Erik Condra: 3 Autographed Cards

Erik Condra is one of two Ottawa Senators who are the most likely to end up with the puck no matter what zone they're in if the puck carrier is in front of them, with Calder Trophy nominee Mark Stone; they force turnovers like a McDonald's Employee Of The Month, with the sole difference being that Stone converts many of his chances while Condra has just posted his career-best numbers with 9 goals.

Still, most coaches will agree it's better to have possession of the puck than surrender it, and there are no real bad shots in today's NHL, where all goalies are capable of playing in the Olympics as well as surrender a goal from behind the goal line or beyond center ice. And perhaps Condra just hasn't found his niche as a set-up man yet, and maybe he'd be better suited to rack up 30 assists than score 20 goals.

After all, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish alumnus who was a seventh-round draft pick (211st overall in 2006) not only was a point-per-game in College, even earning All-Rookie Team (first year) and Second Team All-Star (fourth year) nods, but never scored more than 15 goals in the NCAA/CCHA, so maybe he was always meant to pass it more than shoot.

The 28-year-old American is due for a nice raise in his last RFA summer, and will probably earn close to $3M per year, perhaps for as many as three seasons (up from his current $1.25M cap hit). Should the Sens not be willing to pony up that amount, I'm fairly certain his hometown Detroit Red Wings - a possession and positioning team if there ever was one - would.

For now, though, his Hockey IQ is important to the Senators, as they try to keep building towards a championship-level team game around a promising group of youngsters. And he's got some sweet moves, as this breakaway goal that left Carey Price dumbfounded proves:



And so it is with great pleasure that I add Condra to my Sens Numbers Project, and though Shaun Van Allen was already in for #22, Condra can take sole possession of the #38 spot with at least one of the cards.

Speaking of which, here they are, first with a couple from Panini's 2011-12 Score set:

The card on the left is his Rookie Card (#524 of the regular set, part of the Hot Rookies sub-set), showing him in the Sens' white (away) uniform, while the card on the right, showing him in his post-game ''gym clothes'' is card #3 of the First Goal sub-set; he actually scored two goals that night.

I also have one of him in the Sens' red (home) uniform, from Panini's 2012-13 Score set (card #339 in the collection), battling for puck possession with two Boston Bruins players:

I had sent him four cards on March 17th, 2014, and got these three back - signed in black sharpie - on May 4th, 2015, a mere 47 days later, after the Sens were eliminated by my hometown Montréal Canadiens.

Sven Baertschi: 4 Autographed Cards

Another great return today:

Like the Tom Draper return from two days ago, this one took 62 days to get back to me; indeed, I had sent Sven Baertschi these four cards on March 13th, 2014 - care of the Abbotsford Heat where he spent the latter half of the season after the Calgary Flames fired GM Jay Feaster and revisited their immediate and near-future plans - and received all of them back, signed in black sharpie, on May 14th (2014).

The 13th overall pick of 2011, Baertschi (spelled Bärtschi in Europe and international play) is a huge part of the Flames' future, along with Mikael Backlund. A four-time member of Team Switzerland in Juniors play, he had just been named to the mens' team when he sustained a season-ending injury last weekend. This is the second major injury to occur for him in international play, as he had also suffered a concussion at the 2012 World Juniors.

In 2012-13, he tallied 26 points in 32 AHL games, and 10 more in 20 games at the NHL level; things were a tad harder for him in Calgary this year (11 points in 26 games), but he gained his composure and confidence back in Abbotsford and finished with 29 points (on 13 goals) in 41 games, once even being named Player Of The Week.

He is a top-6 forward (left-handed-shot winger) who has deceptive speed yet also likes to slow down the play, and he is getting really good at playing without the puck as well, making him the ideal modern-day top-liner, a guy who will eventually be counted upon for some 50-60 points while usually finishing in the plusses, and playing 18 to 20 hard minutes against tough opposition.

I don't know that I would have chosen him ahead of Nathan Beaulieu (17th, Montréal Canadiens), Mark McNeill (18th, Chicago Blackhawks), Oscar Klefbom (19th, Edmonton Oilers) or Tomas Jurco (35th, Detroit Red Wings), but he was definitely first-round material.

I had custom cards that I made of him that I could have sent, but I didn't want to overdo it, either, and I'm very satisfied with the return I did get, particularly in that it shows him with two of the Flames' uniforms. First, here's the white (away) uniform:

Celebrating an important milestone, the card on the left is from Panini's 2012-13 Score set, and is card #FG13 of the (very interesting) First Goal sub-set; on the right, lined up for a face-off, is from Upper Deck's 2013-14 Series 1 (card 170).

And here's two of the now-alternate jersey, the red 1980s classic uniform:

They are both from Panini's 2013-14 Score, card #62 in the set - except the one on the right is the 'Gold' variant that replaced the 'glossy' ones a few years ago. I strongly prefer the gold ones.

I watch most of the Flames' games, and they're already really fun to watch because they always give a consistent effort, play very physically, and try to stick to the fundamentals; once their talent level evens out, though, within maybe 3 years, they'll really be something to watch. And Baertschi will likely be smack-dab in the middle of it.