Victor Hedman Dual Jersey Card

There is bound to be a dichotomy between the best at anything for a period and the best on a shorter term, or most deserving of a nod. Victor Hedman, who won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP in an impressive Stanley Cup run with the Tampa Bay Lightning is currently the best defenseman in the NHL, but I'm totally fine with handing this year's Norris Trophy for best performance by a defenseman to the Washington Capitals' John Carlson who produced an insane 75 points in 69 games this year, well ahead of anyone else at his position while almost never playing with Alex Ovechkin. It was his second straight 70-point season, and it deserves some recognition.

Does Carlson have flaws? Of course: all over the defensive zone. Does Hedman? Not really. And that's why Hedman won the Norris in 2017-18 and has been a finalist for the past four years. He's so dominant you get used to it, but not quite as head and shoulders above his peers as Nicklas Lidstrom used to be - which justified his winning the award every year - which is why other worthy seasons were also rewarded with the award.

His performance in these playoffs was just as impressive as those of the last defenseman who won the award, Duncan Keith of the Chicago Blackhawks, and it's a safe bet both players will end up in the Hall Of Fame some day.

He technically fell two goals short of Paul Coffey's 12 in a single postseason, but I was glad no one broke any production records this year since the statistics were skewed by the play-in round counting as postseason games this year, which is an aberration. I understand the league didn't want to influence the regular-season points (Leon Draisaitl versus Connor McDavid) and goals (Ovechkin versus David Pastrnak) standings, but that's no reason to forgo playoff history, although Wayne Gretzky was correct in saying that the greats from the 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s were at a disadvantage when the elimination round started al being best-of-sevens instead of best-of-fives.

Speaking of all-time greats, none other than Scotty Bowman - whom the Toronto Sun aptly described as having "coached Doug Harvey and Lidstrom, Coffey, Larry Robinson and Serge Savard, and happened to be on the bench in St. Louis when Bobby Orr flew through the air after his famous 1970 Stanley Cup-winning overtime goal" had this to say about Hedman:

He is in his own place right now. He’s a big guy that does just about everything right. He’s so mobile for his size. He plays, what, 26 minutes a game? And you get the impression he could play a lot more. He reminds me of Larry (Robinson) that way. For a big man, he can really skate.

That's how I'd compare him as well. He's not as mean as Chris Pronger, but he hits as hard as Robinson; he's not as smooth and perfect as Lidstrom, but he almost looks as smooth as Scott Niedermayer out there at times.

Here he is wearing the Bolts' former third jersey on card #FA-VH from Upper Deck's 2014-15 Artifacts set and Frozen Artifacts sub-set:

It features two white game-worn jersey swatches that likely come from the team's away uniform.

Bobby Ryan Autographed Card

Just three weeks after winning the Masterton Trophy over Philadelphia Flyers cancer survivor Oskar Lindblom and mentioning that very possibility with the press afterwards, Bobby Ryan was bought out by the Ottawa Senators earlier today.

I had featured him when he scored a hat trick in his first game back from rehab, and even then tried to find a balance in all the truths, talent and tragedy of his life story.

The fact that the team did this so soon after the Masterton win means it's something they had already set their minds to, that they'd weighed the Cinderella story against his age, cap hit, production and leadership capabilities and still went for it, despite the possibility that with his mind in the right place, he might become a 25- or 30-goal scorer again, that his experience could help steer the team's young players in the right direction, that the team could have used his cap hit to reach the cap floor.

There were more positives in letting him go than keeping him.

As a regular Sens observer for the past 15 years and a hockey fan for most of the past 42, I am not certain I would agree with that; unless there is information we were not provided, had I been GM, I may have gambled on giving him an extra year and bought him out of his final $7.5M season next off-season.

I'm also the kind of guy who'd want to bring former captain Jason Spezza back for his final season so he can retire in the "right" uniform, so maybe I'm just too much of a romantic.

