Nick Foligno Autographed Card

Earlier this season, outspoken head coach John Tortorella said that he was disappointed in his Columbus Blue Jackets' lack of leadership. Nick Foligno is the Jackets' captain. With the team now out of playoff contention, Torts was asked if he had given thought to revoking Foligno's captaincy, perhaps in favor of Brandon Dubinsky, who used to play for him with the New York Rangers and does have a fairly big presence in the dressing room... but the coach said no.

I guess the question was asked because, back in his Tampa Bay Lightning days, he'd stripped Vincent Lecavalier of the "C", and old habits die hard, particularly on a hard-ass. But the one thing about Tortorella is he knows what buttons to push and who to push which buttons on. And he seems to be communicating with his current captain, which means he's taken a liking to him and wants to see him grow into the role. Probably.

Still, like for the Montréal Canadiens' Max Pacioretty, it hasn't been an easy season for the first-year captain, with his team standing at 31-40-8 for 8th in the Metropolitan Division (after starting off with an 0-7 start under Todd Richards), and with his personal stats line showing nearly a 50% drop from last year:

2014-15: 31 goals, 42 assists and 73 points in 79 games
2015-16: 9 goals, 25 assist and 34 points in 68 games thus far

Sure, he's no longer playing with Ryan Johansen, but he's got Seth Jones feeding the offense from the back end, though.

I have quite a few Foligno signed cards to feature, but I'll start with this stand-alone one I got in the mail over a year ago showing him with the OHL's Sudbury Wolves' beautiful white uniform:

It's card #280 from In The Game's 2005-06 Heroes And Prospects set, which he signed in blue sharpie with his jersey number (16) tagged at the end. He was chosen 28th overall by the Ottawa Senators later that year at the NHL draft.