Ville Leino Swatch Card

Ville Leino will be playing for the Swedish League's Växjö Lakers next season, whose captain is Tomi Kallio.

It's been a while since his two most successful seasons in North America, namely the 2008-09 season that was split between the Grand Rapids Griffins (15 goals, 31 assists and 46 points in 57 games, plus another 13 points in 10 playoff games) and the Detroit Red Wings (5-4-9 in 13 regular-season games and two assists in 7 playoff games) and the 19 goals, 34 assists and 53 points in 81 games he posted with the Philadelphia Flyers in 2010-11, not to mention his 21 points in 19 postseason games the previous season as Philly lost in the Stanley Cup Final (an NHL rookie record he shares with Dino Ciccarelli).

His huge free agent contract with the Buffalo Sabres - which made him the league's most overpaid forward not named Scott Gomez - led to a buyout, and after failing to make the Boston Bruins out of training camp, made his way to the KHL's Zagreb Medveščak, the Swiss League's Kloten Flyers, and the KHL's Riga Dinamo before making his way to Sweden.

The well-traveled Finn failed to make Team Finland's upcoming World Cup roster, what with the likes of rookies Patrick Laine and Sebastian Aho making the cut (the fourth-overall pick of the last draft, Jesse Puljujarvi, also mysteriously failed to make the cut).

Here is Leino in what were undoubtedly better days, wearing the Flyers' current/retro orange (now-home) jersey, on card #VI from Panini's 2010-11 Zenith set and Winter Warriors sub-set:

It features a black-and-white stitch piece of Prime Jersey game-worn material (dual-coloured, triple-stitched).

Magnus Paajarvi Swatch Card

HUGE news on the RFA font today, as the St. Louis Blues have avoided arbitration by signing Magnus Pääjärvi-Svensson to a $700,000 one-way contract for next season.

Once regarded as the most skilled player outside the NHL with his shootout moves, Paajarvi has yet to translate his talent to the best league on earth, his six-goal, seven-assist, 13-point production in 65 games over parts of two seasons with the Blues resulting in the following career NHL numbers: 32 goals, 39 assists and 71 points in 228 games.

He did manage to put up 11 goals and 18 assists (29 points) in 36 games playing for St. Louis' AHL affiliate Chicago Wolves, so the 24-year-old's almost there. Maybe.

Originally the Edmonton Oilers' first-round pick (10th overall) in 2009, he was acquired by the Blues in the trade that sent David Perron to play in the tundra.

Speaking of the Oilers, here he is wearing their awful Reebok Edge post-lockout white (away) pajama/practice-like uniforms, from Panini's 2010-11 Zenith set (card #MP of the Winter Warriors sub-set):

It features an orange swatch of game-worn ''material''.

Josh Gorges Jersey Card

The Montréal Canadiens had a dozen good reasons to trade Josh Gorges this summer, such as his cap hit and contract length, his limited offensive capabilities, wanting to change the leadership group in the dressing room (and take letters away from players who, while dedicated and hard-working, contribute less on the scoreboard than their extreme vocal-ness in the locker room would require), and the lack of room on a defense that already also includes P.K. Subban, Andrei Markov, Alexei Emelin, Mike Weaver (who does Gorges' defensive on-ice job at a third of the price), Tom Gilbert (who will be an improvement on the second powerplay unit), Nathan Beaulieu and Jarred Tinordi - and possibly Francis Bouillon.

He, however, still doesn't understand, as he told reporters from his off-season home in Kelowna. And that's a bit of an issue, too: he hasn't embraced the city enough to live here full-time, let alone learn the local language. So, after refusing a trade to the Toronto Maple Leafs, he was sent to the Buffalo Sabres.

I have no complaints about Gorges' time in Montréal. He got here at the tail end of 2006-07 and barely played because no one was familiar with what he could bring to the table, and he hadn't been factored into the team's system. But from 2007-08 on, he did his very best and improved - and impressed - enough to sport the alternate captain's 'A' for the past few years. He would also be one of the few players to face the media after almost every game.

He was a good soldier, just not sergeant material. He will, however, forever be a Hab in fans' hearts.

And so I bid him farewell for now, with this card from Panini's 2010-11 Zenith set (#JG in the die-cut jersey series), featuring a white swatch but showing him in the Habs' classic red uniform:

I had written him and sent 3 cards in November 2010, but never heard back. I wish him - and his family - the best in Buffalo.