Sabres Preview: Travis Turnbull Autograph Card

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This will likely be the preface to all of this year's Season Preview posts: I liked doing last year's format, so I'll be doing it the same way this seaosn, partly because of that but also because as a father of a toddler and a baby, I just do not have enough time to write two separate posts per day on each blog. I'll copy these on each one instead. Like last year, the entire scope of the analysis will take place here and the player will have some sort of direct connection to what's written.

Caveats: at this point, despite training camp being set to start in less than two weeks, several players haven't found a team yet, most RFAs haven't signed with their respective teams yet, and a few teams are currently above the salary cap, which means there is much maneuvering left to do.

Key exits: Sam Reinhart (C), Linus Ullmark (G), Rasmus Ristolainen (D), Jake McCabe (D), Will Borgen (D), Matt Irwin (D), Tobias Reider (RW), Riley Sheahan (C), Taylor Hall (F, at last year's deadline)

Key Arrivals: Aaron Dell (G), Craig Anderson (G), Devon Levi (G), Robert Hagg (D), Mark Pysyk (D), John Hayden (C), Vinnie Hinostroza (RW), Will Butcher (D)

Top prospects: Owen Power (D), Jack Quinn (RW), Arttu Ruotsalainen (C), John-Jason Peterka (LW), Isak Rosen (F), Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (G)

The Buffalo Sabres are a complete trainwreck, and have been for the better part of the last two decades. They have not made the playoffs since the 2010-11 season and haven't won a round since 2005-06. Even before then, they were acting as if they were in the middle of a pandemic, making drastic cuts to their drafting budget, letting go three-quarters of their staff and having the ones that remain work mostly from video footage instead of actually traveling to see the young players perform live. They failed to extend captain (Daniel Brière) after captain (Chris Drury) after captain (Jason Pominville) after captain (Thomas Vanek), they wasted elite goaltending (Dominik Hasek, Ryan Miller), and even getting rid of a locker room cancer with a habit of drunkenly crashing his cars into coffee shops such as Ryan O'Reilly did nothing for them but allowed ROR to win a Stanley Cup with the St. Louis Blues.

They are on their fourth GM (Kevyn Adams, following in the footsteps of Jason Botterill, Tim Murray and Darcy Regier), who themselves have overseen head coaches Lindy Ruff, Ron Rolston, Ted Nolan, Dan Bylsma, Phil Housley, Ralph Krueger, and now Don Granato; job security or stability do not have a home here.

What makes their odds look good:
Only a die-hard fan or gambler in need of a long-shot win would put their money on Buffalo. They'll perhaps be better than last year in team play, but the talent level just isn't there apart from a few pieces - and Granato as a coach is not Barry Trotz, so this isn't the next New York Islanders, either.

Question marks: When does disgruntled captain Jack Eichel get traded, and what will the return be? Is Aaron Dell really going to be their starting goalie, or will Devan Dubnyk agree to sign with the one team left that still has an opening for top spot in net?

Outlook:
There are building blocks here: Casey Mittelstadt is looking like a centre who can play on one of the top two lines, Victor Olofsson can score on the powerplay and would ideally be slotted in the middle-six on a good team but will see top-line ice time here, and Dylan Cozens shows promise up front as well, with Jack Quinn and J.J. Peterka possibly coming in in a few years, but re-signing Jeff Skinner was always going to be dead money, and Anders Bjork, Tage Thompson and Cody Eakin only seem to be placeholders at this point, either to play out their contracts while the team tanks or (particularly in Eakin's case) until a trade deadline deal to a contender makes enough sense. There are more defensive sure bets per capita, with Rasmus Dahlin seeming like he's regained form under Granato, Owen Power graduating from College eventually and Robert Hagg as a rescue project from the Philadelphia Flyers. I can't say I'm as optimistic about former New Jersey Devils prospect Will Butcher, though. But you don't lose your two best centres, you legitimate #1 goalie and your two most consistent defensemen without replacing any of them and purport to leave the bottom of the standings.

Prediction:
8th in the Atlantic Division.

Which brings me to Travis Turnbull, whose father Perry was a useful NHL journeyman who finished his career playing in Italy and Germany. Undrafted, the Sabres signed Travis as a free agent following a four-year career with the Michigan Wolverines in the NCAA; after four seasons in the Sabres' system, consistently improving from one season to the next, he was allowed to suit up in three games with the parent club in 2012-13, scoring a goal. Unfortunately, the 2012-13 lockout happened, and he set his sights for Germany, putting up 46 points and 88 penalty minutes for Düsseldorfer EG, so he may have preferred being a star player overseas than a grinder in North America. His point production regressed starting in 2016-17, but what he brought to the game was still appreciated nonetheless. He was captain of the Schwenninger Wild Wings last season (11 points in 32 games), and I suspect he will be this year as well. This is leadership the Sabres could have brought back at just about any moment in the last decade, but instead chose ROR to lead the room, then handed the reigns to his heir apparent without ever earning it or showing him what he should keep from O'Reilly's teachings and what to throw away. Since Ruff's firing, the Sabres have seemigly always hired the wrong leader at every crucial position, strating with management down to the coaching staff all the way down to the players on the ice. They will need to admit it to their fans before embarking on another rebuilding phase.

Here is Turnbull wearing the team's retro white (away) uniform, on card #SI-TR from Panini's 2013-14 Select collection and Select Signatures sub-set:

It features a blue-sharpied on-sticker autograph.

