Christian Dvorak Jersey Card

The Arizona Coyotes have made a ton of changes this off-season that scream "we are doing everything we can to finally put an NHL team on the ice", and 20 years into the franchise having moved from its previous home as the Winnipeg Jets, and it sure is fishy considering the team is unable to sell season tickets, unable to secure an arena deal anywhere in the state, and was purchased by Andrew Barroway, a hedge fund manager who happens to have personal family ties with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman.

There is a clause in the Coyotes' minority owners' initial purchase deal that stated the team would be allowed to relocate if it incurred losses of $50M over five years; last year alone, the 'Yotes lost $24M... and I'm fairly certain that what hedge fund managers like to do, first and foremost, is to make money.

The Coyotes cost Barroway, essentially, $150M. The Vegas Golden Knights were one of two teams that applied to acquire a $500M expansion team (i.e. a team with no staff or players) two years ago, along with the potential next iteration of the Québéec Nordiques; no other city will be given an expansion team in the near future out of respect for the time and money Québec has already put in.

However, there is an NHL-ready arena in Kansas City, an NHL-acceptable one in Portland, Oregon that would do until a new one is constructed, two new arena projects in Seattle, and Houston has yet to be utilized properly... You'd think a fully-staffed team with a full stable of terrific young players would net at least $350-400M in this new marketplace...

So, if anything, urgency might be the reason why the team has made all these moves this summer. And they should almost pay off, as I see them finishing fourth in the Pacific Division, ahead of the Los Angeles Kings and San Jose Sharks... but right outside the playoff picture, with the Dallas Stars and Winnipeg Jets taking the Western Conference Wild Card spots.

Speaking of the Coyotes' young guns, Christian Dvorak was one of three London Knights players drafted by Arizona, with Max Domi and Brendan Burke. He captained the team in 2015-16, leading it to its second Memorial Cup, and also won bronze with Team USA at the 2016 World Juniors.

He has a great shot and combativeness that should enable him to keep piling up numbers at the NHL level while playing in a middle-six role, although he could be teamed with Domi on the first line on occasion a few years down the line, when Derek Stepan is no longer the go-to middleman. Heck, some even see Dvrorak - not Domi - as that eventual #1C.

Here he is on the jersey insert version of card #103 from Upper Deck's 2016-17 SP Game-Used Edition set and Authentic Rookies sub-set:

It shows him wearing the Coyotes' current burgundy home uniform, with a matching jersey swatch he wore in a photo shoot. The card is numbered #67/399.

Jean-Gabriel Pageau Autograph Card

At first glance, when the Ottawa Senators drafted hometown boy Jean-Gabriel Pageau 96th overall in 2011, it may have looked like a risky pick, but seeing the way he dominated his opposition in Juniors (the Philadelphia Flyers' Sean Couturier was among the victims of Pageau's brilliant two-way play), it was a gamble worth making.

Unfortunately for Pageau and the Sens, head coach Paul MacLean, seeing his sound play, elected to groom him little by little, by playing third- and fourth-line minutes rather than place him in an offensive role from the get-go (not unlike the Flyers with Couturier), so his NHL statistics so far (4 goals, 6 points in 32 regular-season games) don't seem all that impressive, but his 4 goals and 6 points in 10 playoff games sure do. As a matter of fact, he and Daniel Alfredsson are the only two Sens ever to have recorded a hat trick in the post-season.

GM Bryan Murray has said all year that Pageau deserved to make the team from training camp, but as the only forward eligible to be sent to the AHL's Binghamton Senators without having to clear waivers, he was on the outside looking in almost regardless of his play.

It's safe to say, though, that after posting a 20-goal and 44-point season in 46 AHL games last year and 18 points (second among forwards) in 25 games this year, he's earned his call-up in the wake of injuries to Chris Neil and Zach Smith.

With news that the Sens fired MacLean last week and replaced him with Dave Cameron, there was a sense that the 5'9'' speedster who turned 22 less than a month ago seemed to fit better on the younger, faster team that will try to make it back in the playoff picture with structured play and strong efforts - two things Pageau has in spades, in addition to his upside in the attacking zone.

It's fitting, then, that I share #44 off my Sens Numbers Project with this card of Pageau's, who has tremendous potential, when I already had one of Jason Spezza with the same number:

It's card #179 from the Authentic Rookie sub-set of Upper Deck's 2013-14 SP Game-Used Edition collection, showing him in the Senators' white (away) uniform, with a blue-sharpied, on-sticker autograph, with his jersey number tagged at the end.