Blue Jackets Preview: Jakub Voracek Jersey 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 season as well, 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, several players haven't found a team yet, many RFAs haven't signed with their respective teams, and a few clubs are currently above the salary cap, which means there is much maneuvering left to do.

Key exits: Seth Jones (D), Cam Atkinson (RW), Kole Sherwood (RW), Michael Del Zotto (D)

Key Arrivals: Jakub Voracek (RW), Adam Boqvist (D), Jake Bean (D), Sean Kuraly (C), Zac Rinaldo (C)

Top prospects: Kent Johnson (C), Cole Sillinger (C), Corson Ceulemans (D), Kirill Marchenko (RW), Yegor Chinakhov (RW), Andrew Peeke (D), Daniil Tarasov (G), Dmitri Voronkov (LW), Trey Fix-Wolansky (RW), Stanislav Svozil (D), Liam Foudy (C), xxx (LW), xxx (LW)

This is a transition period for the Columbus Blue Jackets, who have only a handful of players left from the failed "all-in" season three years ago. Even head coach John Tortorella left, replaced by assistant Brad Larsen. There will be growing pains while a new system is set up, in the same way an expansion team like the Seattle Kraken might face, except exclusively with home-grown young players and draft picks, not hand-picked from the entire league. The four new players coming in look solid to me (even Rinaldo, who will help instill some team spirit).

What makes their odds look good:
The Blue Jackets' top-three on defense consisting of Zach Werenski, Boqvist and Bean will be solid eventually, but the latter two must gain experience first, and it will be trial by fire at least for this season. Goalie Elvis Merzlikins is a very good goalie who may fall into a Vezina Trophy at some point (in the era of Connor Hellebuyck, Jacob Markstrom, Thatcher Demko and Andrei Vasilevskiy, which wil lbe extremely difficult), but he would need his team to make the playoffs for that to happen.

Question marks: Will Patrik Laine regain his offensive touch, or will he bide his time until he can leave himself?

Outlook:
The trade deadline brought in a huge leadership void when captain Nick Foligno and defenseman David Savard were traded for high draft picks, which was compounded by Jones' and Atkinson's summer departures. This will take time to rebuild.

Prediction:
8th in the Metropolitan Division.

I'm still trying to wrap my brain around the one-for-one trade involving Atkinson (headed to the Philadelphia Flyers) and Voracek - on both sides. Atkinson is still a 30-goal man, a feisty little speedster, and Voracek produces at a 0.75-point-per-game clip at this stage in his career - a very good production rate for a 32-year-old player - but he's lost a bit of foot speed and is an assists collector first and foremost, and I fail to see who he will set up unless he is directly tasked with reviving Laine's game.

He knows what to expect in Columbus, however, having already been a part of a rebuild there to start his career off as the team's 7th-overall pick in 2007. This is what he looked like wearing deep blue, as seen on card #GJ-JV from Upper Deck's 2010-11 Series 1 collection and UD Game Jersey sub-set:

It features a white game-worn jersey swatch.

David Savard Autographed Card

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With apologies to the ghost of Taylor Hall, the biggest "get" at the 2021 NHL trade deadline has to be the trade that sent rugged defenseman David Savard to the Tampa Bay Lightning by way of the Columbus Blue Jackets retaining 50% of his salary and the Detroit Red Wings taking on 25% of their own for a fourth-round pick in the next draft. Columbus grabbed a 2021 first-rounder and a 2022 third-rounder. Detroit also unloaded Brian Lashoff to Tampa in the deal, which gives them even more depth and experience.

This sets the Bolts up as the heavy favourites to repeat as Stanley Cup champions, as Savard not only replaces last year's trade deadline rentals Kevin Shattenkirk and Zach Bogosian, but he's also an upgrade on both of them; despite slowing down a bit in the past couple of years and his offensive game giving way to a more robust defending acumen, the Team Canada alumnus (2015 World Championship gold with a perfect 10-0 record) remains a force, a legitimate top-four option and an ideal stay-at-home counterpart to, say, a Victor Hedman on the first unit, or the type of player who can make Mikhail Sergachev look like Hedman out there. And he's hungry for a Cup. And he's fresh off playing for John Tortorella for a long time, so he's disciplined and hard-working.

He makes an already perfect team even better, retaining its favourite status despite the upgrades the Vegas Golden Knights, Toronto Maple Leafs, Edmonton Oilers, Boston Bruins or Washington Capitals might try to pull.

Here he is wearing the Blue Jackets' blue (home) uniform, on card #400 from the 2016-17 O-Pee-Chee collection by Upper Deck:

He signed it in silver sharpie at the same time as the card I featured last year, I had just misplaced it when writing that post up.

Alexander Wennberg Dual Jersey Card

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Alexander Wennberg reminds me a lot of Lars Eller, in that both were middle-of-the-first-round draft picks - Wennberg was selected 14th overall in 2013 by the Columbus Blue Jackets while Eller was chosen 13th in 2007 by the St. Louis Blues - who had all the tools to become top-six centers (size, passing abilities, decent speed, the ability to protect the puck, power along the boards) and even if they failed to reach their upside, their ability to play sound hockey away from the puck could justify their getting drafted relatively early regardless; there were going to be surprises and/or better-developped forwards picked later on, but they could at worst hold their own on a third line.