Seth Jones Jersey Card

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Only weeks after Seth Jones let the Columbus Blue Jackets know that he wouldn't re-sign with them past this next season, the team found a taker for his services in the form of the Chicago Blackhawks, who are making a push for the playoffs for the 2021-22 season. The Hawks have also seemigly re-signed him for $9.5M per season (edit: confirmed, $76M over 8 seasons), hoping they get the Norris Trophy contender from 2019 instead of the sub-par performer from this past season - and I think they did.

Usually, defensemen already have hardware on their mantle before they start earning upwards of $100K per game, but this offseason is special, with the Seattle Kraken expansion draft and most GMs having prepared for it by having little over the minimum number of players to protect under contract and preferring to push their re-signings to between the amateur draft and the start of free agency; those that didn't traded away fairly big names (such as Ryan Ellis), at times for a decent return, but sometimes for literally nothing. I believe the top tier defensemen will all sign around $8-9M, one of them might fall to half that, which is where the good shut-down defenders will also range, and there will be an awful lot of $1M deals with lower-tier guys and veterans aiming for that elusive Stanley Cup betting on themselves on a short contract. That's what a flat-cap world mixed with a lot of buyouts coupled with players not getting qualified will do - it creates a perceived elite class, the middle ground disappears and those who wait too long end up on bad teams or with bad deals out of sheer lack of cap space.

Jones comes in as a household name to replace the departed Duncan Keith, who was 11 years older. The Hawks now have cost certainty for that top spot on D until he turns 35, which is when defensemen start regressing - a perfect time for a contract of this magnitude to end; perhaps the salary cap will even have increased a bit starting in the middle of the deal. Chicago will also be able to build around him, using players that will complement his skills for the duration of his prime, and their cap situation is clear (and healthy) after the Keith trade and Brent Seabrook's cap hit on Long Term Injured Reserve.

Here he is as a rookie, freshly drafted by the Nashville Predators - fourth overall, behind Nathan MacKinnon, Aleksander Barkov and Jonathan Drouin - and wearing their terrible white (away) Reebok uniform on card #RM-SJ from Upper Deck's 2013-14 Series 2 collection and Rookie Materials sub-set:

It features a blue jersey swatch from a rookie photo shoot.

Tanner Pearson Autograph Card

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Maybe there's a lesson to be learned from Tyler Toffoli's climb atop the goal-scoring charts after signing as a free agent with the Montréal Canadiens, and perhaps the Vancouver Canucks should think twice about the option of trading the former member of the Stanley Cup-winning That 70s Line (Los Angeles Kings, 2014) right away and instead sign him to a reasonable, mid-term deal.

Further complicating things is the fact that he's set to miss four weeks of play due to a lower-body injury and that he's at nearly half the best of last season's career best goals-per-game (0.30) and points-per-game (0.63) averages as the Canucks have struggled mightily against the Habs putting them in danger of missing the playoffs.

I believe he has three more years of second-line hockey in him and at least the same number of quality third-line time before he has to think about exiting the game, which would lead him to age 35.

Here he is wearing the King's black (home) uniform on the signed insert version of card #TR-TP from Panini's 2013-14 Totally Certified set:

It features a blue-sharpied, on-sticker autograph and serves as his rookie card (from the Rookie Class sub-set) in the set's.

Wings Preview: Keith Primeau Patch Card

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This will likely be the preface to all of this year's Season Preview posts: 2020 is a different beast and requires adaptability; in my case, it means the joint posts with my "main/personal" blog will not be in the "player here/analysis there" format but rather the entire scope of the analysis will take place here and the player will have some sort of direct connection to what's written. Caveats: at this point, despite the season being set to start in Mid-January, several impact players haven't found a team yet and quite a few teams are currently above the salary cap, which means there is much maneuvering left to do.

GM Steve Yzerman was always going to come back to his Detroit Red Wings roots and try to build a contender in the city where he won three Stanley Cups as a player, and he will have to take action and make tough calls sooner or later, chief among which is when to fire head coach Jeff Blashill. There's something to be said about this roster needing to ride a few bad contracts out at the bottom of the standings and how next to no one would be able to pull off a miracle and get this team to a playoff spot, but at some point, you need an NHL-level head to make the calls and Blashill had not shown to be on that level at any time since taking over in 2015.

The problem with rebuilding teams is that they usually have a few terrific pieces they can build upon, who pour their heart and soul into bad seasons and produce some kind of result, but not enough to make a dent on their own; they need help, which is why you build around them. But sometimes, one has to realize the first-line centerpiece/possible captain (for the sake of argument, let's give that hypothetical player a name, Dylan Larkin) might actually be better suited for a second-line role on a contending team, a move that would be impossible if he's paid like a first-liner, a salary he has deserved for all the lean years in which he was clearly the best player there. But if he's the best, the team will always fall short of the ultimate goal, because other teams will have the better players. It's a Catch-22.

What makes their odds look good:
Larkin is good and is from Michigan; make him captain already. Anthony Mantha will be a perennial 30-goal scorer who might even hit 40 a couple of times. Filip Zadina (RW) will eventually develop, as will Moritz Seider (D) and Lucas Raymond (F). Joseph Veleno (C) and Jared McIsaac (D) should be able to contribute regularly in the middle of the lineup in three years as well. Robby Fabbri may have found his niche in Detroit, Tyler Bertuzzi seems to have shown some 30-goal potential as well (although diminshed ice time on a better team might keep him in the 20-goal range, which is still excellent), but the smart money remains on seeing most of these guys as projects that are still a couple of years away or currently playing one line too high.

