Cory Conacher Swatch Card

Well, the NHL trade deadline has come and passed, and plenty of ''untradeable'' players switched teams, namely Nathan Horton, David Clarkson, and frequent traveler Cory Conacher. I wrote about Conacher back in November (career and history) and December (saying he hopefully finds his game back in the AHL), and he has done just that, with 5 goals, 17 assists and 22 points in 28 games with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, although he just came back from an injury.

Nevertheless, the Vancouver Canucks liked what they saw in him and decided he was worth trading away former Pittsburgh Penguins prospect Dustin Jeffrey - who himself had 41 points in 49 games with the Utica Comets - to acquire.

This now marks Conacher's fifth organization (and possibly seventh and eighth teams if he suits up for the Canucks) in three seasons, but while it shows many teams giving up on him, it also shows a bunch willing to give him a chance, thinking his game is close enough to where they want it to be to think they might be the team that makes him click. And while I think the Canucks have more of a sure-shot with their other trade deadline acquisition in Sven Baertschi, I also haven't given up entirely on Conacher either. And as a fellow diabetic, I wish him nothing but the best.

And so, for the third time this season, here he is wearing the Ottawa Senators' colours and logo:

It's from Panini's 2013-14 Playbook set (card #B-CON of the Breakout sub-set and part of last season's Dual Rookie Class), showing him wearing the Sens' red (away) uniform, with a matching decent-sized ''event-worn'' jersey swatch. It's numbered 22/199.

Cory Conacher Jersey Card

I wrote about Cory Conacher having been a healthy scratch for the New York Islanders last month... well, he's now cleared waivers and is off the the AHL to play for the Bridgeport Sound Tigers.

Sure it's a fall from grace of sorts, for someone who'd been an early front-runner for the Calder Trophy in his rookie season (though by the end he fell to 6th in voting), but at this point, the Ottawa Senators, Buffalo Sabres and Islanders have all lost patience with him at the NHL level, so perhaps lighting up the AHL will be his way back to The Show, but to say his point production has taken a significant drop would be an understatement: after a rookie year in which he posted 11 goals and 29 points in 47 games, he fell to 7 goals and 26 points in 79 games last year, and had a measly 1 goal and 2 assists (3 points) in 15 games with the Isles this year, despite some playing time with John Tavares.

Conacher's just about two years removed from an 80-point season with the Norfolk Admirals, though, so perhaps that's just what the doctor ordered. Or maybe his skill level falls in the cracks between ''too good for the AHL'' and ''not quite NHL material''.

In any case, here's a Rookie Materials card of him with the Sens, #RM-CO of Upper Deck's 2013-14 Series 2 set:

It depicts him with the Senators' red (home) uniform, but has a swatch from a rookie photo shoot that is white, that could come from either that same uniform, or their white (away) one, or even that of the Tampa Bay Lightning, with whom he started his career before being sent to Ottawa.

Cory Conacher Autograph Card

Cory Conacher is currently suiting up for his 4th NHL team in three NHL seasons, or at least he was, until the New York Islanders scratched him last night. And won. Against the Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings.

There's a reason why he went undrafted, and when he started off brilliantly with the Tampa Bay Lightning, some attributed it to his diminutive stature, standing at just 5'8''; at that time, his name rang a bell, and I looked him up to find he did, indeed have the hockey genes and pedigree I expected, being a relative of three Hall Of Fame players, Charlie, Roy, and Lionel Conacher. He also tore up the AHL, playing in their 2012 All-Star Game (and has 114 points in 118 games at that level).

He's also an underdog because his diabetes is so severe that he has a permanent insulin pump attached to his hip whenever he's not playing. You're kind of supposed to root for him.

But he fell out of favor in Tampa, who traded him to the Ottawa Senators (for Ben Bishop, and because they already had Craig Anderson and Robin Lehner). Who put him on waivers, where the Buffalo Sabres - the worst team in the league last year - took a chance on him before letting him walk.

And yet there was hope on Long Island, as he started the season playing alongside John Tavares and Kyle Okposo on the first line... until gradually taking the route to the press box.

Hockey culture is big on pride and hiding your injuries, but if it's his disease that's causing him to have ''down'' moments, he should be open about it and not be uselessly criticized. It's a lot better for a player to be seen as ''useful for 60 games a year'', rather than ''a nuisance for 30''.

I'll take a guy with lot of heart on my middle-six forwards before one who produces the equal amount of points but shows up in only a third of the games. In just over two NHL seasons, I'm still not sure where I'd classify Conacher, though. I want to put him in the ''heart-and-soul'' category, what with battling health issues, and his size, and his never having been drafted, I want him to be that character guy, but I honestly don't know.

I pulled a lot of his cards last year and got this card of his in a group break a few months ago:

It's from Panini's 2013-14 Contenders collection, a Rookie Ticket autograph card (it's #269 in the set), showing him with the Sens' white (away) uniform. It's signed on-card in blue sharpie.