Eric Gryba Autograph Card

At the draft, the Edmonton Oilers made a few moves to bolster their line-up immediately, from drafting Connor McDavid first overall to acquiring Cam Talbot from the New York Rangers to trading for the Ottawa Senators' Eric Gryba.

The 6'4'', 220-pound hard-hitting defenseman is probably best remembered for knocking out Lars Eller from the Montréal Canadiens in a playoff game in 2013, as Eller was caught looking at a Raphael Diaz pass rather than his environment; Gryba was suspended for two games for the blindside hit.

The trade now has the Oilers with the following defensemen:
Andrej Sekera - Nikita Nikitin
Justin Schultz - Andrew Ference
Griffin Reinhart - Eric Gryba
Mark Fayne - Oscar Klefbom

It is a bit of an improvement from last season, that's for sure, and Gryba's physical presence was definitely needed.

I'm not sold on coach Todd McLellan, nor a trio of Talbot, Ben Scrivens and Anders Nilsson fighting for net time instead of a true, proven #1 goalie. But I'm willing to watch the show happen.

Here's the silver version of card #A-EG from Panini's 2013-14 Prizm set, showing Gryba in the Sens' white (away) uniform, from the Dual Rookie Class sub-set, obviously from a game in Philadelphia (from the fans sitting behind him):

I'd sent him 4 custom cards, care of the Sens, in August of 2014 and never heard anything back from him, so I guess I'll start showcasing my insert cards. This one is thus the one that will count for my Sens Numbers Project.