Question marks:
Why make Larkin wait so long? Was Bobby Ryan hired to fill a middle-six role for one season or will his perennial comeback story make him an invaluable piece of the leadership group going forward? How does Thomas Greiss compare with the other #1 goalies in the NHL? Why do the Wings always go out of their way to not employ a true, in-his-prime, star goalie? What is with this defense?

Outlook:
Detroit may not be the worst team in its division - the Chicago Blackhawks will certainly give them a run for their money in that regard - and they will have the company of the New Jersey Devils as well at the bottom of the standings, but both of those teams have a true star defenseman to build around and are grooming young goalies for their rise, whereas the Wings employ soon-to-be-35-year-old Greiss and 32-year-old career backup Jonathan Bernier in net. Upgrades are needed throughout the back end.

Prediction:
Eighth in the Central Division.

Which brings me to Keith Primeau, an excellent hockey player whose career was cut short due to a lockout and post-concussion syndrome. If we had a re-do for the 1990 draft - one of the best of all-time - he likely wouldn't have been selected third overall, but he's definitely top-10 material.

Even though he was never exactly at the point-per-game mark or higher only hit the point-per-game mark once with 73 in 71 games in 2000-01, he was close pretty often, operating at above 0.75 PPG six times in 15 games, with two All-Star Games appearances and two top-10 finishes in Selke Trophy voting (1997-98 and 2003-04). He also suited up for Team Canada, falling short at the 1996 World Cup and 1998 Olympics and World Chapionships (he captained the team on the latter), and winning gold at the 1997 World Championships.

He captained two NHL teams, the Carolina Hurricanes (1998-99) and Philadelphia Flyers (2001-06), and his performance with the Flyers in the 2004 playoffs against the Tampa Bay Lightning - in a losing effort - had Hall Of Famer Phil Esposito saying it was the most dominating performance he'd ever seen, and inspired Bolts star Vincent Lecavalier to change his style of play from elegant (in the style of Jean Béliveau) to more of a power forward.

He officially announced his retirement on September 14th, 2006 - my 28th birthday.

Here he is wearing the alternate captain's "A" on the Red Wings' classic red (away) uniform, on card #PH-44 from In The Game's 2013-14 Motown Madness collection and Patch Of Honor sub-set:

It features "a piece of replica Steve Yzerman Retirement Night patch", so a manufactured, make-believe patch from a player who wasn't on the team when Yzerman retired after the 2005-06 season. As a matter of fact, Primeau's trade to the Hurricanes (with Paul Coffey and the first-round pick that became Nikos Tselios, Chris Chelios' nephew, for Brendan Shanahan and Bryan Glynn) helped shape Detroit into the team that won two Stanley Cups, while his trade to the Flyers (with a fifth-round pick, for Jean-Marc Pelletier, Rod Brind'Amour and a second-rounder) gave the Canes a big piece for their own run in 2006.

As excellent as his own career was, I'm sure he's just as happy these days being a spectator cheering on his son Cayden Primeau's own progression as a goalie in the Montréal Canadiens organization.

Bobby Ryan Autographed Card

Just three weeks after winning the Masterton Trophy over Philadelphia Flyers cancer survivor Oskar Lindblom and mentioning that very possibility with the press afterwards, Bobby Ryan was bought out by the Ottawa Senators earlier today.

I had featured him when he scored a hat trick in his first game back from rehab, and even then tried to find a balance in all the truths, talent and tragedy of his life story.

The fact that the team did this so soon after the Masterton win means it's something they had already set their minds to, that they'd weighed the Cinderella story against his age, cap hit, production and leadership capabilities and still went for it, despite the possibility that with his mind in the right place, he might become a 25- or 30-goal scorer again, that his experience could help steer the team's young players in the right direction, that the team could have used his cap hit to reach the cap floor.

There were more positives in letting him go than keeping him.

As a regular Sens observer for the past 15 years and a hockey fan for most of the past 42, I am not certain I would agree with that; unless there is information we were not provided, had I been GM, I may have gambled on giving him an extra year and bought him out of his final $7.5M season next off-season.

I'm also the kind of guy who'd want to bring former captain Jason Spezza back for his final season so he can retire in the "right" uniform, so maybe I'm just too much of a romantic.

There no denying he looked right wearing Ottawa's black "O" uniform, though, as seen on card #604 from the 2013-14 O-Pee-Chee set manufactured by Upper Deck:

He signed it in thick black sharpie during the 2018-19 season, if I remember correctly.

Kelly Hrudey: Two Autographed Cards

I was about a month old when Kelly Hrudey started playing as a rookie for the WHL's Medecine Hat Tigers, a season in which he'd appear in 57 games for the team that went 15-50-7, which explains why his goals-against average was 6.17; he brought it down to 4.17 the following season, posting a winning record (25-23-4) and convincing the New York Islanders to select him in the second round (38th overall) at the 1980 draft.

