Jonathan Quick Jersey Card

(team and product links go to sponsored Amazon products, player links go to related pages on my blog, news links go to source pages)

Tonight, Jonathan Quick will suit up as the starter for the New York Rangers for their final game of the season... and of his (likely) Hall of Fame career.

A two-time Vezina Trophy nominee, 2012 Conn Smythe winner and 2014 and 2018 Jennings Trophy winner, Quick is the winningest American goalie to date (he will likely be surpassed by Connor Hellebuyck at some point) with 410 regular-season and 49 playoff wins; his name is engraved three times on the Stanley Cup - in 2012 and 2014 with the Los Angeles Kings, and as part of the backup options for the 2023 Vegas Golden Knights. He was also on the Team USA squad that won the 2010 silver Olympic medal.

For the better part of the 2010s, he had the fastest legs and reflexes in the game, eventually surpassed by the Tampa Bay Lightning's Andrei Vasilevskiy. Here is Quick in his prime, wearing the Kings' black (home) uniform, with a matching game-worn jersey swatch on card #GJ-JQ from Upper Deck's 2014-15 Series One set and Game Jersey sub-set:

Here's wishing him the best in retirement!

Lightning Preview: Steven Stamkos Jersey Card

(team and product links go to sponsored Amazon products, player links go to related pages on my blog, news links go to source pages)

This will likely be the preface to all of this year's Season Preview posts: Unlike in the distant past where I would post different texts on this collectibles blog and my personal one, I've been using a new format for the past couple of years, where I'll copy the same text on each one. As a father of two young kids, I just do not have enough time to write two separate posts per day on each blog. This year again, the entire scope of the analysis will take place first and the featured player will have a direct or perhaps indirect connection to what's written, below.

Caveats: At this point, despite training camp being set to start in a couple of weeks, several players haven't found a team yet and a few clubs are currently above the salary cap, which means there is much maneuvering left to do.

Key exits: Ross Colton (C), Alex Killorn (LW/C), Corey Perry (RW), Ian Cole (D), Patrick Maroon (LW), Pierre-Édouard Bellemare (D), and Brian Elliott (G).

Key Arrivals: Calvin De Haan (D), Conor Sheary (LW), Josh Archibald (RW), Luke Glendening (C), Logan Brown (LW), and Jonas Johansson (G).

Top prospects: Roman Schmidt (D, 20 years old, will require a year of AHL seasoning), Gage Goncalves (C, 22 years old, will jump straight to the second line in case of injury), Jack Thompson (D, 21 years old, will likely see a handful of games this season), Cole Koepke (LW, 25 years old, a spot in the bottom-six is his to lose), Gabriel Fortier (LW, 23 years old, will likely see 5-10 games this season), Isaac Howard (LW, 19 years old, will play another couple of seasons in the NCAA, Jack Finley (C, 21 years old, will require more AHL seasoning), and Niko Huuhtanen (RW, 20 years old, will play one more season in Finland before playing in the AHL to adapt to the North American ice surface).

No other team in the NHL has seen its depth depleted like the Tampa Bay Lightning in the past three to five years; the Bolts have lost the equivalent of three top-of-the-food-chain third lines in the past two offseasons and trade deadlines, in addition to a slew of first- and second-round draft picks. You would think that would close their contending window for a while, but their elite talent is so good that it will not affect them for the next two, three or perhaps even four seasons. After all, Nikita Kucherov is fresh off a 113-point season, Brayden Point got his usual 95 and even broke the 50-goal barrier, while Steven Stamkos added yet another point-per-game season to his Hall of Fame resume. Add to that a pair of #1 defenders in Mikhail Sergachev and Victor Hedman - don't get fooled by Hedman's dipping offensive stats, he's still dominant, he just surrendered some prime producing moments like first-line powerplay time to Sergachev, but they both played nearly 24 minutes a game and had simlar plus/minus and possession stats - and a top-five goalie who still has the best legs in the game in Andrei Vasilevskiy, and there is still an All-Star team's worth of players in the middle or end of their primes as the foundation.

What makes their odds look good:
The Toronto Maple Leafs may have equivalent star forwards, but no team in the East has the type of elite defensemen the Lightning has. With support from Brandon Hagel, Sheary, Nick Paul and Anthony Cirelli, there will be plenty of offense to win between 50 and 60 games this season.

Question marks: Can Tanner Jeannot step up and prove invaluable like Hagel did last year? At a cost of a first, a second and a third-round pick, or in context, a possible 2025 middle-six player, a 2026 top-six forward and a 50/50 shot at a depth player, he needs to be responsible for 2-3 wins this year and 3-5 wins next year as well as a few important playoff moments (say a couple of game-winning goals) to justify the cost of acquiring him from the Nashville Predators. Anti-vaxer Archibald lost a year and a half of play due to Covid travel restricioons while with the Edmonton Oilers and has lost a step, going from third-liner with occasional bumps to Connor McDavid's line to part-time fourth-liner. Should he make the team, he will probably love Florida.

Outlook:
Don't get me wrong: they are at the tail end of their contending window and are probably no match for the likes of the Dallas Stars or Vegas Golden Knights out West, but they can take anyone in the East (yes, including the equally depth-deprived Leafs and Pittsburgh Penguins, as well as the inexperienced New Jersey Devils and coach cemetery New York Rangers), and there is no guarantee the Western finalist won't also be a team with its own issues. And this time around, for the first time in four years and just the second in six seasons, Tampa Bay has had a short postseason, getting eliminated in seven games in the first round. They are well-rested and (probably) hungry.

Prediction:
Second in the Atlantic Division.

As mentionned before, Steven Stamkos is carving himself quite the career, with little to no signs of slowing down at age 33. His days of leading the league in scoring (51 goals in 2009-10 and 60 goals in 2011-12) are probably a thing of the past in the era of McDavid, Auston Matthews, David Pastrnak and Leon Draisaitl - and with Alex Ovechkin still around - but his 84 points were still 23rd in the NHL last season, which would have put him first on 17 teams.

