Jeremy Morin Autograph Card

So, in perhaps the oddest move this summer, Jeremy Morin is back with the Chicago Blackhawks following a trade with the Columbus Blue Jackets, six months after asking out of Chi-town, which kind of makes the Hawks into Hotel California, where ''you can check out any time you want, but you can never leave''.

Morin wanted a new beginning because he felt coach Joel Quenneville never really gave him a chance to show what he was all about, but to be fair, his 2 goals and 6 total points in 28 games with Columbus probably wasn't what anyone had in mind for the former second-rounder either.

The Hawks are bringing him back in the fold, banking on their knowledge of his overall game, the fact that they've liked him for a while, and the open spots in their line-up for him to try to step into the positions formerly occupied by Brandon Saad and Patrick Sharp and put up some points by playing alongside either Jonathan Toews on the first line, Patrick Kane on the second or Teuvo Teravainen on the third. If he makes the team, a 40-point season is definitely not out of the question at this point, despite his prior history in the NHL (12 goals, 12 assists, 22 points in 82 games).

So far, his rights have been traded for Mathieu Schneider (the pick the Atlanta Thrashers used to select him), Dustin Byfuglien, Tim Erixon, and Saad, give or take surrounding players such as Artem Anisimov - so he's usually highly-touted.

Here he is wearing the Hawks' gorgeous third/old-school uniform, from Panini's 2010-11 Luxury Suite set (the autographed insert version of card #148 - his Rookie card - signed on-card in thin blue sharpie):

I got this card in a trade recently, in exchange for ten signed Benchwarmers cards I had doubles of, mostly from the 2005 Signature Series set. So I too, like the Hawks, have a lot of confidence in this kid.

Jeremy Morin Autographed Card

I try to attend a couple of Hamilton Bulldogs games per year, usually one or two weekend-long treks where I can cram in two home games each time, or one in Hamilton and one in Toronto, or maybe a trek down to Albany - nothing too crazy, no more than 8 hours' drive. I went to see them play the Rockford Ice Hogs last year (or was it the year before that?), hoping to catch Carter Hutton, Brandon Pirri, Kyle Beach or Martin Saint-Pierre (I had three items of each) - and ended up with neither.

But I did catch Jeremy Morin (don't let the name fool you, he's an American, not a Quebecer) who signed this 2010-11 Score Hot Rookies card (#633 in the Rookies And Traded set) by Panini for me in blue sharpie:

Since I'd mentioned how beautiful I found the Chicago Blackhawks' uniform to be on that particular card, he made it a point not to sign on it, but the ad on the boards make it hard to decipher his signature. Still, I count it as a huge win for me.

Morin was originally a second round draft pick of the Atlanta Thrashers (45th overall in 2009), but the Hawks acquired him in the trade that sent Brent Sopel, Dustin Byfuglien, Ben Eager and Akim Aliu to Atlanta and Marty Reasoner, Joey Crabb and two other draft picks (Kevin Hayes and Justin Holl) Chicago's way.

Morin's been sharing his time between the NHL and AHL since 2010-11 and has 10 points and 39 penalty minutes so far in 30 NHL games, showing glimpses of steady play in just about 7 minutes of ice time per game on a team whose lineup is pretty hard to crack.

He's on a point-per-game pace in the AHL this season, and registered 30 goals and 58 points in 67 games in Rockford last season. With a bit of polish in his defensive game, he could become a solid second-or-third liner in the NHL.

He has some experience on the world stage, winning gold (2010) and bronze (2011) at the World Juniors as well as the U-18 (gold in 2009, bronze in 2008) with Team USA.