There no denying he looked right wearing Ottawa's black "O" uniform, though, as seen on card #604 from the 2013-14 O-Pee-Chee set manufactured by Upper Deck:

He signed it in thick black sharpie during the 2018-19 season, if I remember correctly.

Joel Edmundson Autographed Card

Yesterday - four days after acquiring his rights from the Carolina Hurricanes for a fifth-round pick - the Montréal Canadiens signed defenseman Joel Edmundson to a four-year deal worth $14M, or $3.5M per season.

That is an extremely reasonable deal for a Stanley Cup-winning top-four defenseman who had just signed consecutive team-friendly $3M one-year deals to give the Canes and St. Louis Blues cap flexibility with an understanding that his payday was forthcoming; had it not been for Covid-19, he likely would have fetched $4.5M per season on the open market, likely for six or seven years.

At age 27, he's just entered his prime, a fact attested by his career-high 7 goals and 20 points with the Canes last year, despite the shortened season that saw him appear in just 68 games. Last season, the Hurricanes' top four defensive zone pairings all included Edmundson on the left side, either with Brett Pesce, Trevor van Riemsdyk, Jaccob Slavin and Haydn Fleury; that means everyone except Dougie Hamilton was mandated to get some d-zone time, but they all needed Edmundson's supervision.

At 6'4" and 215 pounds, Habs fan who are not yet familiar with his work will get to know a slower-footed version of Ben Chiarot, last year's free agent signing who has integrated the team's system extremely well. Expect him to play alongside Jeff Petry, in the same role he filled playing with Alex Pietrangelo in St. Louis - the straight man who handles defensive duties and allows his partner to run free and take more risks.

Here he is wearing the WHL's Moose Jaw Warriors' black (away) uniform on card #75 from In The Game's 2011-12 Heroes And Prospects set:

He signed it in black sharpie nearly two years ago after a Blues game in Montréal. He tagged his jersey number (3) at the end.

Jamie Benn Swatch Card

I'd like to take a moment to acknowledge the fact that while he isn't scoring as much as he used to and that Joe Pavelski has also assumed a large part of the Dallas Stars' leadership up-front, captain Jamie Benn is once again looking like a leader in these playoffs.

His last two regular seasons had been a disappointment to say the least - 27 goals, 26 assists and 53 points in 78 games in 2018-19 and 19 goals, 20 assists and 30 points in 69 games in 2019-20 - but he elevated his gaem in both postseasons, and this year in particular, with two three-game goal streaks this season, against noteworthy adversaries like the Colorado Avalanche and Vegas Golden Knights, in key games, no less.

I'm not sure GM Jim Nill sees it as "worth the $9.5M cap hit" per se, but he's probably extremely happy to have him around, that's for sure. Here is the power forward in simpler times, wearing the Stars' black/dark green football-style uniform with the wordmark chest piece and number on the front of the jersey, on the swatch insert version of card #14 from Panini's 2010-11 Certified set and Certified Potential sub-set:

It features a matching game-worn jersey swatch and is numbered #88/99.

Upper Deck 2019-20 SP Hockey: Six-Pack Break

(team and product links go to sponsored Amazon products, player links go to related pages on my blog, news links go to source pages)

In keeping with the birthday posts, I also received two combined re-packs of three packs of Upper Deck's 2019-20 SP cards; for a full evaluation and view of the base cards, please refer to last month's post.

The most beautiful insert I got so far was this Authentic Profiles card of Mark Stone of the Vegas Golden Knights:

There were also these three Blue variants of Jonathan Marchessault, Bo Horvat and P.K. Subban:

But I would have accepted just one of Anthony Mantha:

I was happy to pull Rookie Authentics of Victor Olofsson, Jack Hughes, Kirby Dach, Karson Kuhlman and Ryan Poehling:

But, again, I had pulled Hughes and Kuhlman the month before, so I got them twice in the span of nine packs. The collation is pretty bad, unless UD is aiming to encourage trades between regions, by mail.

They're nice-looking pieces of cardboard, though, colourful and comfortable to the touch.