He's been around or over the point-per-game mark every year since 2016-17 after a dip in 2014-15 (43 goals and 72 points in 82 games) and 2015-16 (36 goals and 64 points in 77 games), two seasons in which his points totals may have dipped but during which he garnered some Lady Byng consideration - and even finished fourth in right wingers for the end of season All-Star Teams and finished 11th in Hart voting in 2014-15.

He has 515 goals, 541 assists and 1056 career points in 1003 regular-season games so far, and another 45 goals, 50 assists and 95 points in 123 playoff games. The only time his playoff shooting percentage was below 10% was in 2015-16, when he played just 11:55 in a single game and did not score on his two shots taken; however, his lone 2:47 of ice time in the 2019-20 is the stuff of legends, as he scored on his only shot, despite being on the ice for just three shifts in total. The goal gave the Bolts a 2-0 lead, paving the way to a 5-2 victory.

Here he is wearing Tampa's white (away) uniform, on card #6 from Upper Deck's 2014-15 SP Game-Used Edition set and Jersey Card sub-set:

It features a matching game-worn jersey swatch.

Internationally, he has won gold medals in 2008 (World Juniors) and 2016 (World Cup) and was a silver medalist at the 2009 World Championships playing for Team Canada. He has also represented his country in 2007 (U18s and Ivan Hlinka tournaments), as well as the 2010 and 2013 World Championships.

Jake Virtanen Autographed Card

(team links go to sponsored Amazon products, player links go to related pages on my blog, news links go to source pages)

I wish I were writing a "Jake Virtanen scores a hat trick, cements his position on the Vancouver Canucks' second line for the next decade" type of post but, alas, the 24-year-old (who an important part of the Canucks' fanbase had already turned its back on) is in the news because of an alleged sexual assault that would have taken place in September 2017.

As of yet, there have not been any (formal) accusations although the victim has expressed themselves on Twitter and the police is seemingly aware of "a recently reported incident".

As is common in these cases, there is an important contingent that wants him cancelled, fired, hung by the balls and put on a million type of lists without any sort of trial, and a vocal group disputing the accusations as a cash grab - or worse: a disappointed fan looking to attack the slow-to-develop winger personally for his on-ice play. There are probably a few moderates of the "let's see how this plays out with more facts and perhaps a trial" school left, but I'm not holding my breath anymore.

I'm usually an "extreme moderate" myself in cases like these: I would protect the victim regardless and offer them all the help they need to get their life back on track, whether the accusation is true or not, and whether the attacker gets penalized or not. Yes, even if the accusation isn't true, I would offer the alleged victim state-provided psychological help, because they would need it, to help cure the situation that made them invent the story in the first place, and to deal with the backlash of now having this very public cloud to live with for the rest of their lives.

There is also the possibility that the person does in all truthfullness feel wronged but that a third party rules that they are incorrect in their assessment of the situation, which also deserves care and help; and this being North America, historically, the system being built on proving guilt being harder in situations where there are no witnesses, if the defendant did commit a crime but doesn't crack at the trial, he could get away with it - which also requires a host of services provided to the victim.

In Virtanen's case, however, it is too early to tell on any of this. But I would advise the victim to go through the proper channels of Justice for this one, as the system is thirsty for a public case to right past wrongs, and there has pretty much never been a better time - strategically - to bring someone to court on matters like these and hope for a win (see: Derek Chauvin, the rare police murderer who was found guilty).

For now, the young man has been put on leave by his hometown team. He was already thought by many to being on his way out of town, and this may very well seal the deal, but it also brings the team's expected return down by a lot; I'm not sure even a talented (alleged) racist like Tony DeAngelo is a fair return today.

Back in the day, Virtanen used to suit up for Team Canada often; here he is wearing the team's red (away) uniform on card #44 from Upper Deck's 2014-15 Team Canada Juniors/Women set:

It shows him wearing #19. He signed it in thin blue sharpie. I got the card by mail a couple of seasons ago.

Victor Hedman Dual Jersey Card

There is bound to be a dichotomy between the best at anything for a period and the best on a shorter term, or most deserving of a nod. Victor Hedman, who won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP in an impressive Stanley Cup run with the Tampa Bay Lightning is currently the best defenseman in the NHL, but I'm totally fine with handing this year's Norris Trophy for best performance by a defenseman to the Washington Capitals' John Carlson who produced an insane 75 points in 69 games this year, well ahead of anyone else at his position while almost never playing with Alex Ovechkin. It was his second straight 70-point season, and it deserves some recognition.

Does Carlson have flaws? Of course: all over the defensive zone. Does Hedman? Not really. And that's why Hedman won the Norris in 2017-18 and has been a finalist for the past four years. He's so dominant you get used to it, but not quite as head and shoulders above his peers as Nicklas Lidstrom used to be - which justified his winning the award every year - which is why other worthy seasons were also rewarded with the award.

His performance in these playoffs was just as impressive as those of the last defenseman who won the award, Duncan Keith of the Chicago Blackhawks, and it's a safe bet both players will end up in the Hall Of Fame some day.

He technically fell two goals short of Paul Coffey's 12 in a single postseason, but I was glad no one broke any production records this year since the statistics were skewed by the play-in round counting as postseason games this year, which is an aberration. I understand the league didn't want to influence the regular-season points (Leon Draisaitl versus Connor McDavid) and goals (Ovechkin versus David Pastrnak) standings, but that's no reason to forgo playoff history, although Wayne Gretzky was correct in saying that the greats from the 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s were at a disadvantage when the elimination round started al being best-of-sevens instead of best-of-fives.

