Mark Stone Autograph Card

When the Ottawa Senators drafted Mark Stone in the sixth round (178th overall) in 2010, they saw him as a ''project''. He was already huge (6'3'' and 200 pounds as an 18-year-old), with deft hands and a good shot, and liked to get dirty in the corners to retrieve the puck. He also had a history of leading his teams to finals, from Midget AAA to Major Junior. Injuries were a concern, but his foot speed was the main reason why he wasn't picked in the first three rounds.

He was part of Team Canada's bronze-medal 2012 squad at the 2012 World Juniors, leading the team with 7 goals and 10 points.

And now here he stands, entering the final year of his entry deal, playing on the Sens' first line with Kyle Turris and Clarke MacArthur, scoring his first goal of the season with his father in attendance against the Tampa Bay Lightning's Ben Bishop.

He'll probably never win a race for the puck against Blake Wheeler or Nathan MacKinnon, but he can score a bunch of goals from the slot, like a cross between Michael Ryder and Guillaume Latendresse. I can see him scoring 30 some day, in the right context.

Here he is in a close-up shot, sporting the Sens' white (away) uniform, from Panini's 2013-14 Crown Royale set (card #SO-MST of the Sovereign Sigs sub-set, die-cut and signed on a sticker in thin blue sharpie):