The Young Guns Chronicles Part 4: Expansion

The end of the 2013 NHL lockout also meant the end of a three-year window where Upper Deck had some competition in the hockey card market.

R.I.P. Panini Prizm 2012-2014

 
Upper Deck didn't have shiny, colorful parallels but they did have a tried-and-true rookie subset and brand that collectors preferred. Their strategy of limiting 2012-13 flagship to one series and promoting their 'double rookie class' paid off - even in a year when the #1 overall pick wasn't a can't-miss hobby hero.

2013-14 Upper Deck
base set: 500 cards
Young Guns: 100 cards

I should have been more specific. 2012 first overall pick Nathan MacKinnon -- Stanley Cup winner, Rookie of the year, two-time MVP finalist -- has been a superstar. 2013 first overall pick Nail Yakupov, on the other hand, was one of few top pick busts in the Young Guns era. "Fail for Nail" backfired for the Oilers, but the NHL would keep handing high draft picks to Edmonton until they got it right. And boy would they ever.

Most Young Guns RCs: Ducks (7)

Least Young Guns RCs: Flyers, Blues, Jets (1)

Stars/Fan Favorites in this set: Dougie Hamilton, J. T. Miller, Tom Wilson, Jonathan Huberdeau, Vladimir Tarasenko, Nathan MacKinnon, Filip Forsberg, Frederik Andersen, Aleksander Barkov, Brendan Gallagher, John Gibson

Who's that guy? This set has an impressively low number of obscure players, especially in Series One. Canucks goalie Joacim Eriksson is the only prospect who played less than ten NHL games. In his one and only night of NHL action he allowed six goals in 36 minutes for a goals against average of.. yikes.

Who's that guy? (Part two) Christian Thomas was one of the few players in this double rookie class who didn't last long in the league. Upper Deck bestowed him with a rookie card(or thirty) after his brief auditions with the Rangers but it was not his first appearance on an NHL trading card.

This little guy has got Patrick Kane beat by a full four years. Both those cards came out in the same year, too. Weird.

Forgetting someone? Michael Raffl and Luke Glendening debuted on the same day in 2013. They aren't stars but they both had long, solid NHL careers - Glendening is still active and Raffl was his teammate on the Dallas Stars last year. It's possible that Upper Deck excluded them because they were older prospects (both were 24 when they debuted) but that doesn't stop them in most other years.

2014-15 Upper Deck
base set: 530 cards
Young Guns: 110 cards

Upper Deck decided to give the Extended Series experiment another shot, inserting 30 more cards into SP Authentic packs as an addendum to the flagship base set. This time, the concept stuck - and Young Guns were included as part of the Update.

On a personal note, I really liked the icy blue background of the '14-15 edition but the Young Guns nameplate is higher than it needs to be - and I came across a lot of YGs with the names misaligned.

Most Young Guns RCs: Coyotes (6), Flames (6). All of Calgary's YGs are found in the main set, while Arizona's total is boosted by two YGs in the extended series. Of note, one of the 'extra' Coyotes is Anthony Duclair, who had already received a Young Gun card in Series One. But at least The Duke changed teams (unlike Nick Bonino).

Least Young Guns RCs: Kings (1). Ottawa and Winnipeg had one each in the main set but received a second Young Guns card in the Extended series. Also, this is the most even distribution of Young Guns across all 30 teams that you will see in any UD set.

Stars/Fan Favorites in this set: William Karlsson, Johnny Gaudreau, Teuvo Teravainen, Leon Draisaitl, Aaron Ekblad, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Darnell Nurse, Shayne Gostisbehere, Jordan Binnington, John Klingberg, Andrei Vasilevskiy, Bo Horvat, David Pastrnak. This group might have more star power than the previous year's double rookie class.

Who's that guy? A year after two 24 year-old prospects were excluded, Upper Deck included Bruins tough guy Bobby Robins. His three-game NHL career began and ended just days before his 33rd birthday.

Forgetting someone? Penguins winger Bryan Rust made his debut in December 2014. The two-time Stanley Cup champion didn't become a top-six forward until 2017, and UD only gave him one solo RC.