Speaking of all-time greats, none other than Scotty Bowman - whom the Toronto Sun aptly described as having "coached Doug Harvey and Lidstrom, Coffey, Larry Robinson and Serge Savard, and happened to be on the bench in St. Louis when Bobby Orr flew through the air after his famous 1970 Stanley Cup-winning overtime goal" had this to say about Hedman:

He is in his own place right now. He’s a big guy that does just about everything right. He’s so mobile for his size. He plays, what, 26 minutes a game? And you get the impression he could play a lot more. He reminds me of Larry (Robinson) that way. For a big man, he can really skate.

That's how I'd compare him as well. He's not as mean as Chris Pronger, but he hits as hard as Robinson; he's not as smooth and perfect as Lidstrom, but he almost looks as smooth as Scott Niedermayer out there at times.

Here he is wearing the Bolts' former third jersey on card #FA-VH from Upper Deck's 2014-15 Artifacts set and Frozen Artifacts sub-set:

It features two white game-worn jersey swatches that likely come from the team's away uniform.

Semyon Varlamov Jersey Card

Semyon Varlamov is having a tremendous postseason at the expense of the Washington Capitals in Round 1 after puzzling the Florida Panthers' young stars in the play-in. Signing with the New York Islanders as a free agent in the off-season sure looks like a great move on his part, with Barry Trotz' system doing its part to help the 32-year-old reach the level that's expected from a $5M goalie, but it's a two-way street, and Varlamov is surely doing his part, with opportune saves like this one:

The former Vezina Trophy runner-up (2013-14) has slowly but surely evolved into an elite goaltending, and his international career with Team Russia shows that very well, as he had made his way to the squad at the 2005 World Juniors as an underage third-stringer, then won the silver medal the following season as the official backup to Anton Khudobin and again in 2007 as the starter (ahead of Sergei Bobovsky), and he would repeat the progression with the Men's Teams, first as the third-stringer behind Evgeni Nabokov and Ilya Bryzgalov at the 2010 Olympics, then earning silver as the main guy at the 2010 World Championships and gold as the starter once again at the 2012 Worlds.

It's like he takes his first opportunity to assess the situation quietly, then climbs the ranks and gets successful. The same holds true of his beginnings with the Isles this season, losing his first two games - including getting pulled after surrendering four goals on 19 shots in under 29 minutes against the Edmonton Oilers; he won seven of his next eight starts - the loss coming in overtime.

When all was said and done, with the team plan originally being to platoon Varlamov and Thomas Greiss, #40 played 45 regular-season games while the 33-year-old German appeared in 31; Greiss has yet to appear in the postseason, in part because of Varlamov's staggering statistics:  6-1 record, with a 1.71 GAA and a .932 save percentage despite having not record a shutout yet.

Here he is back in his days with the Colorado Avalanche, sporting their white (away) uniform on card #GJ-SV from Upper Deck's 2014-15 Series 1 collection and UD Game Jersey sub-set:

It features a burgundy game-worn jersey swatch.

As you can perhaps tell from the picture, he has a low stance and centre of gravity in net, as he's 6'2" tall yet his "pounce" stance has his head below the crossbar, which stands at four feet high.

Aleksander Barkov Autographed Card

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman announced earlier today that next season's All-Star Game will be hosted by the Florida Panthers and will have an "international taste", possibly with a link towards whether or not the league will allow its players to participate in the next Olympics in China.

The Panthers themselves are a very international team, currently with five players on pace to top the 60-point mark that hail from different regions of the globe: Jonathan Huberdeau (Montréal, Québec), young captain Aleksander Barkov (Finnish with a Russian father), Evgeny Dadonov (Russia), Mike Hoffman (from Kitchener, Ontario, a city that used to be called New Berlin), and Keith Yandle (from Boston, Massachusetts, USA). And although he's having a sub-par season, they also have the only active two-time Vezina Trophy winner between the pipes, Russian Sergei Bobrovsky, who could very well bounce back next year.

Coached by Joel Quenneville - one of the three best bench bosses in the game and the only active three-time Stanley Cup-winning head coach - the Panthers are currently in a playoff position with a 28-16-5 record in 49 games, good for 61 points, 4 ahead of the chasing Toronto Maple Leafs and just 1 behind the Tampa Bay Lightning, with a game in hand over their state rivals.

The Cats' top line of Huberdeau-Barkov-Dadonov doesn't get spoken about as often as the Boston Bruins' power trio (David Pastrnak, Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand) or the Colorado Avalanche's three superstars (Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen and Gabriel Landeskog) or even the Edmonton Oilers' unparalleled domination when pairing Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, but they're just as effective and almost as dominant.

With the rest of the team factoring in with a group effort and following Quenneville's system closely, it almost doesn't even matter that Bobrovsky's GAA currently stands at 3.24 and save percentage is a shocking .898 - still better than backup Samuel Montembeault's 3.35 and .888, considering both have winning records, Bob's standing at 19-12-4 while Montembault's fine at 4-2-1.

But mostly, I really like the bond Huberdeau and Barkov have created, dating back to the end of the 2014-15 season when they were paired with Jaromir Jagr. He instilled both an acute sense of professionalism into their young spirits yet had them remember that the beauty of professional sports is that they get to make a living doing something they love and that people love to watch them do. It seemed to be what they needed to reach the next level, and their points totals have steadily increased ever since, culminating in both players topping the 90-point mark last season, with Barkov's 96 points slightly ahead of Huberdeau's 92, while this year, it's the Quebecer leading the race, 65 to 54.

Both are also good autograph signers, and Barkov was kind enough to autograph this card of his wearing the Panthers' beautiful red (home) 2011-16 uniform in thin blue sharpie, with his number (16) tagged at the end:

It's #83 in Upper Deck's 2014-15 Series 1 set, and although it shows him wearing the Panthers' 20th Anniversary patch from his rookie season, it does not count as a rookie card because UD included a Young Guns card of his in its Series 2 set the previous year.

Zach Fucale Autographed Team Canada Card

For the 16th time, Team Canada has won the Spengler Cup, now in its 93rd iteration. Originally created in 1923 by Dr. Carl Spengler as a means to promote teams from German-speaking countries in the aftermath of World War I, it is hosted each year by the HC Davos team, who have won it 15 times themselves and ended as runner-up another 25 times, by far the most of any participating club.

