Jordan Staal

This is the first in many Jordan Staal autos I obtained while Gronk still played for the Pens.  I pulled this out of a pack of Artifacts while opening it at a card shop.  I remember how stoked I was to get it because, at the time, I had seriously considered starting a Staal collection.  Plus, as anyone who opens Artifacts knows, autos aren't the easiest to pull.

At any rate, I don't think Jordan Staal needs an lengthy discussion of his accomplishments like I normally do with these posts because most hockey fans are aware of his larger than life on ice presence, his virtually unmatched penalty killing abilities, or his sniper-like scoring talent.  Everyone is also aware that his three other brothers are also in the NHL, two of which play with him on Carolina.

I was a little disappointed when the Pens traded him back in June of 2012.  Missing his talent on the penalty kill is huge and has been hard to replace.  Plus there is no one in the league with the ability to score short handed like he does.  But his injuries had begun to pile up between the foot injury (caused by PK Subban) and being hit in the hand by a puck, both of which needed surgery.

I think they payoff could be big if any of the compensation pays off.  In exchange for him, we got Brandon Sutter, who put up 19 points last season for the Pens, Brian Dumoulin, who hasn't seen ice time in the NHL yet but put up 24 points in WBS, and a draft pick which turned into Derrick Pouliot, who is a highly touted young player that will most certainly get an opportunity to make an impact in a year or so.