John Gibson Autographed Picture Card

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As an Edmonton Oilers fan, I've been on John Gibson trade watch for the better part of the last three years, hoping beyond hope that a competent enough GM would be able to swing a trade with the Anaheim Ducks and make the three-time All-Star's salary work under the team's cap and propose a package that was enticing enough to Anaheim to convince them to part ways with their at-times disgruntled starter.

Earlier today at the 2025 NHL draft, the Detroit Red Wings put those dreams to rest, acquiring Gibson for a package that included an objectively less-heralded goalie in Petr Mrazek, as well as a 2027 second-round pick and a 2026 fourth-round pick. No first-rounder, no top-rated prospect, just a backup goalie, and essentially two lottery tickets, as second-rounders have a 34% of making it to the NHL, and only 7.9% of fourth-rounders end up playing in 100 NHL games.

This leads me to think it was solely the cap hit that the Oilers couldn't find their way around - or that GMs Ken Holland (2019-24) and successor Stan Bowman simply didn't like the player, because on the surface Gibson is still a top-15 or top-20 goalie in the NHL. He had a .912 save percentage in 2024-25 - albeit in only 29 games - after five straight seasons below .910, although he had started each of those seasons extremely well (twice the best goalie in the league before Christmas) before running out of steam as the Ducks accumulated the defensive zone breakdowns when the going got tougher. But we're still talking about a .910 career save percentage, two Conference Finals, gold at the World Juniors and U-18s, bronze at the World Championships for Team USA, and this stat line playing against the best available adults:

Sure, that was more than a decade ago, but he still shows flashes of that today, and at 31 years of age, he should still has three or four good years left.

I was able to grab this piece via trade a little over a year ago:

It was originally part of a larger piece (a 4x6 photo of his helmet that hadn't printed well and was pixelated), which autograph collector BG cut into a card-sized piece to facilitate moving on from it. It was signed in (fading) black sharpie.

Upper Deck 2017-18 Maple Leafs Centennial Blaster Box Break

Way to market a set to kids who grew up in the 1990s, Upper Deck!

I was not going to buy a product from UD's commemorative 2017-18 Maple Leafs Centennial set unless it came at a huge bargain, but I decided a blaster box at $24.95 ($5 off) was a good enough deal for a little less than 50 cards, especially since I was guaranteed a numbered card in it that I could probably trade or try to get my money back on if gotten rid of wisely.

Let's see what I got...

38 base cards ranging from the team mascot Carlton to Hall Of Famers Charlie Conacher, Red Kelly and Grant Fuhr, including plenty from my youth (1986-95):

My favourite insert set has to be the Die-Cut cards, of which I pulled five: Jim McKenny, Red Horner, Gary Leeman, Ace Bailey and Auston Matthews:

A close second is this dual jersey card of Nazem Kadri and Connor Brown (of the Materials Duo variety):

Some cards honor Memorable Moments in Leafs history:

Others remember Trophy Winners past:

I pulled two Hockey Hall Of Fame players:

And one Retired Numbers card of Borje Salming:

... but NO CARD numbered to #99.

I'm not sure if these came on average per box or if they're guaranteed in the form of "floaters", but I didn't get one.

Still, there were decent pulls from a decent set that I'll rate as a 7.5/10. I preferred the numbers of autographs from the 2013-14 Edmonton Oilers set, and I thought the player selection was much better with the 2008-09 Canadiens Centennial set, but this one's still a winner.