Marc-André Gragnani Autographed Card

Oh, what a difference four years make...

When I last featured Marc-André Gragnani, the Montréal native was well on his way to NHL stardom, about to win the Eddie Shore Award as the AHL's best defenseman, full of promise for the Buffalo Sabres' system.

But after four seasons of being called up and never staying in Buffalo on a permanent basis, he was traded to the Vancouver Canucks, who didn't retain his services after a half-season. He then went on to sign with the Carolina Hurricanes, spending the bulk of his time with their AHL affiliate Charlotte Checkers.

He then spent two seasons in Europe, first with the KHL's HC Lev Praha, and SC Bern of the Swiss League last year, posting an impressive 37 points in 49 games. He is slated to come back to North America this season, having signed a two-way deal with the New Jersey Devils in July.

I met him after his ''fourth rookie season'' in the summer of 2012, as I was a goaltending teacher at a hockey school and he came back to town for his off-season training. He signed this 2008-09 O-Pee-Chee card (#555 in the collection manufactured by Upper Deck, part of the Marquee Rookies sub-set) for me in blue sharpie:

It's ironic that such a gifted offensive defenseman would sign with the Devils, who are particularly deep at that position - and that position alone. It seems he didn't put himself in the best situation for easy NHL access, but then again, he probably did weigh his options and decided this one was best for him. I honestly don't see how he couldn't make it as a third-unit defender and first-unit powerplay specialist, particularly on teams such as the Canes, or the Phoenix Coyotes, or Toronto Maple Leafs, or a second-unit PP guy on teams such as the San Jose Sharks, Canucks or Boston Bruins.

Marc-André Gragnani Autograph Card

Timely posts: it's what I do.

Last night, the Buffalo Sabres made a step towards the playoffs by beating the Carolina Hurricanes 2-1 on an overtime goal by Marc-André Gragnani. The Montréal native was in the third game of his recent stint with the Sabres; he was also in the NHL for 3 games in late January, but spent the rest of the season with the Sabres' AHL affiliate Portland Pirates.

The Sabres' third round pick in 2005 (87th overall), he had played his junior hockey with the P.E.I. Rocket of the QJMHL. In his last two seasons there, the defenseman averaged more than a point per game. He holds the Pirates' records for assists and points by a defenseman in a single season.

This minuscule card is from Upper Deck's 2008-09 Champ's set (card #CS-MG), and is of the Mini Signatures sub-set. This series is pretty much Upper Deck's ''hockey answer'' to Topps' Allen & Ginter baseball set, cards that have an old-school feel, with generally absent countours and where the image looks like a painting or a drawing.

UD's Champ's brand is a nod to the Champ's Cigarette Company of Canada, which produced a hockey card set in 1924-25; those cards were smaller than the regular format, because they had to fit inside a pack of smokes. In homage, UD not only made this set a 200-card fare of its regular-sized cards but also a 480-card of mini cards; where they went nuts is that the set of mini cards features 192 base player cards, 95 short-run rookie cards, a bunch of cards featuring athletes from other sports in what is labeled the ''Hall Of Legends'' sub-set, as well as roughly 200 animal cards and 14 fossils.

And that wasn't a metaphor. Check the Jaguar out here. That's way too much 'National Geographic' for my taste. Might as well have stuck with the original product and included cards about cigarette brands, or even actual tobacco instead.