Derick Brassard Quad Jersey Card

With the New York Islanders currently in the midst of a ten-win streak, a few things have become apparent for any would-be doubters:

- Barry Trotz is the best coach in the NHL, by far
- Mitch Korn might be the best goaltending coach/guru of this post-Allaire generation
- Hockey is a team sport, and losing a superstar sometimes is best for the group
- Depth behind a strong-but-not-elite top line, under the right coach, can produce better results than relying on some of the best players in the world

Lost in that whirlwind is the comeback performance of Derick Brassard after a sub-par performance for three separate teams last season, posting just 9 goals and 15 points in 40 games with the Pittsburgh Penguins, 1 goal and 4 points in 10 games with the Florida Panthers, and 4 goals and 0 assists in 20 games with the Colorado Avalanche. He was destined for a one-year deal, but falling on Long Island may have been the best thing for him.

He's had 5 goals in the Isles' win streak, putting him at 8 points in 60 games, a production that projects to decent 41 points over a full season, particularly considering the fact that he's technically the fifth centre on the team, behind Mathew Barzal, Josh Bailey, Brock Nelson and Anders Lee; in reality, Bailey and Lee play wing on the first line, meaning Brassard has played around 15 minutes per game, which is decent. Still, he ranks sixth in team scoring, something that many people didn't see coming for the 32-year-old.

I, for one, still trusted the seven-time 40-point producer to bounce back, but I did have doubts that the Islanders - a team no one has posted a point-per-game average on since the defensively-minded Trotz took on the coaching job - were the team where his statistics would pop enough for the hockey world to take notice.

I couldn't be happier to be wrong.

Here he is from his days with the Columbus Blue Jackets on card #QJ-BR from Upper Deck's 2009-10 Black Diamond set and Quad Jerseys sub-set:

He's shown wearing the team's dark blue (home) uniform, with four matching game-worn jersey swatches.

Derick Brassard Jersey Card

It hasn't been a fun couple of years for Derick Brassard.

The 6th overall pick of the 2006 NHL draft, he was a building block of the Columbus Blue Jackets from 2007 until 2013, when the New York Rangers made the Jackets an offer they couldn't refuse, essentially offering a just-past-his-prime Marian Gaborik for the young, emerging center, with secondary assets going each way as well.

In New York, Brassard became, essentially, a 60-point 1-B center, making the Blueshirts one of the best teams in the league down the middle, with Derek Stepan on equal footing and Kevin Hayes just behind them. Brassard was a key cog in the Rangers reaching consecutive Conference Finals in 2014 and 2015 (one of them a Stanley Cup Final, actually).

It was this type of production the Ottawa Senators were aiming to receive when they traded for him, sending the younger Mika Zibanejad to Manhattan before the 2016-17; he may have only had 39 points in 81 games that year in Guy Boucher's defensive system, but that still got the Sens to the second overtime period of Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Final. In a way, the got exactly what they wanted from a hometown kid.

And then the proverbial shit hit the fan and everything unraveled, with GM Pierre Dorion opting to dismantle the team as it started getting eaten away from the inside through odd stories involving Mike Hoffman's girlfriend versus Erik Karlsson's wife, and Matt Duchene sowing the seeds of discord as he is wont to do (remember Ubergate?).

In that dismantling, Brassard was sent to the Vegas Golden Knights for a third-round pick, who themselves flipped him to the Pittsburgh Penguins for Ryan Reaves and a fourth-rounder. The Pens were gearing for a third consecutive Cup run and figured Brassard, in a #3C spot, would be the best third-liner in the league; they also had the depth to pair him with the likes of Phil Kessel, Jake Guentzel, Connor Sheary, Bryan Rust or any other past home-run AHL call-up... except the Pens' luck had run out. All of their guesses in previous seasons had panned out, but their smart-money moves were now busts.

Less than a calendar year later, he was shipped to the Florida Panthers with a plethora of draft picks for Nick Bjugstad and Jared McCann. Twenty-four days after that, the Panthers flipped him to the Colorado Avalanche, for a third-rounder.

I was big on him when the Sens acquired him, so I thought it'd be fitting to feature him wearing Ottawa's red jersey (with matching swatch) on card #GJ-BR from Upper Deck's 2017-18 Series 1 set and UD Game Jersey sub-set:

The swatch is actually very bright to the naked eye, the scan doesn't do it justice.

