Straight Shooters

UPPER DECK’S YOUNG GUNS SUBSET IS THE HOBBY’S GO-TO FOR KEY RCS. HERE, 30 YEARS AFTER THEIR DEBUT, WE LOOK AT THE 100 MOST IMPORTANT CARDS TO EARN THE YG TAG.

1 2005-06 UD #201 SIDNEY CROSBY

It’s no exaggeration to say this card saved the hobby. Demand for hockey cards was at an all-time low in the wake of the cancelled season, but the anticipation for this single drove collectors back to the shops. Sid’s fully lived up to those early expectations, earning three Stanley Cups, two Olympic golds, two Hart trophies, and two scoring titles, while etching his name among the five greatest players of all-time.

5 2005-06 UD #443 ALEX OVECHKIN

UD wisely held this single for Series 2, ensuring the momentum built by Crosby’s RC in Series 1 would keep on rolling. With three MVPs, a Stanley Cup, eight Rocket Richards and a shot at Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goal record, Ovechkin will be remembered as perhaps the greatest sniper of all time.

2 1990-91 UD FRENCH #525 SERGEI FEDOROV

If you weren’t there, you wouldn’t believe it. Prices on this card leapt by the hour at shows as investors hoarded it like Microsoft stock. It stands as one of the most important singles in hockey history and one of the key drivers behind the hobby explosion in 1990-91.

6 1990-91 UD FRENCH #526 PAVEL BURE

Bure’s Young Guns card pre-dated his NHL debut by a full season (back when that was permissible), but the hype for this single was such that there were stories of a count lot being traded for a late-model sports car in Vancouver.

3 2015-16 UD #201 CONNOR MCDAVID

The demand for this single is nothing short of stunning. This YG has been graded more often than any other by BGS, making raw copies almost impossible to acquire. He’s quickly lived up to the hype by winning two scoring titles and a Hart trophy.

7 2007-08 UD #227 CAREY PRICE

Powered by the voracious Montreal market, this card has been liquid for more than a decade. The fifth pick in the 2005 Draft has exceeded all expectations. On March 12, 2019, he passed Jacques Plante to become Montreal’s all-time wins leader with his 315th career victory.

4 2004-05 UD #194 HOBEY BAKER

With the NHL in a lockout and just two modern rookies available for the set, UD got creative and included this Young Guns Legend card of Baker, one of the most significant figures in American hockey history. It was Baker’s first card in a licensed issue, and deserves an RC tag.

8 2003-04 UD #234 MARC-ANDRE FLEURY

A huge personality who is beloved in Pittsburgh (where he won two Cups) and Las Vegas (where he took an expansion team to the Final). By the end of this season, Fleury could crash into the top-five on the NHL’s all-time wins list.

9 2004-05 UD #199 CAMMI GRANATO

Granato is a Hockey Hall of Famer, an Olympic gold medalist and the all-time leader in American women’s history with 343 points in just 205 games. She’s also the only woman to earn a Young Guns card.

13 2014-15 UD #223 LEON DRAISAITL

With one 50-goal season already in his pocket, the versatile German forward is an all-situations game changer who is firmly established as one of the five best forwards in the game.

17 2018-19 UD #248 ELIAS PETTERSSON

The breakout star of the 2018-19 hobby season rejuvenated the fan base in Vancouver and earned comparisons to Wayne Gretzky... from The Great One himself. And he’s just getting started.

10 2013-14 UD #238 NATHAN MACKINNON

Mac was a surprise pick at No. 1 in the 2013 Draft, but he’s proven to be a wise choice. And with the young Avs trending upwards, this card has tremendous growth potential.

14 2002-03 UD #232 RICK NASH

The hobby was in the doldrums back in 2002-03, and was in desperate need of a kickstart. Nash, the top pick in the 2002 Draft, earned the Calder and a share of the Rocket Richard in consecutive seasons to give collectors the boost they needed.

18 2016-17 UD #468 MITCH MARNER

After leading the Maple Leafs in scoring each of the past two seasons, this slick winger is arguably the most popular player in the hobby’s hottest market. This card is loaded for takeoff.

11 2016-17 UD #201 AUSTON MATTHEWS

The biggest star in the hobby’s biggest market, Matthews is on the verge of realizing his full potential as one of the game’s elite snipers in 2019-20.

