Anthony DeLuca: Two Autographed Cards

Anthony DeLuca is exactly the type of player lower-level leagues chew up and spit out on a yearly basis. He played three seasons for the Rimouski Océanic in the LHJMQ, improving his regular-season points totals from 40 (on 22 goals) to 78 (35 goals) to 91 (44 goals) and was a point-per-game player in the postseason for his final two seasons as well, but remained undrafted because he's small at 5'9", though bulky at 205 pounds.

Last summer, his rights in the "Q" were traded to the Drummondville Voltigeurs, but he wanted to try his trade in the ECHL, playing 46 games with the Alaska Aces (and obtaining 20 points in the process); the Voltigeurs had told him they'd kept a roster spot open for him in case he didn't like his professional experience, and around the Holiday break, he signified his intention of returning home... but Drummondville reneged on their promise.

He ended up playing another 16 games in the ECHL, with the Wichita Thunder, with a single goal and 6 points to show for it as he felt homesick and betrayed.

I met him last summer, a 20-year-old who'd been told time and time again that his efforts would be rewarded, that he was good enough to make it, that he was one-of-a-kind, that hockey was his calling...

I saw him suit up against grown men, NHLers and AHLers alike, for unofficial shinny games, and he looked like a kid who knows how to play the game; who, given time, could compete with them. But I did not think he was AHL-ready. And the "A" is a good league, he might never reach that level and might need to consider playing in the LNAH for most of his thirties.

Still, he signed two copies of this card, #41 in In The Game's 2012-13 Heroes And Prospects collection (and CHL Rookie sub-set) in blue sharpie:

It features him in the Océanic's white (home) uniform.

Samuel Morin Jersey Card

The Philadelphia Flyers were pretty high on Samuel Morin when they made him the 11th overall pick in 2013, ahead of Max Domi (12th), Curtis Lazar (17th), Mirco Mueller (18th), Anthony Mantha (20th), Émile Poirier (22nd), Zachary Fucale (36th), William Carrier (57th), Eric Comrie (59th), Anthony Duclair (80th), Sven Andrighetto (86th), and Jordan Subban (115th).

It's hard not to be high on a kid who already stood at 6'6'' and 200 pounds as a 17-year-old (now 6'7'' and 220), and had a lot of frame left to fill yet already had a booming shot, perfect, hard passes and got into using his frame to provide hits more and more as time passed.

This year, in his fourth season in the ''Q'' with the Rimouski Océanic, at 19 years old, he looked like Chris Pronger out there; don't get me wrong, he won't ever be a Pronger - he doesn't have the mean streak, for one - but as one of the veteran players on a team that finished first in the regular season and just won the league's Finals in double-overtime of Game 7, he was heads and shoulders above the rest, and not just because of the size Mother Nature imparted upon him. He's got skill. And he was solid for Team Canada at the World Juniors.

Another Flyers top prospect, Shayne Gostisbehere (a.k.a. ''The Ghost'') also can't wait to be paired with him on a regular basis, and GM Ron Hextall is happy with his progress so far, after almost starting the year with the big club.

I read left and right about journalists who are often wrong saying the Flyers have no defense to speak of (somewhat true at present time) and nobody in the system coming up (a complete fallacy, as can be attested by Ghost and Morin alone), which could very well mean Philadelphia is a lot closer to a complete turnaround than anyone expects. Particularly with a new head coach.

Now, defensemen take longer to develop than forwards, particularly those who have monster size. But Hextall will take his time and be patient with Morin, knowing full well it's better to wait a couple of seasons and have him be excellent for 12 years than have four so-so development years at the NHL level for 4 pretty good and 5 excellent seasons. Hopefully.

Here's Morin wearing the Océanic's blue (away) uniform:

It's card #M-22 from In The Game's 2012-13 Heroes And Prospects set (part of the Game-Used Jersey sub-set, the ''Black Version'' variant), featuring a game-worn white jersey swatch with a huge stitch and overlap spanning the whole swatch. I got it in a trade last year with three other cards, this being the third I have featured so far (Scott Harrington is coming eventually).