23-24 Upper Deck Series 2 Hockey Brings Connor Bedard To The Main Stage

This is it, hockey card collectors. The day you’ve been waiting for is almost here! Connor Bedard’s Young Guns rookie has arrived with the madly anticipated release of 2023-24 Upper Deck Series 2 Hockey! Yes, the hottest NHL rookie since Auston Matthews has been lighting up the league and now his Young Guns card is here to light up your collection. But there’s a lot more to this set than just the hotshot kid from North Vancouver, so strap yourselves in as we go over all the details.

The general make-up of Series 2 will be familiar to longtime collectors of NHL trading cards. There is a 250 base card checklist, which includes two checklist cards. These cards will continue the set begun in 23-24 Upper Deck Series 1 Hockey, adding more superstars from each team’s line-up. The usual parallels, as well as the new ones introduced in 23-24 Series 1, are here with the following pull rates:

• Outburst (1:15)
• Clear Cut (1:48 hobby packs)
• Deluxe (x/250)
• Exclusives (x/100)
• Outburst Red (x/25)
• High Gloss (x/10)
• Outburst Gold (1/1)

Young Guns

Young Guns rookie are, without a doubt, what the hockey card market will care about most this year. Already the main feature of Upper Deck’s flagship sets, interest in Young Guns rookie cards will hit astronomical levels thanks to the likely inclusion of Connor Bedard in the Series 2 crop. Of course, there are more Young Guns cards to find than just Bedard’s. Forty-nine in total, to be exact (plus a Young Guns checklist card). And there’s more than just one kind of Bedard card to chase, as the Young Guns cards come in the same parallel versions as the base cards, albeit with slightly different odds:

• Outburst (1:60)
• Clear Cut (1:144 hobby packs)
• Deluxe (x/250)
• Exclusives (x/100)
• Outburst Red (x/25)
• High Gloss (x/10)
• Outburst Gold (1/1)

Whoever finds that 1/1 Outburst Gold Connor Bedard card will be a lucky, lucky collector!

Returning Inserts

Inserts are the other draw for Series 2, and this year’s edition has a fun mix of both old favourites and new designs to hunt for.

UD Canvas, a staple for the flagship sets, returns to showcase players of all types. The base cards feature NHL stars, the Young Guns introduce more of this season’s rookies, the Retired set celebrates NHL alumni, and the Program of Excellence honours players who suited up for Team Canada in the past. There are also autographed hockey cards called UD Canvas Signatures to look for, but these are quite difficult to find. The odds breakdown for UD Canvas is as follows:

• Base 1:4; Black & White parallel (1:48)
• Young Guns (1:24); B&W (1:216)
• Retired (1:96); B&W (1:864)
• Program of Excellence (1:96); B&W (1:964)
• Printing Plates (1/1)

UD Portraits also returns with this season’s hilarious medieval design. Continuing the gag from Series 1, this expansion will feature thirty more NHL stars in renaissance garb. Base versions can be found one per seven packs, while the hobby-exclusive parallels include Silver Frame (x/99), Red Frame (x/25), and one-of-one printing plates.

Dazzlers continues from Series 1 with its colourful array of parallels which can be found exclusive to different Series 2 products. Blue can be found one per twelve packs. 

Also continuing from Series 1 is Honor Roll, which features NHL superstars and can be found one in every three packs.

Day With The Cup (1:2000) continues to be a tough pull in Series 2 as it shows off last season’s Stanley Cup Winners, the Vegas Golden Knights.

The graded card-inspired Population Count set is printed on acetate stock (to mimic the sealed one-touch feel) and comes in seven tiers of rarity, with 1000 at the most.

The bright Fluorescence cards have become Series 2 regulars over the past few years and put the spotlight on the top rookies of the season. While it’s not confirmed yet, one would think Connor Bedard is included in this set. And there are plenty of colours to look for:

• Red (1:36 hobby packs)
• Gold (x/150)
• Blue (x/50)
• Pink (x/15)
• Green (x/5)

Highlighters are a similarly colourful set, only this time it’s about showing off the league’s top stars. 

• Yellow (1:96)
• Orange (1:288)
• Pink (1:1,536)
• Green (1:4,608)

New Inserts

We’re not done with inserts yet because Series 2 is loaded with new ones to look for with plenty of fun designs. 

Image via Beckett.com

For example, Deep Roots (1:4) presents key players with a forest and tree root design.

Director of Boards (1:8) shares the spotlight with the NHL’s tough guys and bruisers.

The top players from every NHL team are showcased in PC’s (1:4), inspired by the player-driven collections that hockey card collectors tend to build.

Image via Beckett.com

Ecliptic (1:6) is a flashy new design that shows players in mid-shot. Parallels include Sparkle (1:30) and Gold Sparkle (1:720).

Glaring (1:67) provides close ups of players with their ever-serious expressions, while Instinctive (1:4) gives goalies some love. 

Image via Beckett.com

Finally, Monster Season (1:15) is all about Connor McDavid and his 2022-23 Hart Memorial Trophy year. There’s one card for every game he played last season, so 82 in total. There are Gold Parallels to look for, and the numbering (x/153) is a nod to his point total last year.

In Conclusion

A 2023-24 Upper Deck Series 2 Hockey hobby box has the same new format as its 23-24 Series 1 counterpart. There are 12 cards per pack, 12 packs per hobby box, and 12 boxes per case. In an average hobby box, you can expect the find the following:

• 6 Young Guns
• 4 UD Canvas
• 1 Base Outburst Parallel
• 1 Base Clear Cut, UD Canvase Black & White, or Fluorescence Red Parallel
• 6 Honor Roll and/or UD Portraits
• 3 Deep Roots
• 1 Monster Season or Glaring
• 1 Blue Dazzlers
• 10 Additional Inserts (Director of Boards, Ecliptic, Instinctive, and/or PC’s)
• 2 Sparkle Insert Parallels (Director of Boards, Ecliptic, Instinctive, and/or PC’s)
• 1 random insert

We don’t deny that this is the Connor Bedard set. His Young Guns rookie card is expected to become one of the most valuable hockey trading cards of the past decade. It’s the main reason any hockey fan is going to be pounding on the doors of their local hobby shop to get one. But as you can see, there’s plenty of other hockey goodness to be found in each box! Upper Deck has made this a special release and it will be exciting to see what collectors start to uncover once we reach February 28, 2024.

Besides Connor Bedard’s Young Guns card, what cards are you most excited about? Let us know in the comments and, as always, thanks for reading!