Cale Fleury Autographed Card

Cale Fleury's ascension has been quite impressive: from Hayden Fleury's little brother to third-round draft pick to Kootenay Ice captain to rookie first-pair AHLer to, now, full-time NHL-er with a professional jersey number.

Yet it hasn't really been surprising, with Laval Rocket head coach Joël Bouchard saying that if he keeps "doing the little things that make a professional on and off the ice", there was a good chance he wouldn't be seeing the 20-year-old rearguard for long.

It was also clear from the beginning of rookie camp that he and Nick Suzuki were going to get every chance to make the opening nights roster, which they did, with the younger Fleury facing his older brother.

I'll be following his progress all year, but let's all keep in mind a few facts: he was never a point-per-game defenseman in Juniors, so he's not likely to be Shea Weber's replacement to eventually quarterback the powerplay; defensemen reach their prime around the age of 25 - the reason for that is they're playing in the best league in the world, at the hardest skating position, playing against some of the fastest and most talented forwards of all time who all likely have more experience than they do, so they'll need to learn from a few mistakes a few times before the experience sets in and they can deploy their own talent fully while being the most dependable they'll be in their own zone.

Here he is sporting the Ice's white (home) uniform with the alternate captain's "A" on card #44 from Upper Deck's 2017-18 CHL Hockey set:

He signed it in black sharpie at the Montréal Canadiens' rookie camp in Brossard in July and August.