Prospecting Blues

The hobby is a finicky thing, isn't it?

For a very long time, however, my beloved hockey was exempt from many of the annoying quirks in the hobby that plagued the other major sports.

And by quirks I mean the insane rush to one player after one or two good games. I mean this wild surge of prices on rookies who have barely even played, and worse yet, the ridiculous price of wax based solely upon the highly unlikely happening that that is the box with the 1- of- 1 everyone is seeking.

Well, that which I held so dear about the hockey hobby has flown completely out the window in the past two seasons as much-heralded rookies, namely Connor Bedard and Macklin Celebrini, both entered the league and with them came the hype train, FOMO tendencies of so many, and the utter insanity that the hobby as a whole has become with the pricing-based-on-potential mentality.

Bedard and Celebrini are both fine young players, and may in fact grow into careers that put them in the conversation for the Hall of Fame. However, Bedard, in his second NHL season is sitting at 59 points (20 goals and 39 assists) yet his Upper Deck Young Guns base rookie still fetches just over $200 a card raw. Oh, and Bedard’s plus-minus is a jaw-dropping -38 with only a handful of games left in the season.

Celebrini, this year’s top pick in the draft, has racked up 53 points, respectable for a rookie, for sure, but does it justify his base Upper Deck Young Guns rookie to hover around the $130-$150 mark in raw condition.

Meanwhile, Alex Tuch, for example, also has 59 points this season and is a +13. His base Young Guns rookie raw value — $7.

Now, I know you’re all getting bent out of shape here when I dare bring this up — I had a guy tell me the hobby is based on potential.

No — it’s not.

Sure, prospecting is fun and an integral part of the hobby — it always has been.

The problem arises, however, when the hobby becomes prospecting and pretty much nothing else.

I’ve seen this happen in baseball, but at least baseball was smart enough to separate the prospects from the pros in Bowman products, and in basketball where rookie card pricing routinely out-paces prices of established all-star players with years of outstanding play.

I’m really hoping this doesn’t happen to hockey as well.