Sunday, August 27, 2017

Graham Black Jersey Card

We're still technically still in the midst of free agency season, but the huge July 1st fun and anticipation has long died off, despite the fact that "name" players such as Jaromir Jagr, Jarome Iginla, Shane Doan and Thomas Vanek are still available.

One player who shouldn't be in this position but seemingly failed to make an impression on his new team after a trade is 24-year-old Graham Black, who went from being a New Jersey Devils prospect after they drafted him 135th overall in 2015 to the Florida Panthers last summer (with Paul Thompson, for Marc Savard's contract and a 2018 second-rounder).

Black was a decent two-way center who posted near point-per-game statistics with the WHL's Swift Current Broncos until he exploded for 97 points as a 20-to-21-year-old in 2013-14, but he could never replicate that production in three injury-riddled seasons in the AHL, be it with the Albany Devils (14 goals, 9 assists and 23 points in 98 games) or the Springfield Thunderbirds (4-4-8 in 33 games).

Still, I'm told he's good in the face-off circle and shadows opponents' top lines very well. Here he is repesenting the WHL in the 2012 Subway Super Series, on card #SSM-29 from In The Game's 2012-13 Heroes And Prospects set and the "Black" Game-Used Jersey sub-set:
It features a huge red game-used swatch.

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