This year's Canadian team was a little too strong for its competitors, however, as GM Sean Burke, assistant-HM Shane Doan, head coach Craig MacTavish and assistant-coach Paul Coffey put together a roster comprised of former NHLers Kris Versteeg, Zach Boychuk, David Desharnais, Paul Postma, Josh Jooris, Dustin Jeffrey, Eric Fehr, Scottie Upshall, Daniel Winnik, Ben Maxwell,Chris DiDomenico, Alex Grant, Patrick Wiercioch and Andrew MacDonald, AHLers Adam Tambellini, Justin Danforth (alternate captain and point-per-game player on his current Finnish team), Blair Riley, (former LHJMQ captain) Éric Faille, Kevin Clark, squad captain Maxim Noreau and Nick Ross, NCAA alumni Dion Knelsen, Ian Mitchell and former ECHLer Mathew Maione.

They faced off against teams that had at most one or two former NHLers, including runner-up HC Oceláři Třinec (4th in the Czech Extraliga), hosts HC Davos (4th in Swiss National League standings), HC TPS Turku (11th in Finnish League standings), Salavat Yulaev Ufa (6th in their Conference in the KHL) and HC Ambrì-Piotta (10th in Switzerland).

It's no wonder the tournament's All-Star Team was comprised of three members of the winning team as well as Matt D'Agostini, the Canadian star forward of Ambri-Piotta, but it was a surprise that the team's biggest star ended up being - for the second straight year and third time in four years - goalie Zach Fucale, who signed an AHL deal with the Syracuse Crunch last summer and has spent moft of the season keeping the Orlando Solar Bears afloat in the ECHL - he has an 8-8-2 record and 2.60 GAA, but his 4 shutouts and .920 save percentage give a pretty clear idea of how much they need him. He's top-3 in save percentage and top-10 in goals-against average.

He had originally been drafted by his hometown Montréal Canadiens in the second round (36th overall) in 2013, but with Carey Price firmly in place but mostly struggling to save face for the 2014-15 season, the team didn't give the youngster the necessary attention to have him progress to an NHL-level netminder, so the Vegas Golden Knights were able to pry him away from the organization in 2018.

He allowed only a single goal in three total starts, including shutouts in the semi-final and the final, showing once more he loves the pressure of "money" games. He had also won a title in 2016 on the strength of a 4-0-0 record in four games with a 2.00 goals-against average and a save percentage of .934. Last season, he appeared in four games and riding a 3-0-1 record to a second-place finish, with a 1.47 goals-against average and a .930 save percentage in the tournament, stopping 80 of 86 shots. He is now 10-0-1 in three appearances at the Spengler Cup.

He had also backstopped the Canadian team at the 2015 World Juniors, helping his country win its first gold medal in five years when he went 5-0-0 in five appearances with two shutouts, a 1.20 GAA and a .939 save percentage. The team had finished fourth the previous year, which is where card #139 from Upper Deck's 2014-15 Team Canada Juniors comes in:

It shows him wearing Team Canada's red (away) uniform with the Hockey Canada logo in front, which is technically barred from Olympic status because it represents a National Federation, and not a country. Zachary signed it in blue sharpie, adding #33 at the end instead of the #31 he's wearing int he picture, which makes me think he signed it while in the minors in the Habs' organization, so I want to say between 2016 and 2018.

I want to wish him continued success.

Oscar Klefbom Autographed Card

(As per years past, this is a twin-post with my "regular" blog, where I predicted the Edmonton Oilers would finish fourth in the Pacific Division in 2019-20, which is likely outside the playoff picture anyway).

Oscar Klefbom is an excellent NHL defenseman by many accounts; ideally, his offensive capabilities are best suited for a #2 or #3 role, but he can hot the 35-40-point mark from the blue line whenever he plays a full 82-game season, which has happened once - and he even finished 5th in Ladty Byng votes that year with his "gentlemanly and sportsmanlike play".

As you can guess, his biggest knock is his inability to remain healthy, usually because of a reckless play. He's a rock in the defensive zone and will make fewer mistakes than most (again, on a #2 or #3-defender level, he's very good), but the reason why he is currently making $4.167M per year and won't get that much of a raise in three years when he's due to re-up is because it's hard to gauge hos many games he'll play.

Actually, no, scratch that, it's not hard at all: so far, he's suited up in 60, 30, 82, 66 and 61 games per year, meaning 60-65 should be your expectation. But in those games, he can spot your top guy and defend the zone, run a penalty kill and quarterback the second powerplay unit.

He's extremely useful. He wasn't a first-rounder (19th overall in 2011) for naught.

And the minute his Edmonton Oilers start learning how to play defensively as a unit, he'll stop being in the minuses and might start earning consideration for Lady Byngs again, as well as other awards, like the Bill Masterton (perseverance), maybe even the Mark Messier (leadership) award, despite not being a captain.

Here he is wearing the Oilers' beautiful blue (then-home) jersey on card #191 from Upper Deck's 2014-15 MVP set, which is his rookie card in that series:

He signed it in blue sharpie after a game in Ottawa last year. It shows him wearing #84 - which he wore for two seasons and makes him the ideal #84 in my Oilers Numbers Project.

Joe Thornton Jersey Card

(As per years past, this is a twin-post with my "regular" blog, where I predicted the San Jose Sharks would finish third in the Pacific Division in 2019-20).

"Jumbo" Joe Thornton will be back with the Sharks this coming season, outlasting "Little" Joe Pavelski (now with the Dallas Stars), as he signed a $2M, one-year deal earlier today. It was inevitable: if he were to continue playing, it would and could only have been with the Sharks, who had a roster spot conveniently still open for him.

