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.

Philippe Cadorette Autograph Card

It's been a roller-coaster 15 months for goaltender Philippe Cadorette, who went from leading the Baie-Comeau Drakkar to the LHJMQ Final to signing a contract with the Norfolk Admirals - the Edmonton Oilers' ECHL team - to going back to Juniors as a 20-year-old after four sub-par games to setting the Q's career regular-season (17) and total shutouts (22) records to getting traded for the first time (to the Shawinigan Cataractes).

He got his chance at Norfolk on a Quebecer-heavy roster because the head coach there was Éric Veilleux, who was the held the same position with Baie-Comeau during much of Cadorette's tenure.

Not feeling ready to try his hand in the lower-tiered pro leagues as of yet and wanting to pursue his education, he has enrolled in university in Montréal for the next year and will be suiting up for the Concordia Stingers in 2016-17.

The Stingers usually pale in comparison to their natural rival McGill Redmen (the oldest organized hockey team in the world, having been founded in 1877 - a whole 31 years prior to the Montréal Canadiens, the oldest/longest-standing professional team); however, having an established goalie with a pedigree like Cadorette's should give them a fighting chance, at least.

Here he is wearing the Drakkar's white (home) uniform, which would be fine if it was devoid of the Reebok Rbk Edge stripes and piping on the chest:

That's card #A-PC from In The Game's 2012-13 Between The Pipes collection and CHL Prospects and Authentic GoalieGraph sub-sets, and features an on-sticker signature, in black sharpie.

Gabryel Paquin-Boudreau: Two Autographed Cards

Things I have learned this summer:
1. I am extremely out of shape, and have never been so slow.
2. Prospective AHLers seem better than they have ever been, regardless of my no longer being able to stop a two-on-one, save for those I know were out of pure luck or basic positioning.

I hadn't taken to the ice with professionals in a couple of years, just spending one or two Sundays a month teaching local minor-league kids (at the Atom, Pee-wee and Bantam levels) the basics of goaltending, not donning the equipment myself save for skates, gloves and stick.

Among the forwards who scored multiple goals on what was essentially an easier target than a piece of cardboard, Gabryel Paquin-Boudreau (currently going for Gabryel Boudreau while playing in the U.S.), a former San Jose Sharks draft pick (49th overall in 2013) who scored an invite to the Nashville Predators' rookie camp next week, was pretty impressive.

Coming off a 75-point season (in 60 games) in the LHJMQ prior to a two-game stint in the AHL playoffs with the San Jose Barracuda, the diminutive winger (5'10'', maybe 180 pounds) seemed to always end up where the puck was going, the exact definition of one of Wayne Gretzky's most famous quotes.

Despite having said in the past that he didn't want to play in the ECHL, he seemed to view it as a better alternative than moving to Europe this season when I chit-chatted with him yesterday, though he's focused on making the Milwaukee Admirals' opening night roster, which I obviously think he has a reasonable chance of doing.

Here are two identical cards he signed (in blue sharpie with his uniform number, 13, tagged at the end) from his days with the Baie-Comeau Drakkar:

It's card #69 from In The Game's 2013-14 Heroes And Prospects set.