The following season, he was named to the WHL's Second All-Star Team after bring his GAA down to 3.97 and keeping an .895 save percentage, on his way to the professional ranks; he spent four seasons with the Central Hockey League's Indianapolis Checkers where he would hone his game to besome an eventual NHL starter in lieu of Isles star Billy Smith, winning the league's Best Goalie ("Terry Sawchuk") trophy twice, earning First Team All-Star status twice, winning the playoff MVP for the 1981-82 season and regular-season MVP the next year.

He split the 1983-84 season between the CHL and NHL and got to the Big Show full time in 1984-85, playing 41 games to Smith's 37 and Roland Melanson's 8, on an Isles team that iced no fewer than three 100-point players: Mike Bossy (58 goals, 117 points), Brent Sutter (42 goals, 102 points) and John Tonelli (42 goals, 100 points).

He would appear in more and more games each year, cementing his position as the #1 goalie up until and including the 1988-89 season, where he was a trade deadline after appearing in 50 games to the Isles, and sent to the Los Angeles Kings where he would appear in another 19 and be a fixture for eight years, culminating in a 1993 Stanley Cup Final appearance.

He would finish his career by spending two seasons with the San Jose Sharks alongside two other veterans - Ed Belfour and Mike Vernon - before retiring to Calgary and joining the Hockey Night In Canada/Sportsnet analysis teams for Calgary Flames games but also the national telecasts.

But today I want to focus on the earlier part of his career. This is an artist's rendering of what he looked like wearing the Tigers' Philadelphia Flyers-inspired uniform, on card #138 from In The Game's 2013-14 Heroes And Prospects set and Hockey Hero sub-set:

And this is him wearing his classic Jofa helmet-and-grid with the Islanders' blue (then-away) uniform, on card #123 from ITG's 2013-14 Between The Pipes set and Greats Of The Game sub-set:

That was his look when he set a record that would last 33 years, that of making 73 saves in a single playoff game - the seven-period "1987 Easter Epic", which stood until hours ago when Joonas Korpisalo of the Columbus Blue Jackets stopped 85 Tampa Bay Lightning shots in a bitter eight-period Game 1 loss.

And Hrudey took it well, as you can see here:

He seems humble, genuine and nice, which is the same feeling I had when I received those cards from him in the mail a few years back. I had written him a fan letter and joined those cards care of HNIC and they came back in roughly eight months. He signed them in black sharpie.

He's also been an advocate for mental health for a few years now, and even more so during the pandemic.

Jonathan Bernier Autographed Card

I really wasn't sure which story-line I wanted to purse tonight, with most recent results going the way I had hoped. After seriously considering featuring someone from the Columbus Blue Jackets (winners), Washington Capitals (winners), Boston Bruins (losers), Dallas Stars (winners) or St. Louis Blues (losers), I opted with a former member of the Toronto Maple Leafs (losers, eliminated), Jonathan Bernier.

A first-round draft pick (11th overall in 2006, Los Angeles Kings), he sat on the sidelines and watched Jonathan Quick win a Conn Smythe Trophy from the sidelines, awaiting his turn like he had in Juniors when he was slotted behind Jaroslav Halak only to take over upon the Slovak goalie's move to the professional ranks and lead the Lewiston MAINEiacs to a LHJMQ championship and Memorial Cup berth.

Except his turn would never come in L.A., so he asked for a trade anywhere to have a shot at a #1 spot, and the Leafs came calling, offering the Kings Matt Frattin, Ben Scrivens and a second-round pick for Bernier's services. The Toronto media wrote flattering pieces on him at first, but turned on him within three years despite very good statistics with the team:

from HockeyDB

I mean: a .922 save percentage over 55 games in 2013-14, with a 26-19-7 record while his backup James Reimer went 12-16-1 under Randy Carlyle; a 2.87 GAA, .912 save percentage and 21-28-7 record while Reimer was at 3.16, .907 and 9-16-1 in 2014-15, as the media got the 21-16-3 Carlyle fired and his replacement, Peter Horacek, went a lowly 9-28-5 to close out the year in agony; and get this, 3 shutouts in 38 games in 2015-16, Mike Babcock's first season with the team, which finished with a 29-42-11 record (Reimer and Garret Sparks combined for a single shutout in 49 combined appearances).

The leading scorer for Babcock's Leafs? Nazem Kadri, with 45 points.

Bernier was made one of the scapegoats, but he was put in an impossible position, that of holding down the fort while the team was failing on purpose (i.e. "tanking") to put itself in position to draft high-level prospects and move on from the failed Phil Kessel era.

Carlyle took him on with the Anaheim Ducks for the 2016-17 season, and he was terrific, going 21-7-4 with a 2.51 GAA, a .915 save percentage and 2 shutouts in 38 games to restore his reputation as a dependable netminder, and the following season with the Colorado Avalanche was more of the same (19-13-3, 2.85, .913, 2 shutouts in 37 games).

Unfortunately, the starting jobs are pretty much taken everywhere, and with the salary cap, teams stick with their #1 guy even through bad seasons because they're stuck with the cap hit and term, so they brace themselves for a year and hope for the best the following season, a recipe that works (Craig Anderson) as often as it doesn't (Quick).

So, for the last couple of seasons, Bernier has been eating a ton of rubber in front of the Detroit Red Wings' net, staying in shape in case a contending team comes calling, making acrobatic saves to impress the few people left in the stands before GM Steve Yzerman turns things around.

Who knows, maybe a former employer like current Edmonton Oilers GM Ken Holland (who hired him with the Wings) will give him a call for next season?