2015-16 Upper Deck
base set: 530 cards
Young Guns: 110 cards

Ten years after Sid the Kid and Alexander the Great debuted, another generational star entered the NHL. Connor McDavid's Young Guns RC was initially affordable due to an injury-shortened rookie season (he didn't even win the Calder trophy) and Upper Deck's ePack program - which made their inserts and rookie cards much more abundant on the ePack site and COMC. The most expensive card I ever purchased on that site was the BGS single above - and I'd buy a dozen of them at this price:

 

The Mike Trout of hockey has not had any subsequent injury trouble and is well on his way to a fifth scoring title, averaging nearly two points per game for the Oilers. His Young Guns RC, which could be pulled from $20 blaster boxes, now sells for over $1,000 ungraded and nearly twice that in BGS 9.5. Not even Trout's Topps Update RC sells that high anymore, making this quite possibly the best card you could reasonably expect to pull out of a retail sports card product. This is what makes Young Guns great. 

As for the rest of the set, the last 30 cards were once again inserted into packs of SP Authentic and the last ten of that block were YGs.

Most Young Guns RCs: Senators (7), Flyers (7), Canucks (7). I'll give Vancouver the tiebreaker here since all seven of their YGs appear in the main set.

Least Young Guns RCs: Avalanche (1). But it's a good one - Mikko Rantanen, one of the NHL's top ten scorers. 

Stars/Fan Favorites in this set: Connor McDavid, Mikko Rantanen, Kevin Fiala, Connor Hellebuyck, Artemi Panarin, Nikolaj Ehlers, Dylan Larkin, Jack Eichel, Juuse Saros, Jaccob Slavin, Shea Theodore. Then-Penguins goalie Matt Murray was the hot card to chase in Update after backstopping Pittsburgh to a Stanley Cup victory. (Yes, I said after.)

Who's that guy? So you're chasing the McDavid rookie. You buy a hobby box or a couple blasters, you see a Young Gun peeking out of the pack and you get excited for a split-second until you reach the middle of the pack to reveal one of these legends: Sergei Plotnikov (45 NHL games) Emile Poirier (8 NHL games), Henrik Samuelsson (3 NHL games), Stanislav Galiev (26 NHL games), Ronalds Kenins (38 NHL games), Antoine Bibeau (4 NHL games), Matt O'Connor (one NHL game). Or, you pull a Young Gun.. it's an Oiler.. but it's this guy instead. Ouch.

Tl; dr: This was the ultimate all-or-nothing Upper Deck set.

Forgetting someone? Conor Sheary trails McDavid by about 40 NHL games played (and one 'n' in his name.) The current Capital and former Penguin appeared on just one 2015-16 single - a card he had to share with the Rangers' Ryan Bourque. His first solo NHL card was in a special Stanley Cup Champions boxed set.

 

2016-17 Upper Deck
base set: 530 cards
Young Guns: 110 cards

Once again the big prize in Series One is a generational talent drafted first overall by a Canadian team. Once again Upper Deck added 30 cards to their flagship set and inserted them into packs of SP Authentic. Once again that set was released after the season, and the prize YG in Update was a Penguins prospect who had a postseason coming-out party culminating in a Stanley Cup victory.

This was the first time I didn't attempt to complete an Upper Deck flagship set - because there were just too many Toronto rookies and I didn't have the budget to compete with Leafs nation.

Most Young Guns RCs: Maple Leafs (11), breaking the previous record of 10 set by the Devils in 2010-11.

Least Young Guns RCs: Blues (0). They didn't even get one in Update. 

Stars/Fan Favorites in this set: Auston Matthews, Brayden Point, Sebastian Aho, Kyle Connor, Matthew Tkachuk, Mikhail Sergachev, William Nylander, Patrik Laine, Mathew Barzal, Mitch Marner, Tyler Bertuzzi, Thatcher Demko, Timo Meier, Thomas Chabot, Jake Guentzel

Who's that guy? I'm a Devils fan and even I don't remember Yohann Auvitu - who played 58 NHL games over two seasons. Mark McNeil, Casey Nelson, and Rob O'Gara aren't ringing a bell, either. By the way, I'm only looking at main set YG's for "who's that guy?", not Update subjects.

Forgetting someone? I suppose Upper Deck could have tossed out one of those Maple Leafs in favor of Bruins defenseman Matt Grzelcyk, but I can understand the omission. Less excusable is the exclusion of Blake Coleman, who debuted with the Devils in January of 2017 and wasn't even included in Update.

2017-18 Upper Deck
base set: 520 cards
Young Guns: 112 cards

The Vegas Golden Knights officially began play as the NHL's 31st franchise in 2017. Their first four flagship singles included photos of players debuting on stage as they were selected in the Expansion draft: Marc-Andre Fleury, Jason Garrison, and Brayden McNabb.

One minor change to Upper Deck's set composition saw the Update extension shrink to 20 cards - with a larger portion of that block reserved for Young Guns rookies.