At this point of his career, at age 40, he should find his rightful place centering the third line behind the younger Tomas Hertl and Logan Couture and, although he posted 51 points in 73 games in 2018-19, it would be foolish if not unfair to expect more than 40 points from him in that role. I'd also expect him to miss 10-15 games from the nagging pain of injuries past and just to get some rest on  a few back-to-back games.

I still cheer for him never to win a Stanley Cup, but there is no denying that he - along with, say, Jason Spezza, Sidney Crosby, Andrei Markov and Nicklas Lidstrom - is one of the best playmakers of his generation and, as such, is pretty much a lock for the Hall Of Fame, whether I like it or not.

There will be those who will remind the rest of us that he has always failed to lead a team to a championship, winning gold medals with Team Canada riding other players' coattails, from the 1997 World Juniors (Boyd Devereaux, Marc Denis) to the 2004 World Cup (Vincent Lecavalier, Joe Sakic) to the 2010 Olympics (Roberto Luongo, Jonathan Toews, Jarome Iginla, Shea Weber) and the 2016 World Cup (Sidney Crosby, Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, Toews).

But as leader of the 2001 World Championship squad? Fifth place.

As captain of the Sharks and Boston Bruins? Nada.

He will probably top the 1500-point mark this year and he has a reasonable shot at Gordie Howe's games played record if he plays for two more seasons after that, but apart from the 2005-06 Art Ross and Hart trophies, winning in the NHL has eluded him.

And yet, he's a three-time 100-point performer - and one of those times came in 2002-03, near the end of the Dead Puck Era. That is quite the accomplishment.

Here he is as I will likely remember him best, wearing the captain's "C" for the Sharks, in one of their many different teal (now-home) uniforms:

It's card #GJ-JT from Upper Deck's 2014-15 Series 1 set and UD Game Jersey sub-set, and features a white game-worn jersey swatch that is from either the Sharks' or the Bruins' white uniforms.

Alex Galchenyuk Jersey Card

25 years old and on his third NHL team in three seasons, such is the life of Alex Galchenyuk.

The third overall pick of the 2012 draft has one 30-goal season under his belt and will surely be looking for more now that he was traded, essentially, for Phil Kessel, as the Arizona Coyotes needed to add scoring and the Pittsburgh Penguins needed to get rid of a long-term contract with a high cap hit.

Now, Galchenyuk finds himself with a once-in-a-lifetime chance, the possibility of getting some ice time with Sidney Crosby and/or Evgeni Malkin to pad up his stats sheet before hitting free agency next summer. Another 30-goal season would go a long way into securing a long-term, high-paying deal.

A terrible season would likely relegate him to middle-six opportunities at best, possibly on one-year offers, perhaps less than he'd make playing in Europe. To put it simply: he's at a crossroads, and he needs to pick himself up and turn into a star, even if only for one year.

Here he is when the sky was the limit for him, wearing the Montréal Canadiens' classic bleu-blanc-rouge sweater, on card #GJ-AG from Upper Deck's 2014-15 Series 1 set and UD Game Jersey sub-set:

It features a small white game-worn jersey swatch, likely from the team's away uniform.

Robin Lehner Autographed Card

Man, Robin Lehner just can't get any respect.

After years of posting decent numbers with the Ottawa Senators (a career 2.88 GAA and .914 save % in 86 games, including twice posting NHL save percentages over .935), the Buffalo Sabres took a chance on him, making him their starter for three even better seasons (2.77 GAA and .916 save % in 129 starts, including two seasons with a save percentage at .920 or better), but they let him go the minute he had a sub-par season and instead opted to go with two unproven entities between the pipes only to miss the playoffs for the ninth straight season.

We now know the cause of Lehner's down year: struggles with mental health and addiction (alcohol and pills). Instead of falling prey to his demons and letting everyone around him down, he sought help and overcame his demons, ending up a finalist for the Vezina trophy and sharing the Jennings with teammate Thomas Greiss, helping the New York Islanders to a division title and ther second round of the playoffs.

And his acceptance speech was powerful:

I’m not ashamed to say I’m mentally ill, but that doesn’t mean mentally weak. I took that first step, got help and that was life changing to me. It’s something that we’ve gotta keep pushing for and we’ve gotta end the stigma.

Still, the Isles wouldn't offer him the deal he wanted, instead signing veteran Semyon Varlamov to a four-year deal, forcing Lehner to sign a one-year deal with the Chicago Blackhawks.

But even the NHL's engraver messed up his trophy's plaque, identifying him as a member of the New York... Rangers:

You had one job...🤔 pic.twitter.com/fmzYQWKuFf

— Robin Lehner (@RobinLehner) August 10, 2019

He can never catch a break.

Here's hoping he finds better luck in Chicago, where he'll be sporting this mask:

#SameHere is an expression which means: I’ve faced challenges in life too. Those challenges have affected my mental health. It’s a sign that we hope will unite the world to once and for all, normalize how universal this topic is. pic.twitter.com/gWsuDIwkMR

— Robin Lehner (@RobinLehner) August 13, 2019

Here he is wearing the Sens' throwback black "O" uniform on card #281 from Upper Deck's 2014-15 O-Pee-Chee set:

He signed it in blue sharpie last Spring, in late March, after a game against the Montréal Canadiens.

Kevin Klein Jersey Card

In case you missed it, former NHLer Kevin Klein announced his retirement in March, after two seasons as the alternate captain of the Zurich ZSC Lions of the Swiss league, which itself followed a retirement from the NHL's New York Rangers, a move that was decried at the time as being cap circumvention, as he was due $2.9M in the final year of his contract, which would have counted as "dead money" against the cap due to his supposed back spasms but would have stopped him from playing elsewhere, whereas by retiring, his entire cap hit was off the Rangers' books and he was free to pursue a career in Europe.

He did pretty well in Switzerland, too, with 22- and 24-point seasons (in 45 and 47 games, respectively) from the blue line. In his first year in Zurich, the team won the Swiss championship, but failed to make the playoffs in 2018-19.