Eller was traded once to the Montréal Canadiens for a #1A goalie in Jaroslav Halak and subsequently fetched two second-rounders when acquired by the Washington Capitals, with whom he won a Stanley Cup as the #3 guy down the middle. He's proven to be a 15-goal, 30-point man, with a high of 38 in 2017-18, but he's a clutch playoff performer, with two decent runs (13 points in 17 games in 2013-14 and 18 in 24 games in the 2017-18 Cup run) under his belt.

Wennberg played his cards right in that he posted a career year in a contract year, parlaying a 13-goal, 46-assist and 59-point season in 2016-17 into a six-year deal paying him $29.4M, for a cap hit of $4.9M, while his production dwindled to 35, 25 and 22 points, even prompting the team to try to re-launch him by putting him on Pierre-Luc Dubois's wing with Emil Bemstrom. The Jackets ended up buying him out in the 2020 offseason, and he signed a one-year "show me" deal with the Florida Panthers, whose GM Bill Zito was a long-time assistant in Columbus.

Despite some playing time alongside Jonathan Huberdeau (34 points in 28 games), Wennberg's 13 points in 28 games rank him tied with Frank Vatrano, far behind the points totals of fellow centermen Aleksander Barkov (34) and Carter Verhaeghe (22). Still, head coach Joel Quenneville likes what he sees in terms of possession numbers and quality puck control.

Here he is one year removed from his career year, sporting the Blue Jackets' white (away) uniform, on the dual jersey insert version of card #98 from Upper Deck's 2018-19 Artifacts collection:

It features a couple of dark blue game-worn jersey swatches and is numbered #94/165.

Sharks Preview: Dalton Prout Autographed Card

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.

One team that could use a little maneuvering is the San Jose Sharks (team links may earn me referral money if you buy from Amazon, player links lead to other posts on my blog): they are $4M under the salary cap with a near-empty prospect pool; their captain Logan Couture is 31, a Donald Trump fan, and signed for six years after this one at $8M per; star winger and scandal magnet Evander Kane is 29, signed until 2025 at $7M per year and just filed for bakruptcy; oft-injured defenseman Erik Karlsson, 30, will make $11.5M per season with a no-movement clause until 2027; 35-year-old Brent Burns will still carry a $9.8M cap hit for four more seasons after this one; Marc-Édouard Vlasic, 33, has a no-move as well and will pocket $7M until 2026; somehow, the team has nearly $8M between the pipes, just over $2M of Devan Dubnyk's final year and Martin Jones at $5.75M per, for three more years after the upcoming season. Most teams have one or two headaches, the Sharks seem intent on obtaining the most shots at a #1 draft pick for the next half-decade.

What makes their odds look good:
If Karlsson ever hits his peak level again, he's a definite game-changer, one of the best defensemen in the NHL and one of the best skaters in the world.

Question marks:
What was the point in Patrick Marleau returning? Can Dubnyk regain the form that should have gotten him a Hart or a Vezina Trophy in 2015? How low can they go?

Outlook:
There's a case to be made for nearly every NHL team that either the present can be hopeful or the future looks bright to some extent... I can't say that about San Jose, but I can remain optimistic becasue I just do not know them as well. I really haven't seen many of their games and their prospect pool is loaded with players I have never heard of, but upon a bit of research have been among the best at what they do, from John Leonard (22, LW, 37 points in 33 games at U-Mass) to Ryan Merkley (20, D, second-straight 70-point season in the OHL) to Brinson Pasichnuk (23, D, second-straight point-per-game season as Arizona State's captain). Still, that's just stuff I read, I don't recall seeing any of them play.

Prediction:
Eighth in the West Division.

You know who didn't deserve to get shelled by the Sharks after the 2019-20 season? Dalton Prout, who was concussed for most of the season after sacrificing himself for the team, like in this fight against Nicolas Deslauriers: Here he is as a member of the Columbus Blue Jackets, on card #530 from Panini's 2012-13 Score collection and Hot Rookies sub-set:

Not only does he also have a terrific "hockey name" in English (his native language), but it's also one of the best names in the league to French-speaking NHL fans, as the Daltons are a very famous fictitious criminal gang (very loosely based on historical characters) in the legendary Lucky Luke series of graphic novels and films, and "prout" is a funny word that can mean just about any "fun sound" from a car engine (struggling or not) to a honk to passing loud gas.

He sigend the card in blue sharpie in 2014-15 or 2015-16.

David Savard Autographed Card

The Columbus Blue Jackets had lost 10 of their past 11 games while dealing with an incredible amount of injuries, but they kept hold of the Wild Card position tonight by defeating the Vancouver Canucks 5-3, overcoming a 3-1 deficit in the process. The Canucks' loss helps the Vegas Golden Knights, Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames out West.