Most Young Guns RCs: Hurricanes (8)

Least Young Guns RCs: Oilers, Wild, Lightning, Canucks (1)

Stars/Fan Favorites in this set: Nico Hischier, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Alex DeBrincat, Tage Thompson, Charlie McAvoy, Brock Boeser, Jesper Bratt, Clayton Keller, Ville Husso, Martin Necas. Goalies Casey DeSmith and Alexandar Georgiev are the standouts from the Update extension.

Not a strong group, especially compared to prior seasons. However there's still time for this class to break through. Most of these players are under 25 today.

Who's that guy? It's probably safe to add Henrik Haapala, Kalle Kossila, Robbie Russo, Jack Rodewald, Danick Martel, and Nicolas Kerdiles to the list of obscure non-prospects. All of these players are at least 28 years old and haven't seen NHL action since 2019.

Forgetting someone? Neal Pionk debuted for the Rangers a few days before Georgiev, but he would have to wait until 2018-19 for his Young Guns rookie card. David Rittich played one game in goal for the Calgary Flames at the end of the 2016-17 season, but (plot twist) didn't get a Young Guns card, and (plot twist) is still active in the NHL.

Who's that guy and forgetting someone? The Golden Knights imported Vadim Shipachyov from the KHL to much fanfare, as he was considered the best player not playing in North America. However the Knights were surprisingly successful in their first season (to say the least) and had no room on their roster for the Russian forward. Upper Deck may have been saving him for Series Two but relegated him to the Canvas insert set once it was clear he wouldn't stay with the expansion squad.

2018-19 Upper Deck
base set: 529 cards
Young Guns: 108 cards

Upper Deck still can't stick to one set size. This year's Update extension included 29 cards instead of 30 and just 8 Young Guns instead of 10. Also, UD took a page from the Topps playbook with base card photo variations.

Most Young Guns RCs: Blackhawks (8). Collin Delia's inclusion in Update broke Chicago's tie with the Red Wings.

Least Young Guns RCs: The Coyotes, Avalanche, Blue Jackets, Predators, and Islanders all had one YG apiece.

Stars/Fan Favorites in this set: Rasmus Dahlin, Roope Hintz, Neal Pionk, Filip Hronek, Troy Terry, Jordan Kyrou, Miro Heiskanen, Elias Pettersson, Andrei Svechnikov, Ilya Samsonov, Robert Thomas, Drake Batherson, Carter Hart, Brady Tkachuk

Who's that guy? Luke Johnson, Cooper Marody, Victor Ejdsell, Libor Sulak, Mikhail Vorobyev, Igor Ozhiganov, and Alexandre Fortin have probably missed their chance to stick with an NHL team. That said, I won't close the door on any prospect from here forward so this will be the last edition of "who's that guy?"

Forgetting someone? Ryan Graves made his NHL debut for Colorado right after Christmas of 2018, yet he was left out of every 2018-19 Upper Deck product except the aptly-named Compendium - a monstrous 900-card set available only through the ePack program. Devon Toews debuted for the Islanders right before Christmas, and totaled 18 points in 48 games as a rookie blueliner in '18-19. He was included in SP Authentic and Ice but not flagship Upper Deck.

Forgetting someone? (Part two) Coyotes wingers Michael Bunting and Conor Garland debuted within days of each other in December 2018. Garland was included in SP Authentic and Ice but not flagship or UD Update. Bunting, a Calder finalist in 2022, got his Young Gun in Update.. 2020-21 Update.

2019-20 Upper Deck
base set: 542 cards
Young Guns: 112 cards

The initial hype of the Hughes brothers, who bookend the Young Guns subset in Series One, has been surpassed by Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar - who has already won the Calder trophy, Norris trophy, Conn Smythe trophy, and a Stanley Cup.

Most Young Guns RCs: Senators (8)

Least Young Guns RCs: Flames (0)

Stars/Fan Favorites in this set: Jack Hughes, Victor Olofsson, Ilya Mikheyev, Carter Verhaeghe, Adam Fox, Dominik Kubalik, Quinn Hughes, Kirby Dach, Nick Suzuki, Noah Dobson, Cale Makar. Vezina trophy winner Igor Shesterkin's Young Guns RC is the most sought-after single in any Upper Deck Update edition.

Who's that guy? Okay, I lied. But there's no way that David Ayres will return to the NHL. How can I be so sure? Because the Canes called on him as an emergency backup goalie when he was 42 years old. He's now a coach in Canadian Junior hockey. Now I can close the door on this topic.