Injuries were a constant in Klein's career; he has never suited up for a full 82 games, finishing with 81 twice (both times with the Nashville Predators), then 77, then 69. He had his best seasons in New York, however, hitting the 26-point mark twice in a row, in 2014-15 and 2015-16; his next best season was a 21-point output in 2011-12.

In his prime, he was fine playing 18 to 20 minutes on a second or third defensive pairing.

Here he is wearing the Rangers' beautiful white 2014 Stadium Series uniform on card #SS-KK from SP Authentic's 2014-15 SP Game-Used Edition, by Upper Deck:

It features a fairly big matching white game-worn jersey swatch.

The Rangers have iconic jerseys, and I like the care that goes into making original yet classic-feeling new ones for the outdoor cash grabs games, be they Winter Classics or Stadium Series.

Anton Stralman Autographed Card

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One of the more puzzling moves this summer was the Florida Panthers signing defenseman Anton Stralman - to a three-year deal averaging $5.5M per, no less - when there were clear signs he has been regressing.

After all, the 33-yar-old missed 35 games in 2018-19 due to injury, and you would need to add his points total of the past two years (6 goals, 29 assists, 35 points in 127 games) to equate his final prime season (9 goals 25 assists and 34 points in 73 games in 2015-16). His possession metrics were also under 50% for only the second time in his twelve-year career, despite playing on one of the best teams of all time, the record-breaking Tampa Bay Lightning (63 regular-season wins). His plus/minus was also fifth on the team at +12, way behind his replacement, 21-year-old Erik Cernak (+25), and even farther from team leader Ryan McDonagh (+38).

A better contract would have had him at $4M a year for no more than two years, which would have better represented what he can do and how long he can do it for on the cap, allowing GM Dale Tallon more flexibility in tweaking the roster if needed, managing fan expectations, and making new head coach Joel Quenneville's job easier, too, by not having reporters raise uncomfortable questions when he's parked on the third pairing or even in the stands.

There is no way that current-day Stralman can aspire to dethrone any of the Panthers' top three defensemen (Mike Matheson, Aaron Ekblad and Keith Yandle) in total ice time, although turnover machine Yandle could benefit from seeing his five-on-five minutes diminish; then again, Yandle is the only one in that group who is a lefty. Matheson, Ekblad and Stralman all shoot right-handed. Ruh-roh.

There is also the "force of habit" factor... 2019-20 will be the first time Stralman will be playing in red. Whether it's for Team Sweden, the Toronto Maple Leafs, Columbus Blue Jackets, New York Rangers or the Bolts, he's always just worn blue.

Speaking of which, he's a card from his days in Manhattan, wearing the Rangers' white (now-away) uniform on card #291 from Upper Deck's 2014-15 O-Pee-Chee set:

He signed it in blue sharpie during the 2015 playoffs when the Bolts defeated the Montréal Canadiens.

All that being said, regardless of his cap hit and how troublesome it will be in Year Three, he is probably an upgrade over what they had on the third pairing. Sergei Bobrovsky is a definite upgrade over an aging, injured and now retired Roberto Luongo. Quenneville is one of the three best coaches in the NHL - another upgrade. The Cats already boasted a solid attack and core. After missing the postseason in six of the last eight seasons (with both playoff berths being division-winning teams), they are a good bet to enter the Spring Dance in April.

Nicolas Deslauriers Autograph Card

When the Montréal Canadiens traded for Nicolas Deslauriers, they expected to receive a hometown boy who would hover between the fourth line and the AHL - which is essentially what they got.

They were also lucky enough to get a career-high 10 goals from him in 2017-18 (in just 58 games), as well as a points-collecting pace (14 points) that was unseen in his three-plus seasons with the Buffalo Sabres, and a steady array of fighting majors and tough guy penalties that was expected from the 6'1", 220-pounder.

This year, after starting out on injured reserve following a tough preseason fight against the New Jersey Devils' Brandon Baddock, he came back to a changed team, one that was surprisingly fighting for a playoff spot instead of draft lottery placement as many pundits had predicted.

That meant he no longer had leeway to make defensive mistakes under head coach Claude Julien, but also that Julien would likely scratch him altogether from time to time to instead dress two centers on the fourth line. Julien's one of those old-school unforgiving coaches who thinks he'll outsmart the opposing coach using baseball relief pitching tactics instead of the best possible lineup.

So, in 2018-19, Deslauriers only dressed in 48 games, all told, with 2 goals and 3 assists (5 points) and 22 penalty minutes to show for it, after going 10-4-15 with 55 PIMs last year. Oddly enough, when his mind was at ease, he was a +7 playing on a bottom-feeder last year yet is -12 playing for a team that'll finish in ninth-place in the Eastern Conference this year.

I'll try to get him to sign stuff in a Habs uniform next year, but for now, let's contemplate what he looked like wearing the Sabres' white (away) uniform, on the signed insert version of card #275 from Upper Deck's 2014-15 SP Authentic set and Future Watch sub-set:

It features a blue-sharpied on-card autograph. It's numbered #483/999.

Kerby Rychel: Two Autographed Cards

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I wrote about a prospect who is currently in his fourth NHL franchise yesterday in Anthony Duclair; Kerby Rychel is in the same boat, now playing for the Calgary Flames' AHL affiliate the Stockton Heat, after stints with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Montréal Canadiens and Columbus Blue Jackets organizations.

Unlike Duclair, skating is an area where NHL GMs and coaches are always telling Rychel to improve; his strongest suits are his grit, taste for playing in traffic areas (including in front of the opposition's net), tipping pucks, and traits generally associated with "plug-type" players and bottom-sixers, not first-rounders.