A key player on the Jackets since the 2014-15 season has been David Savard, an underrated defenseman who plays behind Seth Jones and Zach Werenski but would be a fist-pair defender on most NHL teams.

We're talking about a guy who is built like a cliché'd Canadian Lumberjack - 6'2" with a perfect stature, 230 pounds of muscle and a face that reads "no bullshit" and "no drama" at the same time - who doesn't make mistakes yet plays upwards of 20 rough minutes per night, like a mixture of Nicklas Lidstrom and Niklas Kronwall.

As the Jackets as a whole have taken a step back in terms of offensive production - last year's points leader on the team, Artemi Panarin, produced 87 points in 79 games while this year's leader, Pierre-Luc Dubois, may not hit the 60 mark - so has Savard, yet his PDO (shooting % + save percentage) is a solid 99.7%, which is fine on a bubble team that scores so little.

Internationally, he's only suited up for Team Canada once - at the 2015 World Championships - and the team went to have a perfect 10-0 record to win gold for the first time since 2007. He can't make it all that often because the Blue Jackets are always in the playoffs.

Here he is wearing Columbus' white (away) uniform, on card #297 from Upper Deck's 2017-18 O-Pee-Chee set:

He signed it in thick silver sharpie, which didn't leave him enough room to spell out his entire name. He did attempt to tag his jersey number (58) at the end, though.

Alexander Wennberg Autographed Card

Alexander Wennberg is bouncing back from a pretty awful 2018-19 season where he had just 2 goals, 23 assists and 25 points in 75 games and was a healthy scratch for half the Columbus Blue Jackets' postseason games, as he's currently on pace for his usual 35-40 points... if the upper-body injury he suffered at the hands of the Montréal Canadiens this afternoon isn't too serious.

The 25-year-old Swede may hit the 59-point peak he attained in 2016-17 again later in his career a couple of times, but it's looking like the 14th-overall pick of the 2013 draft - ahead of the likes of Ryan Pulock (15th), Anthony Mantha (20th), Andre Burakovsky (23rd), Tristan Jarry (44th), Tyler Bertuzzi (58th), Pavel Buchnevich (75th), Jake Guentzel (77th), Anthony Duclair (80th), Oliver Bjorkstrand (89th) and Andreas Johnsson (202nd) - will likely never be a point-per-game player.

Then again, everyone on that list except Guentzel took years to earn their spots, and most aren't done improving.

It just goes to show that although the NHL has become a much younger game, most humans need to learn to adapt to their surroundings, and forwards' primes still usually take place in their mid-to-late-20s.

Here's wishing him a speedy, sure, but more importantly, a full recovery.

Here he is wearing #41 in the Blue Jackets' blue (home) uniform on card #52 from Upper Deck's 2016-17 Series 1 set:

He signed it last season in blue sharpie and the number he tagged at the end (10) is the one he's been wearing since 2016. Marian Gaborik and Jack Skille had worn #10 in his first two seasons, and he waited for it to be available to make the switch.

Zach Werenski Jersey Card

The Columbus Blue Jackets have activated star defenseman Zach Werenski from the Long-Term Injured List and and placed winger Josh Anderson on it after suffering an injury against the Ottawa Senators in the game in which former Jacket Anthony Duclair scored a hat trick against his former team and head coach who had said he "wasn't sure (Duclair) knew how to play".

At the time on Werenski's injury, he was expected to miss four weeks - which, with the Jackets' schedule, could have led to the New Year - and led the team's defence corps with 6 goals and 16 points; despite missing 7 games, he remains first, tied with Seth Jones, who has played relatively well in his partner's absence.

As predicted, however, goaltending has been the team's Achilles Heel and the main reason why the team is sixth of eight teams in the Metropolitan Division. Team scoring is down from last year without the superstar presence of Artemi Panarin, but Gustav Nyquist, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Oliver Bjorkstrand, and Cam Atkinson are carrying the offence and giving the team a chance to win on most nights. I bet head coach John Tortorella would like to get help between the pipes, though, but perhaps GM Jarmo Kekalainen feels the price is too steep to take a risk on the likes of Jonathan Quick and Devan Dubnyk, two star #1s of the past five years who have since lost their starting positions.

Having Werenski back should help keep the goals-against down, though, if only because having him and Jones on the ice for half the game will keep the opposition from having prime scoring chances.

Here he is wearing the Jackets' white (away) uniform on card #RS-ZW from Upper Deck's 2016-17 SP Game-Used Edition set and Rookie Sweaters sub-set:

It features a matching jersey swatch from a rookie photo shoot and is numbered 260/499.

Nick Foligno: Two Autographed Cards

(As per years past, this is a twin-post with my "regular" blog, where I predicted the Columbus Blue Jackets would finish eighth - or fourth, but mostly eighth - in the Metropolitan Division in 2019-20).

My thing is, you don't leave a good team to try to find another one. What we're building in Columbus, everyone is excited to be part of it. You want guys fully on board.

