Picture day: Capitals, Upper Deck host trading card showcase for NHL prospects

The NHL’s top young players descended on the Capitals’ Arlington training facility Wednesday morning for the league’s annual rookie showcase as players took photographs for trading cards and other promotional materials.  

Sports trading cards are now a $12 billion industry, according to the economists who track the sector.

Trading card producer Upper Deck and the NHL Players’ Association showed their commitment to the booming market by hosting the get-together, drawing 35 players from across the league.

Players posed for their first hockey cards, signed collector’s items and connected with other young stars.

“It’s great to see it coming back, I’m excited about it,” Marty Walsh, the executive director of the NHL players’ union, said of the trading card boom. “I love when I’m walking into a store and they have hockey cards on a shelf. It reminds me of when I was a kid, everyone in the neighborhood would come buy them.”

Mack Celibrini, the 18-year-old wunderkind selected by the San Jose Sharks with the top pick in June’s draft, enjoyed collecting cards as a young fan. He still has a binder full of his favorites at his parents’ home.

“I have a really cool Bobby Orr one in there,” Celebrini said.

However, the trading card market has shifted in recent years. Walsh would spend a quarter on a pack of cards. Celebrini would drop a few dollars. Now, collectors are dropping thousands of dollars on one-of-a-kind cards.

There’s currently a $1 million bounty available for a “Young Guns” rookie card of 2023 No. 1 pick Connor Bedard. Celebrini can’t imagine anyone dropping seven figures on one of his cards.

“That seems like a lot of money,” the NHL’s top prospect said.

While players live out a childhood dream by taking photos for trading cards, the rookie showcase is a valuable teaching opportunity for Walsh and the players’ union.

While they’re all together, players will learn more about how to manage their finances, how to properly file taxes and what resources are available to them. Walsh noted that the union also delivers presentations on domestic violence prevention.

The goal is to prepare players as young as 18 years old for their new normal as NHL pros.

“Some of these kids have gone through a lot in the last five months. Some have been drafted this year; some were drafted before that. They have to grow up fast,” the former U.S. Secretary of Labor said. “Their whole world is focused on hockey, then all of a sudden they have an opportunity to make a team. Their lives will change overnight. So we need to make sure we’re supporting them.”

The rookie showcase and orientation is a mix of business and pleasure for the NHL prospects. There will be packets, presentations and PowerPoints later at the rookie orientation. But on Tuesday and Wednesday, the athletes began a busy week by opening trading cards.

“(Tuesday), I opened a couple packs and I came back to [being] 5 years old. It was good. Made me feel like a 5-year-old again,” said Nikita Chibrikov, a winger for the Winnipeg Jets. The 21-year-old said he collected some hockey cards growing up, though the market was limited in his native Russia.  

Chibrikov had a hectic day — he was called into duty to translate for his fellow Russians, including Capitals prospect Ivan Miroshnichenko. Wednesday’s rookie showcase allowed them to continue building their friendship.

The connection between countrymen like Chibrikov, Miroshnichenko and Capitals legend Alex Ovechkin is invaluable for young players who are adjusting to a new league in a foreign country.

“Ovi is a big person for him, like he helps him inside and outside the rink. Like he’s a real big person for everybody,” Chibrikov said of the connection between the Russian Capitals. “But for [Miroshnichenko], Ovechkin is the legend.”

Miroshnichenko noted that he spent the offseason training in his home country, but the 20-year-old said he didn’t bulk up that much over the offseason.

“It’s the hockey pads,” he joked.

Miroshnichenko and the rest of the Capitals will open training camp in Arlington on Sept. 19. After three weeks of practice and preseason games, Washington will host its regular season opener on Oct. 12.