Because no matter what the Toronto media says, he has yet to cost his team a season and is a fine stop-gap solution in front of the net. Furthermore, he's still just 32 and has two or three more good years in him.

Here he is in Leafs white (the "away" uniform), on card #76 from Upper Deck's 2013-14 SPX set:

It's a great-looking set, with enough foil to look classy and complementary colours to keep the theme running while keeping a classic "card feel". He signed it in blue sharpie after a 4-2 loss to the Habs while with the Avalanche, in January 2018.

After this season's failure to qualify for the "real" playoffs, my guess is the Toronto media will turn on goalie Freddie Andersen this summer, GM Kyle Dubas the next and team President Brendan Shanahan the one after that, forcing yet another rebuild on a team that hasn't won a Stanley Cup since 1967 (or a playoff series in 15 years).

Mike Green Jersey Card

Mike Green is an offensive defenseman who can quarterback a powerplay very well. He has a fine pass, a pretty good shot and can still find speed on the rush although his actual footspeed isn't what it was in his heyday when he was putting up 780-point seasons and scoring 30 goals from the point.

Defensively, it's still a mixed bag, but not as bad as his critics would say; there will not be a quality shot on his team's net every time he hits the ice, but perhaps a quality chance or two per game.

Essentially, it was a net gain when the Edmonton Oilers acquired him from the Detroit Red Wings for Kyle Brodziak's LTIR cap hit and conditional draft pick that is at best a third-rounder and at worst a fourth. As an immediate replacement for the injured Oscar Klefbom and Kris Russell, he was an immediate fit on the NHL's top powerplay unit and would provide defensive depth for the playoff run.

Except he got injured in his second game with the Oilers, and will be out three-to-four weeks with a sprained MCL. Ouch.

Edmonton is currently second in the Pacific Division, four points behind the Vegas Golden Knights who sit in first, but also just four ahead of the Arizona Coyotes, who are outside the playoff picture in fifth place, with the Calgary Flames and Vancouver Canucks sandwiched in between and a mix-and-match quality and quantity of games in hand (the Coyotes have the fewest games remaining, however).

It's going to be a tight race, but hopefully Green comes back with stored energy and helps boost the Oilers upon his return.

Here he is sporting the Washington Capitals' white RBK Edge (away) uniform with the alternate captain's "A" on his chest, on card #AF-GR from Upper Deck's 2013-14 SP Game-Used Edition set and Authentic Fabrics sub-set:

It features a matching game-worn jersey swatch.

Cameron Gaunce Autograph Card

Cameron Gaunce knew he was a depth piece on defense when the Tampa Bay Lightning re-signed him to a one-year, two-way deal at league minimum ($700K), and they knew what they were getting: a 29-year-old veteran who had very little to prove as a role/defensive player but was starting to find his offensive game in the professional ranks as well, having come off a 46-point, 65-penalty minute season in 59 games with their AHL affiliate Syracuse Crunch; he'd also chipped in with a +3 rating and 7 penalty minutes at the NHL level.

This season, he's been called upon to provide more than hits and has delivered, posting 4 points in 3 games wit the Bolts so far (+2, 4 penalty minutes) to go with a 30-point output (36 PIMs, +10) in 49 games wit the Crunch.

We are starting to see the two-time OHL All-Star emerge, after he'd been drafted 50th overall by the Colorado Avalanche in 2008. He'd also spent time with the Dallas Stars, Florida Panthers, Pittsburgh Penguins and Columbus Blue Jackets organizations, for a total of 37 NHL games so far with the Avs (11), Stars (9), Pens (12) and Bolts (5).

He seems to have a knack for signing with one team and one of their main rivals (Dallas/Colorado; Pittsburgh/Columbus; Florida/Tampa); he's going to have to find two more teams next or try the Minnesota Wild (Colorado and Dallas rivals), Philadelphia Flyers (Pittsburgh) or Montréal Canadiens (the Florida teams) to keep with the theme.

One thing's for sure, though: he's playing on a legitimate Stanley Cup contender and earning his playing time, so his next deal might be of the $1M cap hit variety.

Here he is wearing the Avalanche's RBK Edge piping-heavy burgundy (home) jersey on a card that mentions he's now with the Stars, #SI-CG from Panini's 2013-14 Select set and Select Signatures sub-set:

It's a silver foil card and the sides are green - even if the scan shows it all black. Over his head reads "DALLAS STARS" in yellow and top-right, over his left shoulder, a note says he was traded to the Stars on "4/2/13". The card features a blue-sharpied on-sticker autograph that just has his initials, a typical pet peeve among autograph collectors.

His brother Brendan also plays professionally, in the Boston Bruins organization.

Zach Bogosian Jersey Card

Honestly, a week away from the trade deadline, you'd think Zach Bogosian would give the Buffalo Sabres a chance to make their sales pitch to other teams instead of seeming like an entitled, grizzled and angry veteran who refuses to be a team player.

Of course, I'm referring to his decision to not report to the AHL Rochester Americans after going unclaimed via waivers, and the Sabres' easy subsequent decision to suspend him while the two sides try to work something out.

Between hip injuries and healthy scratches, the 29-year-old has suited up in only 19 games this season, down from 65 last year but one more than the 18 from 2017-18.  He's missed more than 15 games in 11 of his 13 NHL seasons, and failed to play in more than half the games four times.