He'll be a UFA this summer; I doubt he gets a long-term deal despite being just 31 years old - and I'm not sure he gets anywhere near the $5M cap hit he had for the last five years, either.

Derick Brassard Autographed Card

One thing's for sure, NHL teams are not afraid of making moves this summer; GMs are probably weary of their own shelf life, and each one wants to save his ass by having his team make the playoffs, although only half of them will.

Today, Derick Brassard went from the New York Rangers to the Ottawa Senators for promising young gun Mika Zibanejad, in a move that has many puzzled. Don't be.

Statistically, they both had similar 2015-16 campaigns, with Brassard posting 58 points (27 of them goals) and Zibanejad 51 (21 goals), but Brassard is a better, more complete player right now, although Zibanejad is five years younger and probably has more upside, including at least one 30-goal, 70-point season ahead of himself.

Brassard also has just $10M left to be paid over the next three years with a $15M cap hit now that the Rangers just paid him his bonus for next year, while Zibanejad is a RFA-to-be who is making just under $3M next year... but will probably be in line for a raise that nets him over $5M on his next deal, which is something the (notoriously cheap) Sens wanted to avoid. They now have bought themselves three years to draft and bring up his replacement.

This move was about math, but economics math. And the Sens know that if they can reach the playoffs and face the Montréal Canadiens in the first round, Craig Anderson can probably outplay Carey Price for the third time in five years, which would entirely justify making the trade in the first place.

Here is Brassard in his Juniors days, playing for the Drummondville Voltigeurs, who were coached by none other than Guy Boucher, the Sens' new bench boss, on card #135 from In The Game's 2005-06 Heroes And Prospects set, which he signed in blue sharpie:

He's wearing their white (hom) uniform - and looks like a child. Going to the Sens is a homecoming for Brassard, as he's from Ottawa suburb Hull.

Derick Brassard Autographed Card

I was hanging around the Bell Centre today for most of the afternoon, hung out with current (eliminated) and former NHLers I know, chatted up a couple of New York Rangers players before they went for their afternoon nap, skated closer to supper time with a bunch of former NHLers (and those kids who get to skate around the rink right before the referees and players come out at the beginning of the game)... all in all, a nice way to spend a fanboy's day off work.

My former summer pick-up game partner Guillaume Latendresse met up with his old Drummondville Voltigeurs (LHJMQ) linemate Derick Brassard for a bit, wished him good luck for the night's game - and I got this card to show for it, from In The Game's 2008-09 Heroes And Prospects set (card #23), signed in thin blue sharpie with his then-number (25) with the AHL's Syracuse Crunch:

He was taller than I expected - at 6'1'', he's almost my height, but the fact that he's so much thinner (a very cut and slim 190 pounds) makes him seem elongated while I seem, uh, more bouncer-like; he looks like a child, too, which made me feel smaller somehow, like he's going to grow some more - though at nearly 27 years old, chances are he won't.

Despite averaging a point per game after he was traded from the Columbus Blue Jackets to the Rangers last season, a new head coach (Alain Vigneault) meant he had to start all over making a new first impression on Broadway this year, and he accumulated 45 points in 81 games on the strength of 18 goals and 27 assists in the regular season, centering the Blueshirts' third line, behind Derek Stepan (40 assists, 57 points) and Brad Richards (20 goals, 51 points).

This postseason, he has 9 points (5 goals, 4 assists) in 17 games; he had won 75% of his face-offs against the Montréal Canadiens on Sunday, but just a third of them on Tuesday as the Habs staved off elimination with a 7-4 win.

Internationally, he has represented Québec (U17 bronze in 2003-04) and Canada (World Juniors silver in 2004-05), both of which helped make him the 6th overall selection of the 2006 draft, ahead of other noteworthy NHLers Claude Giroux (22nd), Semyon Varlamov (23rd), Milan Lucic (50th), Brad Marchand (71st), and James Reimer (99th). Still, it was a very good pick by the Jackets; I thought he was going to go between the 10th and 15th spots, and that the Ottawa Senators would trade up for him, since he's from Hull, Québec - pretty much a suburb of theirs.