That's Nick Foligno. The captain's words couldn't be clearer: the departures of unrestricted free agents Artemi Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky over the summer left a sour taste in many players' mouths, and head coach John Tortorella as well:

I'm pissed. Yeah, I'm pissed. I'm pissed for my players. I'm pissed for my organization. And I'm pissed on behalf of my city.

I have a tremendous amount of respect for all of them. I do. A tremendous amount of respect. But don't talk about goddamn winning, like you want to go somewhere to win. It's right there in front of you. I respect them all. But I don't want to hear 'I want to win' when it's right fucking here. I respect them, but I'm really pissed. It was right there, where we were really progressing.

And that's where I agree wholeheartedly with all of them - when these guys were kids, the Columbus Blue Jackets didn't exist; none of the Jackets' players and staff dreamed of playing for them, and probably not even for a team that hasn't been around for two whole decades, doesn't have much history let alone that of winning (and had never actually won a playoff round before). But they all landed there, and not only did they make the best of it, they were starting to make a habit out of getting on the at-times-champions Pittsburgh Penguins' nerves, particularly Sidney Crosby.

When they landed against one of the best teams of all time - the 2018-19 Tampa Bay Lightning - in the first round, they didn't just lie down waiting for a beating, they took the game to them and did the impossible: they swept the Bolts in four straight games.

Coach Tortorella and GM Jarmo Kekalainen built a system and a roster, respectively, that enabled a small-market team to rival the greats. It's even better when they can rely on superstars to support it and add an extra layer of offense, but it's effective enough to stand on its own. And something Torts is adept at is creating team spirit, team chemistry. Whether he unites the team against himself or instills an "us-against-the-world" mentality, he always knows exactly the right buttons to push to have his teams work as a single unit.

21 of the 23 guys on last year's opening roster had that, from Foligno to goal-scoring machine Cam Atkinson to 21-year-old #1 centre Pierre-Luc Dubois to star defender Seth Jones to his partner Zach Werenski to Team Canada alumnus David Savard to 25-and-under drafted and "home-developed" talents like Ryan Murray, Boone Jenner, Josh Anderson, Oliver Bjorkstrand, Alexander Wennberg, Markus Nutivaara and Lukas Sedlak to acquired defensive veteran leaders like Brandon Dubinsky, Scott Harrington and Mark Letestu.

The other two have left for cities with brighter spotlights, leaving the bulk - the core - to deal with the unfinished business at hand: pursuing further playoff success. Foligno, having had separate health scares to his two children last season, is particularly looking forward to a full season of just concentrating on hockey.

I thought it'd be nice to showcase his ascension in the Blue Jackets' ranks with these two cards, first sporting the alternate captain's "A" on card #56 from Upper Deck's 2015-16 Series 1 set:

And here he is sporting his current captain's "C", on card #37 from Upper Deck's 2017-18 MVP set:

He succeeded Rick Nash (2008-12) in the title in 2015 (the position had been vacant for two seasons). The previous wearers of the "C" had been Adam Foote (2005-08), Luke Richardson (2003-05), Ray Whitney (2002-03) and Lyle Odelein (2002-02). There's a strong tradition of the captaincy remaining with strong, blue-collar-type players which, in my opinion, is a good thing. You want guys who set the example for the rest, and effective hard-working guys who are good enough to occupy the middle of the line-up and/or have Stanley Cup-winning experience is a plus.

Foligno, son of hard-working semi-star Mike Foligno, is that kind of guy on this team, no longer the #1 (Dubois is) but still the team's heart and soul; I figure the next in line for the title is Jones. He signed these two cards in fading black sharpie in February, after scoring a goal in a loss to my hometown Montréal Canadiens.

Artemi Panarin Jersey Card

The best player available via free agency this season was without a doubt Columbus Blue Jackets winger Artemi Panarin. At 27 years of age, he's smack-dab in the meat of his prime years, with an estimated five more years of top-notch production ahead of himself.

His journey for the past six seasons has been exceptional going from a 20-goal scorer to a 1.2-point-per-game player in the KHL to being groomed in the NHL by none other than the Chicago Blackhawks' Patrick Kane - hitting the 30-goal mark in consecutive seasons by his side - to emerging as a star in his own right by eclipsing his Hawks numbers in Columbus with 82- and 87-point seasons.

And while most of Planet Hockey speculated that he was headed to the Miami suburbs to sign with the Florida Panthers alongside fellow Russian and Jackets teammate Sergei Bobrosvky - based mostly on the fact that the pair now share the same agent - Panarin instead caught Big City Fever and signed with the New York Rangers instead, signing an $81.5M deal for seven seasons; his $11.64M cap hit is reportedly lower than the Jackets' final offer as well as what the New York Islanders had offered him.

In just a couple of weeks, the Rangers acquired top-pairing defenseman Jacob Trouba via trade, drafted Kaapo Kakko second overall and signed Panarin, accelerating their rebuild by two or three seasons. They'll still be a long-shot to make the playoffs in 2019-20 in a stacked Metropolitan Division, but the following five or six years should be aimed at a Stanley Cup bid.