Here is the Team USA alumnus in better days, wearing the Winnipeg Jets' dark blue (home) uniform on card #AF-ZB from Upper Deck's 2013-14 SP Game-Used Edition collection and Authentic Fabrics sub-set:

It features an even darker (possibly black) game-worn jersey swatch that could be from his days with the Atlanta Thrashers before they moved to Winnipeg.

Jared Cowen Autograph Card

Two-time World Juniors silver medalist, Memorial Cup champion, Calder Cup champion.

Then an up-and-down six seasons in the Ottawa Senators organization, the way most young defensemen spend their time learning their craft.

That was the career trajectory of Jared Cowen, the ninth-overall draft pick of 2009, until February 9th, 2016, when he was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs, with Colin Greening, Milan Michalek, Tobias Lindberg and a second-round draft pick, for Dion Phaneuf, Matt Frattin, Ryan Rupert, Casey Bailey and Cody Donahey.

Cowen hasn't played since that season - heck, he never even played a game for the Leafs. Instead, they realized he was playing through an injury and bought him out, a move that is against the rules of the current Collective Bargaining Agreement that the NHL let slide because it's the Leafs and their GM at the time was Lou Lamoriello, and the Leafs need to be good for Canadian ratings to be good, revenue to flow in, and Lamoriello was supposed to bring them a much-needed Stanley Cup, like Dave Nonis before him, and Brian Burke before him, and John Ferguson Jr. before him, and Pat Quinn before him, and Ken Dryden before him, and Cliff Fletcher before that.

Wow, that's a lot of GMs since the 1990s. I wonder how long they've been without a Cup for, must be a while. I guess that's what you get when you're better at managing "assets" than "players".

That being said, Cowen did get a look at the Colorado Avalanche's camp the following pre-season, but he didn't make it very far. My guess is he's still suffering from all the injuries he fought through.

Here he is from better days, sporting Team Canada's white (home) uniform, on card #108 from Upper Deck's 2013-14 Team Canada collection:

He signed it in blue sharpie in 2014-15, adding his number (2) at the end.

Ken Belanger Autograph Card

248 regular-season NHL games spent with four different teams over 12 hockey seasons, including two full years outside the NHL altogether suiting up for a single game in the UHL in that period, mostly due to concussion issues. 11 goals, 12 assists and 23 points, with a peak of 5 points in 45 games with the Boston Bruins in 1998-99. 695 penalty minutes.

12 career postseason games, all with the Bruins, all in '98-99. One goal. 16 PIMs.

Yes, Ken Belanger earned his card in In The Game's 2013-14 Enforcers II set and Autograph sub-set:

He signed the Band-Aid-like sticker in black sharpie tagging it with #33 - the number he wore with the New York Islanders, his longest-tenured organization in terms of years spent, probably unaware that ITG were going to show him as a member of the Los Angeles Kings, the team with which he spent his final three seasons in the NHL, 2001-02 (43 games), 2002-03 (4 games) and 2005-06 (5 games).

He had originally been a Hartford Whalers draft pick (153rd overall, 7th round, 1992) but was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs before his Juniors career was even over, so he never got to play for them.

Nowadays, he's a full-time entrepreneur, notably with KBX, a hockey school/training facility he runs with his wife as well as partnerships and stakes in Puckcooler (a drink holder that maintains temperatures made from used hockey pucks endorsed by Grant Fuhr), Northern Digital Media (a digital advertising brand based in Sault Ste-Marie) and Shot Blockers, the skate protectors for defensemen. He also dabbles in motivational speaking.

Jamie Tardif Autograph And Swatch Card

Despite being just 34 years old, Jamie Tardif is already nearly two years removed from his last professional hockey game, which isn't to say he didn't get opportunities or that he wasn't successful: the rugged right winger played himself into a point-per-game role in five seasons with the OHL's Peterborough Petes circa 2001-06, becoming a Calgary Flames draft pick - fourth round, 112th overall in 2003 - and signing with three NHL teams (Detroit Red Wings, Boston Bruins and Buffalo Sabres) while never getting traded in the following seven years.

Sure, he mostly played AHL for nost of that time, save for a couple of games with the Bruins, but he made his mark with six 30-point seasons (with a high of 54 in 77 games with the Grand Rapids Griffins in 2010-11), all while usually attaining the 80-PIM mark.

He them moved to Germany, spending three seasons with the Mannheim Eagles from 2014-15 until 2016-17, then accepting a player/assistant-coach position with the ECHL's Quad City Mallards in 2017-18.

He's made the definitive move to coaching since, having been an assistant-coach with the OHL's Sault-Ste-Marie Greyhounds since the summer of 2018.

Here he is wearing the Bruins' white (away) uniform on the "all-dressed" insert version of card #201 from Panini's 2013-14 Select set:

It features a black "event-worn" jersey swatch and on-sticker blue-sharpied autograph. At the time of his call-up in the 2012-13 season, he was second in the AHL with 20 goals. He finished the season with a round 30, for 45 points, in 62 games.

Max Reinhart Autograph And Swatch Card

Former NHL Paul Reinhart's three sons played in the NHL: Sam was a Buffalo Sabres first-round pick and still plays centre for the team; Griffin was a New York Islanders first-round pick who now patrols the blue line with the KHL's Chinese team, the Kunlun Red Star, after passing through the Edmonton Oilers and Vegas Golden Knights organizations; and Maxwell retired at age 25 after spending the 2017-18 season with the AHL's Belleville Senators, essentially used as their fourth-line centre.

