5 Card 09-10 OPC Premier Auto Rookie Lot /299

Here is a lot of 5 09-10 OPC Premier rookies I was able to steal online. In all they set me back less than a blaster including shipping. 

Personally, I think the 09-10 OPC Premier rookies are some of the nicest products Upper Deck has put out in the last decade but the product did have a high pack price (approaching 200 with tax) and the resale on these was always lower than I thought it should be. Rookies are swatched up and numbered to 299 and in most cases feature a nice gold auto. I did however see silver autos on occasion which I don't think are intentionally short printed or anything like that. It is worth pointing out I have seen Leino autos with gold marker so it isn't like his are all silver either. 

I also want to point out when I first saw the 11-12 Panini Prime Rookies I immediately thought of this particular release.

09-10 OPC Premier Ville Leino Rookie /299

The least significant of my 5 rookies is Ville. I am not sure what his signature actually is; but it sort of reminds me of a nice cursive "y". Ville cashed in on an amazing post-season with the Flyers and really hasn't done much since. If he is hoping to remain in the NHL he better step up his game soon.

09-10 OPC Premier Viktor Stalberg Rookie /299

 Unlike some Leafs prospects, he hasn't exactly burned up the NHL after leaving the Buds which is good for Toronto and bad for Viktor. However, he did post 22 goals in his last full NHL season and he just got his first Cup ring which is pretty stellar. Is he a 20 goal guy? This season should show us if that is true or not.


09-10 OPC Premier Michal Neuvirth Rookie /299

What a nice signature! Name and number all present and very elegant looking. Michal unfortunately has been bit of a slide since his 10-11 NHL season where he was the number 1 guy in Washington. Hard to say if he will get back his job from Holtby, but a fresh start could jump start his career once again.

09-10 OPC Premier Tyler Myers Rookie /299

 This former Calder Trophy winner was also in my lot. This card was one major reason I bid on the lot. I had a little while back traded away my only decent Myers rookie and I felt my collection needed another one and since I didn't have his auto yet I wanted to kill two birds. A very nice card with a cool auto that links both names and number together. Tyler could be a long shot for Sochi but a great 2013-14 season could launch him into the starting 6.

09-10 OPC Premier Victor Hedman Rookie /299

The other reason for pursuing this lot was this card. A very nice two colour swatch to go along with a great on-card and number auto rookie. Victor has taken a little while to adjust to the North American game but this past year he really started to get into his own in my opinion. He nearly set career highs for goals and points despite playing only an abbreviated season. He could be a Norris contender in the next couple seasons and Tampa will definitely benefit from that.


5 cards that I am pretty happy to land for an amazing price. Some are available for trade, but I want to keep Myers and Hedman but the other three can be had, just let me know.

Hot Packs Part 2

Upper Deck's base sets are always a great value for the average collector. Their pack/box prices are always reasonable compared to some of the other products and at about 4 bucks per pack you get some nice quality cards, good photography and the young guns cards tend to hold their value especially for the stars.

Scenario 2

09-10 Upper Deck Series 1

6 packs

Total cost with shipping $22.00




First off at a cost of less than 4 dollars and each pack having a young gun I would take this deal just about any day. Of COURSE the hope with buying 09-10 Series 1 is that you get a John Tavares RC but there are some other decent prospects in the set and getting 6 for $22 could be a decent deal.


Young Gun #1 Alec Martinez




I would first of all have to say WHO? I follow hockey pretty closely, and this was not a name I was familiar with. In a system where the team is stocked with really good young talent, especially at the defense position, Alex tends to be near the bottom on the depth charts. I see Alec going between the AHL and NHL for a majority of this career. Value 2/10


Young Gun #2 Mike Santorelli



I have heard of Mike, but not much about him. Doing some research has shown me that both Mike and Mark (brothers) are in the Nashville system and Mike has had some success offensively, but difficult to tell right now what his future and his brothers has in store. I can see him making the NHL on a consistent basis, but I don't see him on the same level as Patric Hornqvist but he could find himself some third line minutes down the road again. 2 goals in 32 games doesn't usually land you on the first line. Value 3/10

Young Gun # 3 Jhonas Enroth

I remember Enroth from the World Junior Championships from a few years back. He is a pretty good goaltender stuck in a system with Ryan Miller. Millertime means little time for Enroth, but with "5-hole" Lalime as a back up, Buffalo make look to move Jhonas up sometime in the next season or so. He has starter potential and is playing well in the AHL right now. I hope he is able to find some permanent role at the NHL level because he could be star much like his fellow Swede Henrik Lundqvist. Value 5/10


Young Gun # 4 Michal Neuvirth

Well is Michal was not in Washington I would have been much more excited about pulling him. In my opinion Varlamov is the man of the future, and Neuvirth is likely a future back-up or a former Capital. Personally, I think there are a few teams that could use a young goalie like him and he does have much potential, but in Washington there seems to be a small log-jam of goalies there and his currently injury has him down at Hershey now. He does have a great deal of potential and I rate his value at 6/10.


Young Gun # 5 T.J Galiardi

Well Galiardi is making the most of his current situation. He is a young player, on a very young and rebuilding team so as he gets nearly 20 minutes a night he himself 8 goals, 16 assists in 45 games. He has a lot of the tools to be a good second line player and if he can learn to shoot more he may make a pretty decent career out of it. Hard to tell right now where he will be in 5 years, but he is only 21 and has found himself playing full time on a team that will be really good in the coming years. Value 6/10



Young Gun # 6 Tyler Myers

I saved him for last for obvious reasons. Tyler Myers is a monster player with what seems to be never-ending potential. He is a 20 year old who plays like he is 30 and really in my opinion defensively reminds me of Marc Staal, but offers the offensive potential of a Chris Pronger. He is huge, intelligent and seems to be a real team player. Right now he is the leading candidate for the Calder Trophy but it is a very tight race and offense usually trumps defense. I think he is the best All-Round defensemen to debut in the NHL since Dion Phaneuf. I think as time goes by and he bulks up a little bit he could fashion himself a spectacular career. Value 8/10

So in all for $22 I got one really good rookie. If I had pulled a Tavares, that would have been a huge success and made this unquestionably a 10/10 but, no Tavares, Duchene, Kane, Hedman or van Riemsdyk. Myers was a quality pull and some of the other rookies do offer some potential. I wouldn't call this a bust, with plenty of sub-par rookies in the set I could have easily pulled 6 Jay Rosehills so I think in all I did ok and would definitely try this deal again.

Overall Value 5/10