Speaking of which, here's a nice card I acquired via trade last month, #DA-AP from Upper Deck's 2018-19 Artifacts set and Divisional Artifacts sub-set:

It features Panarin wearing the Blue Jackets' blue (home) uniform, with a matching game-worn jersey swatch.

Seth Jones Jersey Card

I boldly predicted the Columbus Blue Jackets would beat and eliminate the Tampa Bay Lightning late last night, and Seth Jones' powerplay game winner continued his clutch play for his team as the first of four steps in in that direction.

It'll be a long and hard-fought series, but the Bolts - who this year tied the NHL record with 62 regular-season wins - have never faced an adversary like this. Don't get me wrong, they've played against great teams - last year's Stanley Cup-winning Washington Capitals, for one, and the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2014-15 Final - but this team is a different beast altogether.

You've got no less than five key players (star winger Artemi Panarin, star center Matt Duchene, skilled winger Ryan Dzingel, defenseman Adam McQuaid, and the only active two-time Vezina-winning goalie Sergei Bobrovsky) performing to earn their career-defining contracts on July 1st; a top-quality defense that nearly matches Tampa's, with Jones as the centerpiece, accompanied by McQuaid, 2012 second-overall pick Ryan Murray, All-Star Zach Werenski, Team Canada alumnus David Savard, and as depth pieces, former second-rounders Adam Clendening and Scott Harrington; also a forward corps that includes legitimate first-liners Pierre-Luc Dubois and (captain) Nick Foligno, heart-and-soul checker Brandon Dubinsky, 40-goal man Cam Atkinson, rising star Oliver Bjorkstrand, tough rookie Alexandre Texier, and a bunch of solid soldiers; and last but not least, head coach John Tortorella.

There is simply no other coach like Torts. Oh, there are far better tacticians, but no better motivator when he actually has enough time to get to know his players. It's not just manipulation on his part (like, say, Guy Boucher), nor tough-for-toughness'-sake like Claude Julien or Ken Hitchcock; no, Torts has his players' trust that he will defend them if he senses a will to sacrifice towards the team's goals, and he rewards effort. And he makes speeches like these:

🔊 VOLUME UP 🔊

Think this fiery Torts pep talk had anything to do with the @BlueJacketsNHL comeback??? #CBJ pic.twitter.com/gmhAAyVXz1

— FOX Sports Ohio (@FOXSportsOH) April 11, 2019

That's after the first period, which saw Tampa build a 3-0 lead. Full disclosure: I stopped watching the game live at that point.

Again, he's a different beast.

And when Jones plays like the guy who finished fourth in Norris Trophy voting last season, the Jackets know any game's within hand.

Here he is wearing the magnificent Blue Jackets' alternate uniform, on card #GJ-SJ from Upper Deck's 2017-18 Series 1 set and UD Game Jersey sub-set:

It features a white game-worn jersey swatch. I found this card so pretty that I paid $5 for it on Ebay (plus shipping).

Gilbert Brulé Jersey Card

Congratulations are in order for Gilbert Brulé, who was named to Team Canada's 25-man Olympic roster for the 2018 Winter Games. He'll be joined by the likes of Rene Bourque, Ben Scrivens, Chris Kelly, Christian Thomas, Maxim Lapierre, Mason Raymond, Derek Roy, Chris Lee, Maxim Noreau, Justin Peters and Kevin Poulin.

He was drafted 6th overall in 2005 by the Columbus Blue Jackets, while many thought the Montréal Canadiens would have jumped on the chance to take a francophone center with the fifth pick; instead, the Habs chose Carey Price, but the behemoth center they should have taken fell to the 11th spot (Anze Kopitar).

While Brulé could never muster up a 20-point season in three tries with the Jackets, his passage with the Edmonton Oilers was slightly more memorable, because although he spent parts of two seasons in the AHL in his three years with the Oilers organization, he also put up 17 goals, 20 assists and 37 points in 65 games with the team in 2009-10, more than doubling his production from the four previous seasons combined.

His time in Edmonton was marred by injuries, though, from a knee injury off a dirty Adam McQuaid hit to a severe flu to a high-ankle sprain to a stomach virus to an abdominal injury to a concussion, he was seemingly never in good enough shape to play.

Then there was the issue with the Phoenix Coyotes sending him to the AHL and Brulé opting to "retire" instead, effective January 1st, 2014... a situation that lasted four months, as he signed in the KHL in May, for the following season.

His stat line was average for his first three seasons in the Kontinental League, but he's had a star-like production since last season:

Courtesy of HockeyDB

Point-per-game seasons are pretty rare in the KHL.

At 31 years of age, he may have a year or two left of "prime" play left in him, but perhaps he's burnt too many bridges for an NHL return.

In any event, being named to the Canadian National Team in an Olympic year is quite an achievement, and while I'm not sure hiring Willie Desjardins as head coach was the wisest decision, GM Sean Burke sure knows what he's doing.

