Hockey fans may finally be seeing some light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to the sports annual flagship product release. Upper Deck Series 1 hockey cards, and its highly collectible Young Guns rookie cards, were initially slated for a November release. That date was then pushed back to early December, followed by January, then a sliding week to week process which now has the estimated release scheduled for sometime in mid February.
Typically by this time of year, collectors would be getting ready to place their pre-orders for Series 2. However, owing to supply chain issues, and a modified NHL schedule due to COVID, the sports card giant has had difficulty pulling the set together.
Several products in the Upper Deck hockey department have also been delayed or cancelled outright. While products like the company’s collaboration with Tim Hortons have gone out as scheduled, other series like their popular Upper Deck Ice collection were scrapped for 2020-21 altogether.
Unfortunately for hockey card collectors, there isn’t much that can be done about the delays and cancellations, as the NHL re-upped their exclusive partnership with Upper Deck last year. As a result, UD has a monopoly over the hockey card industry, giving fans few, if any, alternatives.
However there is hope. Hobby website Cardboard Connection recently updated their 2021-22 UDS1 page to include the upcoming Young Guns checklist. Meaning that although the product still isn’t available to consumers, collectors at least know who will be included in the first batch of rookies:
Series 1
201 Cole Caufield – Montreal Canadiens
202 Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen – Buffalo Sabres
203 Olle Alsing – Ottawa Senators
204 Dakota Joshua – St. Louis Blues
205 Jamie Drysdale – Anaheim Ducks
206 Kyle Burroughs – Colorado Avalanche
207 Tarmo Reunanen – New York Rangers
208 Mike Hardman – Chicago Blackhawks
209 Wade Allison – Philadelphia Flyers
210 Marian Studenic – New Jersey Devils
211 Keaton Middleton – Colorado Avalanche
212 Joe Veleno – Detroit Red Wings
213 Wyatt Kalynuk – Chicago Blackhawks
214 Garrett Pilon – Washington Capitals
215 Morgan Barron – New York Rangers
216 Radim Zohorna – Pittsburgh Penguins
217 Jack Ahcan – Boston Bruins
218 Joshua Dunne – Columbus Blue Jackets
219 Logan Thompson – Vegas Golden Knights
220 Brinson Pasichnuk – San Jose Sharks
221 Arttu Ruotsalainen – Buffalo Sabres
222 Tanner Jeannot – Nashville Predators
223 Spencer Knight – Florida Panthers
224 Ross Colton – Tampa Bay Lightning
225 Filip Gustavsson – Ottawa Senators
226 Jeremy Swayman – Boston Bruins
227 Calen Addison – Minnesota Wild
228 Simon Benoit – Anaheim Ducks
229 Daniel Walcott – Tampa Bay Lightning
230 Mattias Samuelsson – Buffalo Sabres
231 Zac Jones – New York Rangers
232 Trevor Zegras – Anaheim Ducks
233 Jeffrey Viel – San Jose Sharks
234 Lane Pederson – Arizona Coyotes
235 Marc Michaelis – Vancouver Canucks
236 Tanner Laczynski – Philadelphia Flyers
237 Jeremy Davies – Nashville Predators
238 Jackson Cates – Philadelphia Flyers
239 Tyce Thompson – New Jersey Devils
240 Parker Kelly – Ottawa Senators
241 Alex Barré-Boulet – Tampa Bay Lightning
242 Rasmus Kupari – Los Angeles Kings
243 Cam York – Philadelphia Flyers
244 Matt Kiersted – Florida Panthers
245 Michael Houser – Buffalo Sabres
246 Shane Pinto – Ottawa Senators
247 Kole Lind – Vancouver Canucks
248 Jacob Bryson – Buffalo Sabres
249 Joey Keane – Carolina Hurricanes
250 Cole Caufield/Trevor Zegras CL
Although Cole Caufield has come back down to earth following his hot start with Montreal last year, he’s likely to still be a sought after name when the set finally releases. Alongside Caufield, super rookies Jamie Drysdale, Trevor Zegras, Spencer Knight, and Shane Pinto are destined to become chase cards in Series 1.
Absent from the set are Lucas Raymond, and Moritz Seider who will likely be moved over to Series 2 to add some “star power” to the eventual release.
While rumours of a February 2nd public drop seem unlikely at this point, a February 9th or 16th hobby box release could be possible timelines for hockey fans to finally update their collections.