Tyler Myers Autographed Custom Card

It's looking to be an exciting week for Tyler Myers, for whom the rumours of trade talks haven't died while he was out with an injury. He figures to get back into the Buffalo Sabres' line-up tonight, against the New Jersey Devils.

The Sabres were on a 10-3-0 roll when he was sidelined, and have gone 1-7-1 since, though they haven't been playing too badly, they just haven't had much puck luck and played far deeper teams.

The top trade contenders for Myers remain the Detroit Red Wings (always on the lookout for both a franchise defenseman, and a right-handed shot from the back end, both needs he would fill) and the Colorado Avalanche (also in need of a right-handed defender, but also a reliable shut-down tower of power, both of which he would check off their want list).

Journalists and bloggers have been going nuts for four years now, talking about how he's regressing since winning the Calder Trophy in 2009-10, yet he will turn 25 next month so he hasn't even entered his ''prime'' years yet, and has been playing in Buffalo, after all, not the ideal place to further one's career and look good in the process.

At 6'8'' and just about 230 pounds, even if he wasn't such a smooth-skating defenseman with a hard shot, there'd still be takers. The biggest knock on him is hit $5.5M cap hit, but that's more the Sabres' fault for giving it to him right away (instead of signing him to a bridge contract) than anything else. If they're willing to trade him, they should really admit their mistake and swallow some of that cap hit.

But honestly, why would they? He's a 6'8'' tower of power that shoots right-handed, plays decently in his own end, and can only improve. He's just a minus-4 this year, facing tough opposition and starting only 37% of his plays in the offensive zone. All the reasons why other teams would want him are reasons enough why the Sabres should keep him in Buffalo.

He's comfortable there, as an American-Canadian playing near the border in a small town, and he's won gold with Team Canada at the World Juniors (2009) and the U-18 (2008) tournaments. He has fallen short on the mens' teams, though, finishing 7th (2010) and 5th (2014) in two World Championships.

We'll see how it pans out, but the rumour mill has been wrong about him for three years now, so chances are he'll remain a Sabre.

That being said, here's what he looked like in the team's old Buffaslug ''futuristic'' blue uniform a few years ago:

It's a custom card I purchased a couple of years ago on Ebay from Ottawa-area collector BG, from their 2010-11 Hot Prospects set (and Future Watch sub-set), signed in blue sharpie. It's a simple design, with ample room for the signature.