15 2014-15 UD #469 JORDAN BINNINGTON

Here’s proof that you should always hang on to your Young Guns, even when they’re not hot out of the gate. Binnington was a hobby ghost for nearly four years until a midseason call-up led to one of the unlikeliest Stanley Cup (and hobby) runs in recent memory.

19 2010-11 UD #211 JEFF SKINNER

Skinner-mania has subsided, but there’s no denying the impact of this card on the 2010-11 hobby season when this fresh-faced kid was hockey’s answer to Justin Bieber.

12 2007-08 UD #210 PATRICK KANE

Kane’s key RC stormed to the top of the Hot List upon release and remained there for most of the year as he brashly authored a Calder trophy-winning campaign.

16 2006-07 UD #486 EVGENI MALKIN

Unfairly cast as Robin to Crosby’s Batman, Malkin has won one Hart, two scoring titles and three Cups. During his peak, this card spent months atop the Hot List.

20 2005-06 UD #216 HENRIK LUNDQVIST

His early success (30 wins as a rookie) was a critical hobby driver in the wake of the 2004-05 season cancelation. With his career now winding down, he’s on track to pick up 500 victories.

21 2010-11 UD #231 P.K. SUBBAN

Few live life as large, or as generous, as Pernell Karl, a fact that broadens his appeal well beyond the hobby into the community-at-large.

26 2016-17 #458 MATHEW BARZAL

After sliding in the 2015 draft, Barzal quickly proved his doubters wrong. His nightly highlight reel appearances earned him an immediate national following.

31 2002-03 UD #436 RYAN MILLER

For a time, Miller was arguably the best goalie in the world. He won the MVP of the 2010 Olympics despite playing on the losing American squad and later set the all-time U.S. wins record with 378.

36 2015-16 UD #451 JACK EICHEL

He wasn’t the player Buffalo wanted, but he’s the one they needed. The consolation prize of the 2015 Draft is an elite playmaker whose emerging scoring touch continues to win over collectors.

22 2001-02 UD #211 ILYA KOVALCHUK

This was a massive seller in the early going as Kovalchuk lived up to his billing as the top pick in the 2001 Draft by averaging 42 goals over his first seven NHL seasons.

27 2013-14 UD #483 NIKITA KUCHEROV

His stunning 2018-19 season –a runaway scoring title and Hart trophy – brought this previously dormant YG out of the dark. A Cup run could put it over the top.

32 2014-15 UD #495 DAVID PASTRNAK

Though relatively quiet out of the box, Pasta has since developed into an unstoppable sniper. Over the past four years, he’s scored more goals than all but Ovechkin, Kucherov and Matthews.

37 2014-15 UD #211 JOHNNY GAUDREAU

He’s one of the most electrifying players in the game today, bending time and space in a way few players can. He’s the NHL’s sixth-leading scorer since entering the league.

23 2016-17 UD #451 PATRIK LAINE

The rookie sniper already had three hat tricks to his credit before this card finally debuted in Series 2 packs, ensuring hockey shops were packed with collectors looking to grab The Next Big Thing.

28 2019-20 UD #201 JACK HUGHES

Forget the slow start: Hughes is poised to produce points in bulk. Check back with us in a couple years on this ranking. Superstardom is only a matter of time.

33 2008-09 UD #248 STEVEN STAMKOS

Stamkos has lived up to his firstoverall selection in 2008, winning two Rocket Richards and tallying the most points of any player born in the 1990s.

38 2009-10 UD #236 JOHN SCOTT

This card was ignored for years until an All-Star Game write-in campaign made him the most talked-about player in hockey. That he ended up winning a spot, scoring two goals in the semis, and was named MVP of the event secured his spot in the hobby as the Everyman.

24 2000-01 UD #229 MARIAN GABORIK

The first pick in Wild franchise history (and the third pick in the 2000 Draft) jumped directly into the NHL, giving Minnesota’s NHL-starved collectors a thrilling sniper to idolize.

29 2009-10 UD #201 JOHN TAVARES

First-overall picks are always hot out of the box, but this single gained greater currency after JT signed with his hometown Toronto Maple Leafs in 2018.

34 2001-02 UD #181 DAN SNYDER

Snyder’s death in a 2003 automobile accident brought this card to the forefront as collectors struggled to process the tragedy.

39 2010-11 UD #456 TYLER SEGUIN

A Stanley Cup in his rookie season elevated Seguin’s hobby popularity. A 2013 trade to Dallas dampened it a bit, but he’s still a dynamic player capable of taking over a game at any moment.

