Scott Lachance Autographed Card

Scott Lachance came into the NHL as a highly-touted offensive defenseman from Boston College, ranked second behind Eric Lindros by NHL Scouting in 1991; he eventually fell to fourth-overall (New York Islanders), with Pat Falloon and Scott Niedermayer chosen ahead of him.

He would flourish in today's NHL, with a perfect first pass and good foot speed, and not too much of a liability in his own zone - a bit like a cross between Nathan Beaulieu, Justin Schultz and Dmitry Kulikov - but his relative lack of production (only one 20-point season, 24, coming in his rookie year in 1992-93) often relegated him to a second- or third-pairing role, and to the second wave of any powerplay.

At the time, I thought his 6 points in 57 games with the Montréal Canadiens in 1999-2000 were bad (then again, the entire team was terrible), but his five points and -43 record in 138 games spread over two seasons (2002-04) with the Columbus Blue Jackets probably takes the cake. It was during that time that he signed card #369 from Fleer's 1993-94 Fleer Ultra Series 2 card for me in blue sharpie:

It shows him wearing the Isles' classic blue (then-away) uniform.

Following his two disappointing seasons in Columbus and the NHL lockout, he didn't play at all during the 2004-05 season, then spent one season in Swtzerland with the Kloten Flyers and a final turn in North America with the AHL's Lowell Devils. He then remained with the New Jersey Devils' organization and is currently a scout for the team.