When it was announced that the NHL was allowing Upper Deck to use players like Lafreniere in UD1, I didn't have a problem with a player of his stature being included. I think we all knew he was set to make his debut. However, I did have a problem with allowing any old player who sniffed the bubble/taxi squad to get a rookie. Since the early 90s, and really in the history of the hobby, there has been one major consistency - allowing a player to get a NHL rookie only when he dressed. The exceptions came for players who got cards early in junior or team Canada uniforms, but companies were still cautious not to use players in their NHL jerseys until they played, that is until this season.
We end the year with a whopping 20 'NHL rookie cards' of guys who have not played in the league. If anyone sees anyone I missed, please let me know. While it seems certain that some of these guys will play in the league, it seems almost as certain that some like Lukas Jasek, never will. Prior to this year, there were only about a dozen of these exceptions in the history of the hobby.
Here are the guys who really should not have an NHL rookie, but thanks to this unusual season, do. A much bigger list than I figured we'd see.
Alexander Alexeyev
Mikhail Berdin
Philip Broberg
Callum Booth
Shane Bowers
Brayden Burke
Brandon Crawley
Kodie Curran
Reid Duke
Cam Hills
Joel Hofer
Cole Hults
Jacob Ingham
Lukas Jasek
Patrick Khodorenko
Chase Priskie
Darren Raddysh
Mat Robson
Kirill Ustimenko
Hayden Verbeek
Dressed in the NHL as backups only. UD had stopped giving these guys rookies for a couple years before starting again this season.
Connor Ingram
Cam Johnson
Emil Larmi
Michael McNiven
Joseph Woll
Not sure how others feel, but I'm not a big fan of having 20 guys with NHL cards who shouldn't. I would have preferred they stuck with only the biggest names for the exceptions, and then gotten creative like 04/05 with legends and builders.