25 2005-06 UD #229 CAM WARD

Ward rode a hobby tsunami after becoming the first rookie goaltender to lead his team to a Stanley Cup since Patrick Roy in 1986.

30 2010-11 UD #219 TAYLOR HALL

He has a Hart in his trophy case, but he’s always on the shelf come playoff time. A vigorous spring run would do wonders for this single.

35 2001-02 UD #422 PAVEL DATSYUK

The Magic Man was one of the most widely respected players in the game throughout his career, and a human highlight reel to boot.

40 2000-01 UD #198 DANY HEATLEY

A massive draw that helped return Young Guns to prominence, but Heatley ultimately scuttled his popularity with trade demands and a driving accident that led to the death of teammate Snyder.

41 2016-17 #210 SEBASTIAN AHO

Aho’s breakout 2018-19 season (30-53-83) planted this card on the Hot List for much of the past year.

46 2015-16 UD #206 MIKKO RANTANEN

Big Moose is a key to one of the best lines in hockey, if not the very best, and with the Avs well positioned as one of the league’s elite teams for years to come, this card has massive potential.

51 2003-04 UD #204 PATRICE BERGERON

Arguably the greatest center in franchise history, Bergeron has been a Selke finalist each of the past eight years, winning a recordtying four times.

56 2006-07 UD #204 PHIL KESSEL

Underwhelming personality aside, Kessel has always been electric on the ice – ensuring new fans would pursue this card at each new NHL stop.

42 2018-19 UD #201 RASMUS DAHLIN

It’s rare that the hobby embraces defensemen, but Dahlin’s offensive tools made him a golden pull last season.

47 2003-04 UD #221 BRENT BURNS

One of the biggest personalities the game has ever seen cemented his elite hobby status with a Norris trophy in 2017.

52 2006-07 UD #248 LUC BOURDON

Great things were expected of the 10th pick in the 2005 Draft before a tragic motorcycle accident cut his life short, giving this RC special poignance.

57 2009-10 UD #203 MATT DUCHENE

Bouncing around the past couple years has hurt his hobby standing, but as his quick start in Nashville illustrates, Duchene remains one of the most effective and exciting players in the game.

43 2014-15 UD #478 ANDREI VASILIVESKIY

That 2018 Vezina Trophy hints at what’s to come. Vasi is the perfect mix of size, technique and temperament, making him the best goalie in the game today.

48 2015-16 UD #221 ARTEMI PANARIN

Dynamic winger continues to build upon his rookie season success. Playing on Broadway should enhance his hobby standing further, even if the playoffs are a few years away.

53 2009-10 UD #499 BRADEN HOLTBY

Holtby has always had his fans, but get ready for a surge in hobby popularity when he becomes the Marc-Andre Fleury of Seattle.

58 2016-17 UD #205 BRAYDEN POINT

The breakthrough star of 201819 with 41 goals and 92 points is well situated to become one of the NHL’s most dangerous snipers. This could be a big season for his YG RC.

44 2002-03 UD #429 TIM THOMAS

There was a stretch when Thomas’s play measured up well against the very best netminders of all-time. This card was gold during Boston’s 2011 run to the Stanley Cup.

49 2018-19 UD #491 CARTER HART

A highly decorated junior career had collectors eagerly anticipating this single. Hart is ready to be the No. 1 starter in Philly.

54 2004-05 UD #183 WAYNE GRETZKY

The Great One was born too early to earn a Young Guns RC but was the key pull when UD turned to veterans to fill out the subset during the lost 2004-05 season.

59 2007-08 UD #456 TUUKKA RASK

The 2014 Vezina winner has led the Bruins to the Final twice and ranks as one of the top goalies of his generation.

45 2002-03 UD #234 HENRIK ZETTERBERG

As close to perfect as a hockey player could get, Zetterberg earned the 2008 Conn Smythe on the way to becoming a local legend in Detroit.

50 2007-08 #462 JONATHAN TOEWS

Toews registered a point in each of his first 10 games – the secondlongest streak to start a career – and hasn’t looked back. He’s the very definition of winner.

55 2017-18 UD #221 ALEX DEBRINCAT

It’s one thing to put up numbers, but it’s hobby catnip to do it with style. Few forwards are as flashy as the undersized DeBrincat.

60 2009-10 UD #210 ERIK KARLSSON

Two-time Norris winner won over collectors with his offensive game. He has more assists than any other defenseman over the past five seasons.