Here's Brulé on a Frankencard that represents how most people see him in North America*, as a doomed prospect from the Jackets and Oilers, on card #GJ-GB from Upper Deck's 2008-09 Series 1 set and UD Game Jersey sub-set:

It features a dark blue game-worn swatch from a jersey worn during his time in Columbus.

*of course, there was that time when he gave a hitchhiking Bono a ride...

Marian Gaborik Dual Jersey Card

The Los Angeles Kings (9-2-1, 1st in Pacific Division) are doing fine without him, but Marian Gaborik has yet to play a single game so far this year. As a matter of fact, he hasn't played a full 82-game season since 2011-12 while with the New York Rangers. Which is also the only time he played in every single game.

The three-time 40-goal scorer's best in L.A. is the 27-goal, 20-assist, 47-point performance in 69 games with the Kings in 2014-15, but he had been terrific with a 22-point Spring during the previous postseason.

He scored at least 30 goals five times while with the Minnesota Wild, 40 twice in New York, and appeared in two Olympics with Team Slovakia, including a fourth-place finish in 2010; he's known success in so many places it's hard to remember his time with the Columbus Blue Jackets as anything other than a blur.

In fact, he spent just about a calendar year in Ohio, with middling results:

from HockeyDB

But playing in Columbus produced this great-looking card:

That's card #FA-MG from Upper Deck's 2013-14 Artifacts set and Frozen Artifacts sub-set. It features two differently-coloured game-worn jersey swatches.

There is no clear timetable for his return this season.

Brandon Dubinsky Swatch Card

I love players who get under Sidney Crosby's skin. Granted, that's more than half the league's checking centers, but some do it better than others, often leading to his losing patience and dishing out some of the dirtiest hits or slashes in the modern-day game. And, with Maxim Lapierre gone, Brandon Dubinsky is the Van Gogh of that art form.

It helps that he's usually among the league leaders in face-offs won, gaining control of the puck so opponents - and mostly Crosby - have to chase it around the ice...

In recent years, however, Dubinsky has seemed content to just agitate Sid The Kid and forgot that he can also be pretty effective at producing points rather than just stopping opponents from racking them up - and against Crosby in particular, that hasn't stopped the Pittsburgh Penguins from totally owning the Columbus Blue Jackets in the past couple of years.

Dubinsky himself has gone from a 50-point threat to 41 last year and just 2 (two!!! - and both of them assists!) in 12 games this year. He hasn't scored 20 goals since doing it in back-to-back seasons with the New York Rangers (2009-10 and 2010-11), and head coach John Tortorella - who's known Dubs since his days in Manhattan and clashed with him once or twice at that time - made the difficult decision to remove the alternate captain's "A" from Dubinsky's jersey last week.

Torts' tough-love approach has worked with Dubinsky in the past, and with other stars as well (Vincent Lecavalier comes to mind, as does Jackets goalie Sergei Bobrovsky). We'll see how this one pans out, but Dubinsky is 31 and has three more years to go on a deal that pays him $5.85M per, which means his production should be around 40, 40, 35 and 33 points for the last four years of his deal for it to be worth its value, with plus/minuses between +5 and +10 and a 52-55% face-off win percentage (he's at 48.8 this year and finished last season at 51.7).

Here he is wearing the blue jackets' beautiful third jersey from the past decade, on card #D-DU from Panini's 2013-14 Dominion set and Authentic Material sub-set:

It features a matching blue game-worn jersey swatch that could very well be from his days in New York. It's numbered 52-99.

Marc Denis: Two Autographed Cards

One thing we know about the Columbus Blue Jackets is that they're really good, extremely balanced, and deep at almost every position. We can add that they have a shrewd GM in Jarmo Kekalainen who is as good at signing reasonable contracts with his RFAs as he is good at winning trades, and that's without mentioning that as head scout for the Ottawa Senators and St. Louis Blues, he had the best eye for talent in the league, as he was responsible for the drafting of such stars and sleeper picks as Marian Hossa, Ray Emery, Martin Havlat, Alex Pietrangelo, T.J. Oshie, Patrik Berglund, David Perron and David Backes. I predict the Jackets will finish second in the Metropolitan Division this year and should, legitimately, be looked at to win their first playoff series in team history.

Another hockey expert I like to link to the Blue Jackets is their former #1 goalie Marc Denis, who is now the hockey analyst for TV station RDS. In my opinion, he's the best in the business. Sure, he has to say that every Carey Price save is a work of art because his network happens to own part of the Montréal Canadiens, but he is also always insightful, particularly when it comes to the tactical side of the game, as well as defensive positioning and goaltending. It helps that he was the goalie coach for the Chicoutimi Saguenéens at the turn of the decade.

Stylistically, like every Quebecer in his (and my) age range, he was a pure butterfly stopper, emulating Patrick Roy. The initial King of Butterfly Saves, Hall Of Famer Tony Esposito, once said of Denis: "(He) has one of the brightest futures in the game. He has shown the ability to dominate a contest." The year after that quote, Denis appeared in 77 games for the Jackets, setting an NHL record for most minutes played with 4511.