Forgetting someone? I don't see any obvious omissions, and it's too soon to say if any player who wasn't included in the set will emerge as a star. We can wrap up this topic, too.

2020-21 Upper Deck
base set: 730 cards
Young Guns: 130 cards

The Covid-19 pandemic abruptly halted the 2019-20 NHL season after roughly 70 games. A 56-game schedule inside the "bubble" sites of Toronto and Edmonton, constituted the 2020-21 season.

Instead of a small block of Update singles inserted in SP Authentic, Upper Deck released a de facto Series Three as its own product. This resulted in the largest flagship set ever, surpassing the 1991-92 edition. Too bad the base card design is so unremarkable.

Most Young Guns RCs: Blackhawks (10)

Least Young Guns RCs: Bruins, Wild, Lightning (1)

Young Stars/Top Prospects in this set: Alexis Lafreniere, Bowen Byram, Josh Norris, Vitek Vanecek, Gabe Vilardi, Jason Robertson, Jake Oettinger, Kirill Kaprizov, Mason Marchment, Ilya Sorokin, K'Andre Miller, Tim Stutzle, Yegor Sharangovich, Brandon Hagel, Dylan Cozens, Stuart Skinner, Michael Bunting

2020 1st overall pick Alexis Lafreniere debuted on opening night of the season and led off the Young Guns block as card #201 in Series One. Nothing unusual about that. However, "Laffy" became the first player since Jared Aulin to receive a Young Guns card before skating in an NHL game. This one was approved by the NHLPA.

2021-22 Upper Deck
base set: 750 cards
Young Guns: 150 cards

Moar kardzz!! Upper Deck outdid themselves with an even bigger base set and a record-breaking amount of rookies. However, due to supply chain issues or so they claimed Series One was not released until the 2021-22 NHL season was nearly over. Collectors would have to wait until Series Two (released the same day as Game 1 of the Stanley Cup final) for the first cards of the expansion Seattle Kraken. Because.. supply chain issues.

Most Young Guns RCs: Sharks (9)

Least Young Guns RCs: Kraken (0) Seattle fans would have to wait until 2022-23 for their first Young Gun..

Top Prospects in this set: Cole Caufield, Jamie Drysdale, Logan Thompson, Spencer Knight, Ross Colton, Filip Gustavsson, Jeremy Swayman, Trevor Zegras, Cam York, Mason McTavish, Dawson Mercer, Alex Newhook, Lucas Raymond, Cole Perfetti, Moritz Seider, Anton Lundell, J.J. Peterka, Sean Durzi, and Seth Jarvis have all shown the potential to become future stars.

It's too soon to count out other prospects in this set, such as Joe Veleno, Shane Pinto, William Eklund, Vasily Podkolzin, Quintin Byfield, and Cole Sillinger. 

2022-23 Upper Deck
base set: 250 cards (so far)
Young Guns: 50 cards (so far)

It's been a long journey but we've arrived at the current edition of Upper Deck hockey. Series One was released in November, Series Two is scheduled for February, and there will presumably be an Extended Series release in early summer.

Series One has yielded the first Seattle Kraken Young Guns rookie card, though the coveted leadoff spot isn't Matty Beniers but Matt Boldy - who made his debut in January of last season. The Wild's second-year star joins Jack Quinn, Erik Kallgren, Kent Johnson, Matias Maccelli, Pyotr Kochetkov, Bobby Brink, Marco Rossi, Mads Sogaard, Noah Cates, and 2021 1st overall pick Owen Power as the early headliners in this year's set.

Who can we expect to see in Series Two's Young Guns block? Fifty-one prospects have already debuted this season, and (assuming card #500 is a checklist) all but two could fit in the set. You'll certainly see #1 overall pick Juraj Slafkovsky, #4 overall pick Shane Wright, and KHL import Andrei Kuzmenko, who leads all first-year players in scoring. Based on this sell sheet, Dylan Holloway will appear in the Series Two set (in Canvas at the very least.)

 

Elmer Soderblom, Jake Sanderson, Dylan Guenther, and Arber Xhekaj will likely appear as well. Any other players who debut this season will have to wait for Update.

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This has been a labour of love and I enjoy doing these types of research projects even if they don't receive a lot of comments. I'm not sure if anyone read all four parts of this series but if you did, I truly appreciate it. If you're not a hockey card collector, I hope it held your interest and properly explained what makes Upper Deck Young Guns rookie cards so unique and popular in the hobby. If you are a hockey card collector, I'd be thrilled to hear about your favorite Upper Deck sets or Young Guns RCs.


Thanks for reading, and Happy New Year!!

 

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