I was under the impression that he would make a fine 'tweener, playing shut-down AHL minutes and the occasional fourth-line call-up in the NHL, but a coach told me he didn't feel like his defensive play was good enough to trust at that position.

From what I remember, though, Max had good two-way instincts and was above-average speed-wise - two of the most in-demand traits in the NHL these days; he also had a decent vision and passing skills in Juniors and at the AHL level, but maybe he lacked that split-second to keep at it in the NHL.

He holds the AHL's Abbotsford Heat record for points in a single season on the strength of 63 in 66 games.

Here he is wearing the Calgary Flames' red (now-home) uniform, on the "all-dressed" insert version of card #164 from Panini's 2013-14 Totally Certified set and Dual Rookie Class sub-set:

It features a white "event-worn" jersey swatch and blue-sharpied on-sticker autograph.

Jeff Zatkoff Autograph Card

How many Pittsburgh Penguins goalies can I feature in a single month? After Eric Hartzell and Johan Hedberg, it's time to look at Jeff Zatkoff again and see what he's been up to for the past couple of years.

He last played in the NHL with the Los Angeles Kings in 2016-17, but his .900 save percentage and the fact that the Kings acquired Peter Budaj and Ben Bishop during the season made him more than expendable, so he was traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets, only seeing time in 17 games with the AHL's Cleveland Monsters in 2017-18 before moving to Germany to play for the Straubing Tigers, where he's been the clear #1 ever since.

His save percentage was better last year (.910) than it is now (.900), so I'm not certain we'll be seeing the 32-year-old in the NHL again any time soon.

One thing no one can take away from him is his name on the Stanley Cup as a member of the 2016 Penguins - the year Phil Kessel should have won the Conn Smythe - appearing in 14 regular-season games and 2 post-season games, sharing in goaltending duties with Matt Murray and Marc-André Fleury.

Here he is wearing the Pens' Reebok-era black (home) uniform, on the signed insert version of card #118 from Panini's 2013-14 Dominion set and Dual Rookie Class sub-set:

It features an on-card blue-sharpied autograph and is numbered 202/299. Of note, he actually wore #37 for both the Penguins and Kings, but this was from a training camp before he was given that number, so he's wearing #36 instead.

Ben Holmstrom Autograph Card

Ben Holmstrom was one of those undrafted College kids that sign with a professional team when they reach maturity, which is usually seen as less of a risk to the pro team, seeing as the player is already an adult, has been training at school and had more practices than games to learn to play a two-way game. Another risk associated with drafting American College kids is they can refuse to sign with the team that drafted them for four straight years and become free agents, resulting in a wasted pick.

A three-year captain - out of a four-year tenure - of the UMass Lowell River Hawks, Holmstrom signed with the Philadelphia Flyers, appearing in 7 games over five seasons, captaining their AHL affiliate Adirondack Phantoms for the last three.

He then moved onto the Charlotte Checkers for one season, and then the New York Islanders organization, where he captained their AHL affiliate, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, for four years.

After an injury-plagued season, he signed with the ECHL's Norfolk Admirals last summer, the only team in the league to not have an NHL affiliation; his 4 goals, 5 assists and 9 points in 21 games are rather unimpressive, which leaves me thinking the team signed him to please their leading scorer Josh Holmstrom (18 points in 30 games), his brother.

That being said, Ben is the only one with NHL experience. Here he is as a member of the Flyers on card #SI-HM from Panini's 2013-14 Select set and Signatures sub-set:

The card features a blue-sharpied on-sticker autograph. He looks good in Flyer orange.

This year marks the fourth team with which the Homstrom brothers are teammates; they also played together at UMass-Lowell, in Bridgeport and for the USHL's Sioux Falls Stampede before going to  College.

Eric Hartzell Autograph Card

Most Hobey Baker Award winners don't have a huge NHL career, and the finalists are oftentimes career minor-leaguers. Such is the case with Eric Hartzell, who starred and had tremendous numbers for the Quinnipiac University Bobcats, leading the Pittsburgh Penguins to sign him to a one-year entry-level contract.

He only appeared as a backup once with the main team but had an excellent season with the AHL's Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in 2013-14, sharing the "Hap" Holmes Award as the league's best goalie, but it was mostly an ECHL and European thing after that magical season.

His final stint in the ECHL, with the Quad City Mallards, ended when the team folded at the end of the 2017-18 season. He never found work between the pipes after that, retiring at age 28, but I hear he may be a teacher at a hockey school in the summer.

And that's the difference between an undrafted player and one where the team feels forced to keep giving some guys chances despite pedestrian numbers on the long term - think Scott Darling, James Reimer and Carey Price - often rewarded with untradeable contracts to boot.

Here he is stopping pucks during warm-ups on the signed version of card #260 from Panini's 2013-14 Select set and Dual Rookie Class sub-set:

It features a blue-sharpied, on-sticker autograph and shows him wearing the Pens' then-white (away) uniform. I'd like to get some ECHL and European cards of him signed one day.