Still, it's not his fault the Blue Jackets selected him 19th overall in 2013, ahead of Anthony Mantha (20th, already 200 games and 60 goals in an NHL career), Andre Burakovsky (23rd, 318 NHL games, 61 goals), Shea Theodore (26th), Ryan Hartman (30th), Robert Hagg (41st), Artturi Lehkonen (55th, 200+ games), Brett Pesce (66th, 278 games and counting), Pavel Buchnevich (75th), Jake Guentzel (77th, closing in on 200 games and a goal shy of 75), Mattias Janmark-Nylen (79th, 224 games, 40 career goals), Duclair (80th, 277 games, over 50 goals), Sven Andrighetto (86th, 205 games, 50 assists), Oliver Bjorkstrand (89th, 187 games), Miles Wood (100th, 193 games), Andrew Copp (104th, 282 games), and Tyler Motte (121st, closing in on 150 games played).

I've heard and read about a lack of compete and work ethic in his case, but surely there was a way to instill those traits in him via positive reinforcement and reward for what he did do well, and accentuating or encouraging a will to become a Dave Andreychuck/Ray Sheppard/Brad Marchand type of "garbage goal" scorer and powerplay menace, and expanding from there.

All's not lost for him yet, at just 24 years of age, and he does have 23 goals in 57 AHL games this season, so surely an NHL team might take a chance on him in the near future, it's just been a rockier path than some expected.

For my part, I always say power forwards need more time to develop, and although he's a little small for one, that's how he plays; he also never reached the 100-point mark in Juniors, so he was always going to have to learn to work hard to deserve his chances.

Speaking of which, here's a card from his OHL days with the Windsor Spitfires:

It's card #T-45 from In The Game's 2013-14 Heroes And Prospects 10th Anniversary set and shows him wearing the Spitfires' white (home) uniform.

There is also card #88 from Upper Deck's 2014-15 Team Canada Juniors/Women set, where he's seen protecting the puck from a Swiss player while wearing Team Canada's red (away) uniform:

He was held pointless in 7 games at the 2014 World Juniors, as Canada finished in fourth place.

He signed both in (fading) black sharpie while playing for the AHL's Toronto Marlies (2016-18).

Anthony Duclair Autographed Card

To many, Anthony Duclair is a mystery inside a riddle inside a maze that is lost somewhere in the vast confines of space. That's because he's a talented winger with all the tools needed to make an impact in today's NHL: tremendous speed, agile hands, a good shot and youth, as he's still just 23 years old.

But he doesn't backcheck hard enough and will make defensive mistakes (like Thomas Vanek still does at age 35, or more fittingly, like 27-year-old Evander Kane used to do, as he's closer to Duclair generationally). Or, as John Tortorella put it in late February, in his hometown of Montréal, with his parents watching the press conference on TV:

Duclair had many options to sign this summer, including a couple of two-year deals, and a two-way contract to play in his hometown (or more likely, a stint with the Montréal Canadiens' farm team, the Laval Rocket under Joël Bouchard's tutelage). Instead, he chose the Columbus Blue Jackets' one-year offer close to league minimum specifically to play under Tortorella, saying:

Before signing here, I talked to a bunch of guys that played for Torts and all I heard were good things. They all said he takes your game to another level and that's what I need, especially at this time in my career. You hear and you see all those interviews on YouTube, and all those rants, it's because he cares. He cares about his players. The main thing I heard is, "If you work hard for him, he'll battle for you."

My agent is Philippe Lecavalier, and his brother is [Vincent Lecavalier]. I talked to him a lot, about what happened in Tampa, when [Tortorella] came in and took the "C" away from him. We talked about what he went through. Then he told me it would be a good fit for me to play for him. It definitely opened my eyes, and it definitely was a no-brainer coming from a guy like that. (...)

If he calls me out, I don't take anything personal. He's just trying to make me a better player. He talks to me privately as well, he doesn't keep anything secret; if he has something to say, he says it, and as a player, you respect that a lot. Some coaches keep it to themselves and you don't get an explanation. He's going to give you that explanation every time. I like the challenge.

As usual, it's one thing to heed the warning, it's another to experience it firsthand. Torts is right in saying The Duke's got all the tools, and it isn't easy for a guy like Duclair, who was a goal-per-game regular-season producer and point-per-game postseason player on a Memorial Cup-caliber Québec Remparts team in Juniors, at point-per-game player on a gold-winning Team Canada club at the World Juniors and a 20-goal scorer in the NHL, to suddenly hear he doesn't know how to play the game, to be forced to play like old teammates of his who were never drafted, to not create plays out of nothing.

But that's the dilemma in the NHL. There are precious few who do not need to play defensively and can get their 50-60 points, but the vast majority of players need to play a perfect two-way game of chess to get middle-of-the-road stats (15-point guys turn in 25-point performances that way, and point-per-game AHLers get their 40-50 NHL points that way too). It evens the game down the middle, with creative plays fewer and further between - but they're still there at times, just once per week instead of once or twice per game; that means players can get a chance to win it for their team that once a week instead of tethering the edge of costing a game per week for their team.

That lesson is what turned Erik Karlsson and P.K. Subban into the best of their profession (although some still make the case that Subban remains risky a few times per year), and that's what separates that elite class from the decent-to-very-good, which holds the likes of Vanek, Ron Hainey in his prime, Morgan Rielly and Mike Reilly at the moment, and many more.

On the other hand, playing within the system is what makes late-round draft picks like Brendan Gallagher and projected spare forwards like Paul Byron into sure-fire 30- and 20-goal scorers.

NHL forwards are considered in their prime from ages 25 to 32; at 25, they're still in the shape they were in at 22, but stronger, and have started to use their experience to their advantage; from 30 to 32 is a stasis, where experience, health and nutrition help keep their production leveled, and after that, the toll on their bodies start showing, they slow down and must rely on their Hockey IQ more and more. Players like Duclair have more "innate hockey reflexes" (pure skill) than "Hockey IQ" (positioning and tactics), but all is not lost for him yet. The colour of his skin may mean a handful of teams in the U.S. might be more hesitant to give him a chance (I really hate to say this, but the past couple of years have shown that racism is not a thing of the past, unfortunately, even if hockey as a sport doesn't come with inherent biases against individuals - at least in my lifetime, it was probably different in Willie O'Ree's day), but he will probably be allowed another, final mulligan in North America before having to resort to playing in Europe if things once again turn sour between now and the end of April.

