you, though I have no idea how he managed to spend enough time off the penalty bench to participate in 45 goals) in 1992-93.

He paid his dues with the Binghamton Rangers for a few years and eventually became a permanent fixture with the New York Rangers in 1995-96. The Rangers traded him, along with former New York Islanders prospect Rob DiMaio, to the Carolina Hurricanes prior to the 2000-01 season, and he spent a little over two seasons with the Canes, until they traded him (with future Rangers shootout specialist Marek Malik) to the Vancouver Canucks for Harold Druken and Jan Hlavac.

He spent the 2003-04 season with the Montréal Canadiens - who claimed him off waivers - and played his final 16 NHL games with the New Jersey Devils in 2005-06.

From 2002-06, he did not score a single goal and had 5 assists in 132 games; he did get 316 penalty minutes in that span, though.

Here he is wearing the Blueshirts' then-away uniform, from In The Game's 2013-14 Enforcers II set and Autograph sub-set:

It's card #A-DL in the series, featuring a black-sharpied on-sticker autograph made to resemble a band aid.

Doug Soetaert Autograph Card

Honestly, I didn't know much about Doug Soetaert until I landed this card a few years ago.

He was the goalie wearing #1 on Montréal Canadiens team pictures in 1984-85 and 1985-86 - I know that because I'm a Montrealer, because I have a thing for goalies, and because I've been looking at those pictures pretty much my entire life, as they are the first ones of Patrick Roy.

I knew he'd signed with the New York Rangers afterwards, having a sub-par outing for them going 2-7-2 with 14 penalty minutes in 13 games - yes, that's more than a minute per - and a whopping 5.16 GAA and dismal .842 save percentage, after which he retired.

What I didn't know was that he spent the second half of the 1970s with the Blueshirts, followed by three seasons with the Winnipeg Jets. You can find a profile of his career here.

Post-retirement, he was VP and GM of the WHL's Everett Silvertips, then assistant GM with the Calgary Flames, scout with European teams falling under the Red Bull (you read that correctly) banner in Austria and Germany, and has been on the Arizona Coyotes' scouting staff since last summer.

He had a pretty cool mask whilst with the Rangers, too, as can be attested on card #A-DS from In The Game's 2011-12 Between The Pipes 10 Anniversary set (part of the Decades - The 1970s and GoalieGraphs sub-set):

It features a black-sharpied on-sticker autograph that is extremely subtle, as is was often the case with ITG. I speak in the past tense, of course, because ITG will cease to exist once it releases its Final Vault product in a few weeks, after an unsuccessful merger with Leaf.