Valentin Zykov Autographed Card

Today, the Vegas Golden Knights announced they had sent Valentin Zykov down to the AHL's Chicago Wolves after clearing wavers, as he is set to return to play after a 20-game suspension for testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs. After it has been revealed that this was done without the consent of the Golden Knights - and because he's the second player in two seasons to get suspended by the league for PEDs - I am fairly certain the organization now wants him out.

Despite his pedigree as a second-round pick (37th overall by the Los Angeles Kings in 2013), the 24-year-old with over-average stick-handling skills and near-elite passing with decent size (6'2", 205-210 pounds), I doubt many teams want to take a chance on handing him a middle-six position on the wing after this. I believe he will require a five-year exile to the KHL to mature before getting another chance at an NHL gig, especially with just 15 points in 47 NHL games to his name so far split between L.A., Vegas and the Carolina Hurricanes.

He did put up 33 goals and 54 points in 64 games with the AHL's Charlotte Checkers in 2017-18, but translating that extra "oomph" to NHL success has proven to be difficult, as is often the case for power forwards.

Here he is from his high-scoring Juniors days with the LHJMQ's Baie-Comeau Drakkar on card #65 from In The Game's 2013-14 Heroes And Prospects set:

I got this one in a trade last year from fellow collector BG, who got the autograph in-person. He's shown wearing the Drakkar's red (away) uniform, which does well to mostly use the Calgary Flames' colour scheme but avoid the trapping of copying their uniform design.

Jamie Oleksiak Autograph Card

It's not often an NHL player is less popular than their sibling (I know it was the case for Zak Bierk, whose brother Sebastian Bach fronted cock-rock/hair metal band Skid Row for a decade), but in the case of the Dallas Stars' Jamie Oleksiak, it's his Canadian Olympian sister Penelope "Penny" Oleksiak - the youngest Canadian athlete ever to medal and the first to win four medals in the same Summer Games - who wears the mantle.

The 6'7", 255-pound Jamie has an interesting career; he was drafted by the Stars then traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins for a fourth-round draft pick, yet when he was shown to be a poor fit in Pittsburgh and when the Stars realized he was exactly who they needed to have on their back end, was traded back for the exact same pick, as if the trade had never happened, save for the 83 games he played there, and the 8 goals, 17 assists, 25 points, 106 penalty minutes and +18 rating he collected while in Steel Town.

He's now a regular on the team's third pairing, generally driving play forward and contributing to the tune of a point per five games or so. Here he is wearing the Stars' old digs, the white (away) uniform with the awful wordmark and number instead of a logo on the signed insert version of card #173 from Upper Deck's 2013-14 Trilogy set and Rookie Premieres/Level 1 sub-sets:

The card appears to have a blue tint, but that's just the scan; it's actually a silver foil to the naked eye, with the parts appearing as black being gold foil. The signature is in blue sharpie, on a sticker. The card is numbered 137/699.

Oleksiak is a big tattoo buff.

Shea Weber Jersey Card

I've seen some of the all-time greats play, especially the top-six defensemen on the all-time powerplay scorers list (Ray Bourque, Al MacInnis, Rob Blake, Paul Coffey, Nicklas Lidstrom and Phil Housley), the next four a little less (Denis Potvin, Larry Murphy, Brian Leetch and Sergei Gonchar), and I've never seen the two best defensemen ever (Doug Harvey and Bobby Orr) play live, though I've seen old broadcasts, so I know for sure that Shea Weber isn't one of the ten best defensemen of all time.

But he certainly has one of the best point shots of all time, with MacInnis, Alex Ovechkin, Al Iafrate, Zdeno Chara, and Sheldon Souray.

His mighty slapper was on full display on Saturday as he scored a pair of goals with the man advantage to tie and pass Mathieu Schneider as the 11th most productive goal-scorer from the blue line in those conditions, as the Montréal Canadiens best the Los Angeles Kings 3-2.

The Canadiens captain is one marker from catching up with Gonchar (102) and might even catch Leetch (111) and Murphy (114) before the season's over, although that might be stretching it a bit. He's likely not going to continue producing at a rate that would bring him to 24 goals by year's end, and he might even get injured again; even putting aside the "what ifs", he has become a less effective defender, currently playing nearly three fewer minutes than his career average on the Habs' second pairing, so unless he starts playing all two minutes of every powerplay and coach Claude Julien doesn't mind trading in powerplay goals for the occasional short-hander going the other way, his offensive output will regress to his recent mean, 15-20 goals per 75-80 games. Which is nothing to scoff at.

And while his critics - among them myself - will point to the cost of his acquisition in a younger Norris winner on a shorter contract and the fact that his deal will take him until the end of time, he actually does bring a lot of leadership to that locker room, so much so that the captain that was in place when he got there (Max Pacioretty) was traded a year after his arrival because it became clear which player could best handle the pressure of wearing the "C" in a hockey-mad city and face critics every single day of the season.

Here he is wearing the letter with his previous team, the Nashville Predators and the worst jersey in the game, their yellow home uniform, on card #AF-SW from Upper Deck's 2013-14 SP Game-Used Edition collection and Authentic Fabrics sub-set:

It features a blue game-worn jersey swatch that probably comes from another uniform, though, either the blue alternate jersey of the blue home one that came before the yellow.

Also, because it becomes increasingly likelier to happen with each passing year, here is the breakdown per season of his cap recapture penalty, should he be bought out or retire early:

After this season, the Habs wouldn't be hurt at all, as only the Preds would be affected - more and more with each passing season.