2025–26 Upper Deck CHL Hockey: Malhotra Autos and the Outburst Rainbow

Caleb Malhotra’s Star Rookies autograph puts the Brantford Bulldogs crest almost directly above his signature. His white sweater, black shoulders and yellow trim fill the photograph; the broad silver-and-black rookie banner stays below it. There is plenty of team personality before the eye even reaches the blue ink.

That is the appeal of 2025–26 Upper Deck CHL Hockey, released July 2, 2026. Malhotra had just gone third overall to Vancouver in the 2026 NHL Draft. His junior card preserves the Brantford part of that story, with an autograph design that lets the Bulldogs uniform carry as much weight as the rookie label.

The release has a 400-card base set, a one-autograph average Hobby box and several very different ways to collect the same players. Malhotra, Chase Reid and Carson Carels connect it to the 2026 draft; Cole Beaudoin and Justin Carbonneau bring earlier first-round pedigrees. The six card images here are Upper Deck’s promotional previews.

Malhotra leads a fifty-card Star Rookies group

Malhotra is No. 352, near the start of the 50-card Star Rookies run at Nos. 351–400. The final checklist places 300 regular cards first, followed by 50 Stars and then those 50 Star Rookies. The rookie designation belongs to the CHL set; the photograph and team name document his Brantford chapter.

His autograph preview has a generous pale signing panel across the lower photograph. The blue signature is easy to pick out against the white, while the Bulldogs crest remains unobstructed above it. That arrangement gives the card two strong focal points without squeezing either into a corner.

All 50 Star Rookies have an autograph version and a Blue Auto numbered to 10. The standard autograph is unnumbered. Malhotra’s unsigned card also has Gold, Deluxe /250, UD Exclusives /100, High Gloss /10 and Outburst versions. For a collection centered on No. 352, that creates a real choice between the autograph layout and the more photograph-led unsigned parallels.

Chase Reid’s Blue Auto makes ten copies look the part

Chase Reid’s Blue Auto, No. 41, uses a particularly satisfying contrast: the bright red Soo Greyhounds sweater against a vivid blue lower panel. The signature stretches across the pale autograph area, and the /10 numbering sits clearly at the bottom left. The color change is substantial enough to read immediately.

Seattle selected Reid seventh overall in 2026, giving Kraken collectors a direct connection to this Greyhounds card. Within the CHL checklist, Reid appears in the regular base group rather than the Star Rookies section. His autograph therefore carries No. 41, while Malhotra’s carries No. 352. The subset names and card numbers matter when identifying the exact signed version.

The blue treatment works especially well here because it separates the autograph edition from the red-heavy action photograph. Reid’s pose, stick and jersey still provide the hockey; the lower blue block supplies the parallel’s identity. It is a compact, legible design for a genuinely small numbered edition.

Carels and Beaudoin show what Outburst changes

Carson Carels’s Stars Outburst, No. 332, replaces the rink with a silver radial pattern. His white Prince George Cougars sweater sits inside that burst, with the burgundy shoulders and large chest crest keeping the player distinct from the bright background. Calgary took Carels sixth overall in 2026.

Cole Beaudoin’s Red Outburst, No. 319, demonstrates how much the same treatment changes in color. The saturated red field surrounds his white Barrie Colts sweater, while the black Stars banner anchors the bottom. Beaudoin was the 24th selection in the 2024 NHL Draft, taken by Utah Hockey Club.

The Outburst ladder covers the 100 Stars and Star Rookies: unnumbered Outburst, Red /25 and Gold 1/1. Standard Outbursts average one per Hobby box. Carels supplies the clean silver example; Beaudoin shows how the red edition turns the entire background into part of the chase. Gold Outburst is the one-of-one version, distinct from the separate unnumbered Gold base parallel.

Carbonneau brings a different kind of shine

Justin Carbonneau’s Prochaine Génération Auto, PG-21, trades the base layout’s broad silver nameplate for a white line frame and a dark, speckled foilboard background. The two-line French insert title is a large graphic element in its own right. His white Armada sweater and the pale autograph panel keep the center bright.

St. Louis selected Carbonneau 19th overall in 2025. This card keeps him in Blainville-Boisbriand colors and gives his autograph a distinctly different setting from Reid’s base parallel. The Armada crest sits inside the lower frame, balancing the tall title on the left.

Prochaine Génération has 35 subjects. Its standard insert falls at 1:6 Hobby packs, while the unnumbered autograph family is 1:256. The unsigned Red and Blue versions are numbered to 199 and 25. Those rates apply to the insert families, not to Carbonneau individually.

Klepov’s Memorial Cup insert keeps the photograph in charge

Nikita Klepov’s Road to the Memorial Cup, RMC-5, uses a pale, scratched-ice background behind a large Saginaw Spirit photograph. The metallic-looking title occupies the lower part of the card, with the Kelowna 2026 tournament crest immediately above it. His navy, white and red uniform remains the strongest color in the composition.

Anaheim selected Klepov 15th overall in 2026. The 18-card Road to the Memorial Cup family falls at 1:384 Hobby packs, making it a much less frequent pull than the regular foilboard inserts. The design presents the tournament chase; it is not a championship or tournament-appearance card.

Klepov also has Star Rookies No. 369 and Prochaine Génération PG-13. That gives his Saginaw collection three distinct visual routes: the base rookie treatment, the foilboard insert and this large-photo Memorial Cup design. RMC-5 is the one for collectors who want the Spirit uniform and tournament identity to share the stage.

What a Hobby box is built to deliver

Hobby boxes contain 16 packs of six cards. Upper Deck’s average box breakdown includes one autograph, one Stars or Star Rookies Outburst, 16 Stars and/or Star Rookies, 16 Gold parallels, five numbered parallels, ratio short prints and/or printing plates, and nine inserts. These are box averages.

The regular insert selection adds more than the featured autographs and Outbursts. CHL First Draft has 15 cards at 1:13 Hobby packs; In the Crease gives 25 goalies their own set at 1:8; and Skillful Figures has 25 subjects at 1:8. Knack for the Net adds 30 cards at 1:16, with Speckled Foilboard /249, Red /99 and Blue /25 versions.

The strongest thread through this release is the combination of prominent draft names and unmistakable junior-team designs. Malhotra’s Bulldogs crest and signature make his rookie autograph an appealing centerpiece. Reid’s red-and-blue /10 takes the numbered-autograph route, while Carels’s silver Outburst puts Prince George’s colors against a much brighter stage. Each gives the player’s CHL chapter a look worth remembering.