I just hope it doesn't have to get to that, and that he can find a permanent place within the Ottawa Senators organization. They need each other - but they need the best of what each has to offer, not the noise.

Here he is in happier times, as a member of the New York Rangers, when his future was at its most promising, Manhattan having already given him the nickname "The Duke", his spectacular play already winning the hearts of the team's fans:

That's card #U41 from Upper Deck's 2014-15 O-Pee-Chee Update collection and Marquee Rookie sub-set. I actually bought the unsigned card on Ebay then had him sign it in blue sharpie years later.

Jonathan Huberdeau: Two Autographed Cards

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There were rumblings around the trade deadline that the Florida Panthers were shopping young star forward Jonathan Huberdeau, the third overall pick of the 2011 draft. That was just an invention from TSN's Frank Seravalli, based on nothing but the Cats' interest in the Columbus Blue Jackets' twin free agents-to-be, Artemi Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky, whom they could add to their roster this summer without giving away any assets whatsoever, let alone a point-per-game responsible two-way forward who is just still 25 years old.

Indeed, Huberdeau and Aleksander Barkov have been the two locomotives running the Panthers' offense for the past few years and no GM in their right mind would even consider making a trade like that, let alone Dale Tallon, who is now in his second patient rebuild of the team he constructed into a division champion three years ago only to see his successor Tom Rowe destroy it in a single summer.

Huberdeau has not let himself be bothered by such rumours and currently stands at 22 goals, 52 assists and 74 points in 69 games and was just named the NHL's First Star Of The Week with 9 points in 4 games.

The 2012-13 Calder Trophy winner now sports an "A" on his jersey, demonstrating how important he is to the team's young leadership core, with captain Barkov, defenseman Aaron Ekblad (still just 22!), Vincent Trocheck and Frank Vatrano, as well as veterans Roberto Luongo, Evegeny Dadonov and Keith Yandle, not to mention a certain Mike Hoffman, if he can keep out of trouble.

Of course, Luongo's nearing retirement (or a buyout, which would actually affect the Vancouver Canucks, not Florida), and I don't see a goalie in the system ready to pick up the mantle, so the Bobrovsky rumours may very well be founded - and all teams should be going after Panarin, possibly the best in-his-prime impactful free agent of all time, on par with Steven Stamkos a few years back and ahead of John Tavares last summer. But those two need to be added to a roster that includes Huberdeau, Barkov and Trocheck, not replace any of them.

Huberdeau was in Montréal in January, signing two cards for me in blue sharpie (with his number, 11, tagged at the end); first, showing him in the team's best-looking red uniform ever (with the team's 20th anniversary patch on the chest) is card #198 from Upper Deck's 2014-15 O-Pee-Chee set:

There is also the matching white (away) uniform from the same era, from Upper Deck's 2015-16 Series 2 set (card #337 in the series):

In terms of white uniforms, I would classify this one as tied for second with the current one, but I preferred the team's original digs. There was something about that design with the horizontal arm stripes that just worked well in white.

Andrew Shaw: Two Autographed Cards

Andrew Shaw had his first career NHL hat trick tonight as the Montréal Canadiens disposed of the Detroit Red Wings by an 8-1 score.

There have been critics of GM Marc Bergevin's choice to acquire the tough forward from the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for a couple of second-round picks (which later became Chad Krys and Alex DeBrincat) from day one, but he's been just as advertised: a heart-and-soul guy who can play on the wing on any line, will toe the line and take enough dumb penalties to cost two or three games a year but whose dedication to his teammates will help win five, will get injured quite a bit and, at best, will hover near the 15-to-20-goal range and will get between 30 and 40 points.

He's done all that, and - well, just that, but it's enough.

The two-time Stanley Cup champion has led by example in Montréal so far and helped a highly-neglected team surpass expectations and fight for a playoff spot this year.

He's signed a few cards for me this year while recovering from injuries, but I thought I could feature these two first, starting with #134 from Upper Deck's 2014-15 O-Pee-Chee set:

It shows him wearing the Hawks' white (away) uniform.

There's also card #348 from Upper Deck's 2016-17 Series 2 set, picturing him as a new member of the Habs, sporting the team's classic white (now-away) uniform:

He signed both in blue sharpie, adding his jersey number (65) at the end, which enables me to add him to my Habs Numbers Project.

Semyon Varlamov Dual Jersey Card

Although he had a down year ahead of the 2017 Expansion Draft, Colorado Avalanche goalie Semyon Varlamov has really bounced back in an impressive manner in the past year and a half, even if he's statistically not on the level of his Vezina-worthy 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons:

from HockeyDB

He and the team's top line, comprised of Nathan MacKinnon, Gabriel Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen, have often been the sole bright spots on a team that currently sits tied for last place in its division (yet only four points behind a Wild Card spot, albeit in a gridlock with seven other teams) with 61 points (25-24-11) in 60 games.

The contrast between Varlamov and teammate Philipp Grubauer is also stark:

The two former Washington Capitals were supposed to platoon until the team feels KHL superstar Pavel Francouz is ready to join the main team, but Varlamov seems like he's running with it despite his contract being up at the end of the year.

I strongly feel like he's the Avs' best shot in nets for the next two years, so they might want to re-up him, but if they don't, chances are he'll be traded for a couple of second-rounders to a team that will either lose its own #1 to a trade (Columbus Blue Jackets) or a team (Calgary Flames) whose number one (Mike Smith) is having an inexplicably sub-par season.

I'm a pretty big fan of this card, which showcases Varlamov's NHL history as a member of both the Caps and Avs with a white jersey swatch from each one:

It's card #CL-SV from Upper Deck's 2014-15 SP Game-Used Edition set and Career Legacy sub-set.