He signed two cards (in black sharpie) from his days in Columbus for me last season, both showing him wearing their then-home white uniform; first, here is card #33 from Upper Deck's 2000-01 Heroes set, showing him receiving shots during a pre-game warmup:

And finally, here is card #68 from UD's 2000-01 Ice set, an amazing see-through plastic card that this scan does not do justice to:

Of course, the back has the reverse of that picture to go with statistics; notice how the signature doesn't penetrate his body:

Year in and year out, Ice and Artifacts are the best-looking and most spectacular cards on the market. I have had this card for years, and I still get happy just looking at it - the autograph just adds to my pleasure.

Pascal Leclaire Jersey Card

If you want to make these current NHL playoffs player-centric, we could go with Pascal Leclaire and how the team that drafted him - the Columbus Blue Jackets - is now eliminated and the team that traded for him - the Ottawa Senators - is still in the running, as the highest seed in the Atlantic Division no less. And neither team existed when I was growing up in the 1980s, if I want to make this Seb-centric.

It's so hard to fathom that Leclaire's been retired since the end of the 2010-11 season and that he's still just 34 years old. Those hip injuries not only took a toll on his body, they ruined the best years of his life.

Sure, he never achieved what an 8th overall pick (2001) is expected to, but no one can take away his two silver medals (2002 World Juniors and 2008 World Championships) with Team Canada, both times falling to Russia.

He played with the Jackets more, so it's fitting that this card shows him wearing their blue (home) uniform:

That's card #HM-PL from Upper Deck's 2007-08 Fleer Hot Prospects set and Hot Materials sub-set, with a matching blue game-worn jersey swatch.

I used to love his TPS pad designs, which you can see a bit of on the card but even better below:

They just seem to be perfect at redirecting pucks to the corner, one of the moves I always try to teach young kids first.

Jaroslav Balastik Autograph Card

One team I expected to win more in this year's playoffs is the Columbus Blue Jackets, who currently trail their series against the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-1. They had finished the season 4th overall on the strength of team defense, team toughness, the goaltending of Sergei Bobrovsky, the coaching of John Tortorella and the rise of defenseman Zach Werenski.

The Pens, however, just seem to be able to pull rabbits out of their collective hats every game - and that's saying nothing of Bobrovsky, the heavy favourite to win the Vezina Trophy this season, allowing upwards of 3 goals per game (3.61 average).

Which brings me to a failed Jackets experiment from a decade ago, Jaroslav Balastik, featured here in the team's white (then-home) uniform, on card #JB from Upper Deck's 2005-06 SP Authentic set and Sign Of The Times sub-set:

Balastik was a star in the Czech Extraliga, its best forward for the 2004-05 season and two-time league leader for goals (29 in 2003-04, a mark he replicated in 2007-08, and 30 in 2004-05), as well as playoff goals (9) and points (18), both set in 2003-04, when he led is team to the league championship.

He also won a silver medal with the Czech Team at the 2006 World Championships, which makes it harder to conceive that he only managed to put up 13 goals, 11 assists and 24 points in 74 NHL games over two seasons, and 5 goals, 6 assists and 11 points in 20 games with the AHL's Syracuse Crunch over the same span.

He retired following the 2014-15 season, having spent most of his career with PSG Zlín (parts of 15 seasons), finishing with 277 goals (6th all-time) and 202 assists for 479 points (15th all-time) in 725 games in the best Czech league.

Cam Atkinson Autographed Card

One of the NHL's leading goal-scorers, Cam Atkinson wasn't on the league's original list of invitees to this year's All-Star Festivities, instead having to wait until Evgeni Malkin desisted with an injury, despite his 24 goals (which puts him on pace for 41 on the year).

All told, the Columbus Blue Jackets superstar scored 3 goals on Sunday, adding 2 assists for 5 total points, tops on the weekend, although former Los Angeles Kings and current Philadelphia Flyers star Wayne Simmonds received the MVP award.

At 27 years old, Atkinson seems to be in his prime, and I think he could be a top producer until the age of 32 or 33, likely with a drop in 2018-19, feeling the pressure of his next contract, which may very well carry double the cap hit he currently takes up ($3.5M).

What he likes to do is hang around right outside the slot on the goalie's right, close to the goal line and wait for a pass; if said pass doesn't come, the Jackets will find a way to get the puck to the net, usually via a shot, where he will enter the slot and look to bury the rebound.

But make no mistake: these aren't "garbage goals", they're sniper goals. He has a terrific wrist shot and a fine snapper that are "so hockey" he could have scored them in any era. He also has some good foot speed that often sees him score on breakaways, too.

I've liked him for a long time, and I think people are finally catching on to what he can do.

Here's one example, wearing the Jackets' blue (home) uniform, on card #135 from Panini's 2013-14 Score set, scoring on the Detroit Red Wings' Jimmy Howard:

He signed it in blue sharpie a year ago, in late January 2016, when his team was in Montréal, adding his jersey number (13) at the end.

Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre Autographed Card

Well, it's done: the Columbus Blue Jackets' all-time consecutive wins streak - and one short of the NHL's mark, held by the 1992-93 Pittsburgh Penguins - ended at 16, with a loss to the Washington Capitals, who needed it more badly anyway in their effort to catch up to the Pens, Jackets and New York Rangers atop the Metropolitan Division.

I went to high school and played on its hockey team with two guys who ended up playing in Columbus, so I thought I could feature them in the next few days, starting with Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre, who still lives in the region.

Our school team was the Collège Notre-Dame Sabres and, being from Montréal, we got to see Eastern teams a lot more often than their Western counterparts in person, and when I would look at Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers, Colorado Avalanche or Los Angeles Kings games on TV, I would usually avoid watching them play third-wave expansion teams, except for the Ottawa Senators and Florida Panthers, for some reason.

All of this meant I saw Jean-Luc play for the Buffalo Sabres a lot more often than with the Jackets, and since we played on a Sabres team, that's the team I identify him with the most; however, he sees himself as a Jacket, what with being on the team for their inaugural season, living through its first win... and becoming a realtor in the area during as well as following his playing career.

Even when he played overseas in Sweden, Finland or Germany, he kept his home in Columbus. And because he was a publicly-affable, genuinely nice person, and a stable defender who was pretty good at dropping the gloves on the ice, the fans took a liking to him immediately, and never wavered. And he's humble enough to not overuse it.

On the ice, he tried to mimic his childhood idol, Chris Chelios, in every way except offensively, as that was not his strongest suit - though he did finish with 20 points (7 goals and 13 assists) that will forever be part of the NHL's record books. Even in Juniors, JLGP was never a point-per-game player, nor was he in Europe, but he had a 17-year professional career (1997-2013) he can be proud of.

Here is a card he signed in blue sharpie, showing him wearing the Jackets' first white (then-home) uniform:

It's #281 from Upper Deck's 2000-01 Series 1 set.

Kerby Rychel Jersey Card

It's been a rumour-filled three years for Kerby Rychel since being drafted 19th overall in 2013, whether it's his asking for a trade or the Columbus Blue Jackets shopping him around, we'll likely never know the exact truth or the extent thereof, apart from the fact that he was dealt to the Toronto Maple Leafs at this year's draft for relatively cheap: Scott Harrington - previously acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Phil Kessel trade - and a fifth-round pick.

Rychel started the 2015-16 season right, posting 20 points in his first 21 games with the AHL's Lake Erie Monsters, earning a call-up with the Jackets, who didn't give him a lot of ice time to show what he could do with the puck; instead, probably stemming from Rychel's attitude upon being sent to the minors by original coach Todd Richards mixed in with new coach John Tortorella's will to make him learn to play defensively, he got very few offensive zone starts and often played less than 12 minutes per game.

Upon returning to the Monsters, others (particularly T.J. Tynan and Sonny Milano) had taken his place as the offensive producers for head coach Jared Bednar, and his point production suffered: just 1 goal and 7 points in his last 16 regular-season games, and six points in 17 playoff games for the Calder Cup champions.

So here's to a new start for Rychel; unfortunately, it's with the Leafs, whom I only wish ill to. And here's what Rychel looked like in Columbus' blue (home) uniform, on card #FT-KR from Upper Deck's 2014-15 Ice set and Fresh Threads sub-set:

It contains a matching event-worn jersey swatch from a rookie photo shoot.

Manny Malhotra Autographed Card

Manny Malhotra hasn't yet announced his retirement from hockey, but after suiting up for 23 games with the AHL's Lake Erie Monsters between December and March on a professional try-out - save for a Team Canada Spengler Cup championship during the Holidays - and not being a part of the team's Calder Cup championship, his chances look slim on suiting up on the ice. Particularly considering he was blanked at the Spengler Cup and had just 4 goals, 2 assists and 6 points in those 23 games with the Monsters, finishing with a -7 rating.

However, the Monsters' head coach Jared Bednar now holds the same position with the Colorado Avalanche, so perhaps a move behind the bench - or at least as a face-off consultant - is in the cards for Malhotra. There are even rumblings of such developments being also possible with the Vancouver Canucks, in the city where Manny and his wife Joann Nash - sister of Canadian basketball legend Steve Nash - have established themselves.

A good friend of mine received a superb birthday present yesterday: a Montréal Canadiens jersey signed by many of the players from the 2014-15 edition, including Tomas Plekanec, Andrei Markov, Carey Price, Max Pacioretty, Brendan Gallagher, P.K. Subban, David Desharnais, Alex Galchenyuk, Sergei Gonchar, Lars Eller, Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau, Dustin Tokarski, Jiri Sekac, Brandon Prust, Tom Gilbert, Nathan Beaulieu, Jacob De La Rose, and - you guessed it! - Malhotra; that gave me the idea to go looking for this card of him with the Columbus Blue Jackets, which he signed in blue sharpie while with the Habs:

It's card #25 from Upper Deck's 2007-08 Series 1 set, one with an extremely stripped down design. Then again, the Jackets' dark blue (away) uniforms very pretty plain themselves...