Aaron Palushaj Autograph Card

Aaron Palushaj will start the upcoming season with his fourth NHL team despite having had the best year of his career with 9 points in 25 games with the Colorado Avalanche to go with his 10 points in 25 AHL games with the Hamilton Bulldogs.

Indeed, the Avs - possibly through Patrick Roy, who had seen and heard of him through his friends with RDS' analysis team for Montréal Canadiens' games, Palushaj was let go by the Avs and signed a two-way contract with the Carolina Hurricanes. My guess is he forces their hand and plays between 5 and 10 minutes per game for them all year.

He had originally been drafted by the St. Louis Blues in the second round, 44th total, in 2007. He was sent to the Habs in exchange for since-departed Matt D'Agostini.

Despite being an accomplished playoff performer (and the Bulldogs' all-time-best playoff scorer), he was never used as an offensive weapon in the Canadiens' arsenal, instead playing sparse minutes on fourth-line duty, though at 5'11 and 185 lbs, he may be a tad small for an energy player.

At least I have this on-card, blue-foil autographed insert card of his to remember him by:

It's from Panini's 2011-12 Donruss Elite (card #207, with the mention that he's a Rookie) and is signed in blue sharpie.

I got it in a trade for another autographed insert card, possibly a common player from the Minnesota Wild (I recall the colour green).