Nicolas Deslauriers Autographed Card

In the past two months, 6'3", 219-pound Nicolas Deslauriers has fought other NHL heavyweights, such as:

Radko Gudas of the Washington Capitals on December 6th:

Kurtis MacDermid of the Los Angeles Kings on December 13th:

Chris Stewart of the Philadelphia Flyers on December 17th:

Michael Haley of the New York Rangers on December 22nd:

Austin Watson of the Nashville Predators, January 5th:

Jamie Oleksiak of the Dallas Stars on January 9th:

MacDermid of the Kings again on February 1st:

Zac Rinaldo of the Calgary Flames on February 13th:

In a league that averages less than half a fight per game, Deslauriers has seemingly fought every other day to become the league leader with 12, five more than Watson, in second place. And the Anaheim Ducks seem to love it, because he was extended for two more seasons with an annual cap hit of $1M.

Sure, the Ducks need to have players signed who will be available for the Seattle Expansion Draft, but chances are the new team will try to imitate the Vegas Golden Knights and focus on speed and possession stats more than pugilism skills.

Still, kudos to the 29-year-old former third-round pick who was considered a long shot to be a power forward with the Kings then reinvented himself as a tough checker and teammate protector with the Buffalo Sabres when it didn't pan out in grey and purple.

Here he is from his days terrorizing LHJMQ teams as a member of the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, on card #117 from In The Game's 2009-10 Heroes And Prospects set:

It shows him wearing the team's clack (away) uniform; he signed it in blue sharpie last season, before he was traded by the Montréal Canadiens.

Rafaël Harvey-Pinard Autographed Card

I've gotten so used to young NHLers entering the league taller than me at half my age that I was shocked to see how small Rafaël Harvey-Pinard was in person, perhaps smaller than his listed 5'9" and 161 pounds.

He had made the trek to the draft in Dallas for his first year of eligibility after a 76-point season (in 67 games) with the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies in 2017-18 only to be left undrafted; he earned an invitation to the Vegas Golden Knights' rookie camp, but ultimately couldn't stick with the team.

Instead, he went back to Juniors, was named the Huskies' captain, led them to the best record in Canada (59-8-1), collected 27 points in 20 playoff games to lead the team to the Presidents Cup (LHJMQ playoff championship) and had six points in five games as the Huskies went on to win the Memorial Cup as Canadian Juniors champions. The icing on the cake came when the Montréal Canadiens selected him in the seventh round (201st overall), joining Memorial Cup MVP and teammate Joël Teasdale in the Habs' prospects pool.

While he didn't stick in Montréal past the rookie camp, he enters his final year in the "Q" as captain of the Chicoutimi Saguenéens - his rights having changed hands over the summer - where he hopes to replicate last season's successes in his hometown, where he gets to sleep in his own bed in his parents' house. He has 10 points in 12 games so far, facing much more scrutiny from the opposition than in years past.

Here he is wearing the Huskies' old white (home) uniform, on card #235 from Upper Deck's 2017-18 CHL collection:

He signed it in (fading) blue sharpie at the Canadiens' practice facility this summer.

Dillon Fournier Autographed Card

Dillon Fournier was a highly-regarded prospect for the Chicago Blackhawks, having been chosen with the 48th overall pick at the 2012 draft and signed to a three-year entry-level deal in the summer of 2014.

Unfortunately, injuries have slowed his development, as he was limited to 36 games with the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies in 2013-14 (picking up 32 points in the process) and 9 in total in 2015-16 split between the AHL's Rockford IceHogs (2 games, -2 rating) and the ECHL's Indy Fuel (7 games, 1 assist, 8 penalty minutes, +2 rating).

His speed, hard shot and tape-to-tape passes made him an offensive force in the "Q", but he has yet to translate that production to the professional game, where he is asked to bulk up and perfect his defensive game; he'd been good at keeping an excellent offensive and defensive gap with his assigned forward in Juniors, but it does require an adaptation period to get acclimated to the stronger play in the pros.

I wouldn't throw the towel on a talented 22-year-old defenseman, but chances are he's further down the depth chart at this point than both he and the Hawks expected just a couple of summers ago.

Here's the fourth of a five-card package I received recently, showing him wearing the Huskies' pink (breast cancer awareness) uniform, on card #107 from In The Game's 2012-13 Heroes And Prospects set:

It was signed in blue sharpie.