2026–27 MVP Hockey: Gritty, Martone and the Script Chase

Gritty has arrived with his arms spread, his eyes wide and absolutely no intention of letting the rookies have the whole show. His 2026–27 Upper Deck MVP Hockey Mascot Lenticular preview drops that glorious orange silhouette onto black waves streaked with yellow and red. Huge lettering crowds the top. A gold MVP logo sits near his knees. Subtle it is not, and that is precisely the appeal.

Around him, MVP builds a much more conventional hockey collection: a 250-card base set, Porter Martone and James Hagens rookies, Script parallels, stickers and a handful of striking numbered designs. The product was already appearing in August hobby box breaks, and Upper Deck now offers both blaster and 36-pack retail boxes. The interesting choice is which part of this particular checklist you want to chase.

Gritty leads a 15-mascot side quest

Mascot Lenticulars gives the rink's other personalities their own scarce insert set. Gritty is ML-1; Youppi!, SJ Sharkie, Wild Wing and Iceburgh are among the other names on the official checklist. The format is lenticular, adding a physical viewing effect that a flat promotional image cannot demonstrate.

Upper Deck puts the set at one in 250 Hobby packs, with the same stated ratio for e-Pack. That is the rate for a Mascot Lenticular from the set, not the odds of pulling Gritty specifically. These cards are absent from the manufacturer's retail and blaster odds. A Flyers collector who likes the big orange distraction therefore has a clear reason to distinguish Hobby from the cheaper box beside it.

Gritty's card also makes room for the whole costume: jersey, furry legs, helmet and outstretched hands. It feels like a character portrait, rather than a player-card layout with a mascot squeezed into the photograph. The loud background has finally found an appropriately loud subject.

Martone and Hagens anchor the rookie design

MVP's rookie frame is easy to recognize. ROOKIES runs vertically down the left, the player's name runs down the right, and angular silver-and-teal panels leave a large central window for the action photograph. On Porter Martone's No. 246 preview, Philadelphia orange does most of the visual work; the Flyers crest gets a second appearance in the lower corner.

James Hagens closes the rookie run at No. 249. His white Boston jersey, black-and-gold trim and low skating stance give the same frame a different feel. The photograph extends far enough to retain his gloves and stick, while the Bruins logo balances the MVP mark along the bottom. Both cards put the NHL uniform and the player ahead of the surrounding graphics.

There are 29 named base rookies, numbered 221–249. Cole Hutson is No. 238, Carter Yakemchuk No. 241, Anton Frondell No. 242 and David Reinbacher No. 248. The 250-card total consists of 200 regular cards, 20 veteran short prints, those 29 rookies and an Elvis Merzlikins checklist card at No. 250. That distinction matters when planning a complete set: the advertised 50-card high-number group is not 50 different rookies.

Makar's Super Script adds gold without losing the photograph

Cale Makar's Super Script /25 preserves the rink image and his white Colorado uniform, then works gold through the side panels, MVP logo and signature-style graphic. The blue gloves and burgundy shoulders keep the card recognizably Avalanche even as the metallic accents change its finish. The preview's vertical 01/25 numbering sits along the left edge.

The MVP parallel lineup includes Silver Script, blaster-exclusive Gold Script, Super Script /25 and Black Super Script 1/1. Gold Script and Super Script are separate versions; a gold-colored signature design alone does not identify a /25 card. These are Script parallels, which Upper Deck does not classify as autograph cards on its checklist.

For Makar, the appeal is how little the parallel disrupts an already strong hockey photograph. His face, stick and skating posture remain readable. The gold treatment adds a clearly different version of No. 195 without turning the player into a small cutout floating in an effects display.

Celebrini takes Colors & Contours in another direction

Macklin Celebrini's Colors & Contours Green /20 removes the rink setting and gives him an elaborate green backdrop, angular outlines and a large red signature-style graphic. His black San Jose uniform stands out against all that green, while the teal stripes connect the player to the surrounding color. The printed 01/20 preview number is visible at the left.

Colors & Contours has Gold /250, Green /20 and Purple /3 versions. These are Hobby and e-Pack chases. The checklist includes rookie versions as well, so Martone or Hagens collectors can pursue the more elaborate design alongside their photographic base rookies.

That is a meaningful visual fork within MVP. Makar's Super Script keeps the game around him; Celebrini's Colors & Contours uses pattern and color to isolate the player. The latter earns attention through its composition as well as its smaller serial number.

Stickers and new inserts broaden the player mix

The 100-card sticker set returns with a completely different texture in the previews. Auston Matthews appears against a fractured, multicolored foil-style field, with dark radiating lines at the edges and an enormous script Stickers title across the bottom. His white Toronto uniform gives the busy background something clean to work against.

The sticker checklist mixes established names with rookies, including Konsta Helenius, Avery Hayes and Cole Hutson. Stickers fall at one in five packs across Hobby, retail and blaster formats, giving this design a much more regular presence than the mascot chase.

New insert themes include Gotta Have Hart, Let it Rip and Paired Up. The first draws on past Hart winners and potential future contenders; the second focuses on shooters. Paired Up puts teammates together, including Connor McDavid with Leon Draisaitl and Dylan Larkin with Lucas Raymond. Those pairings offer a team-focused target beyond another single-player parallel.

Hobby, blaster and retail boxes serve different chases

Hobby boxes contain 20 packs of eight cards, or 160 cards. Upper Deck's box averages include 10 base short prints or rookies, four stickers and 10 cards from the six main insert families. The manufacturer also advertises one rare short-printed card per box on average. A Mascot Lenticular is one particular chase, not a promised box hit.

The $19.99 blaster at Upper Deck contains 10 regular seven-card packs plus a bonus pack with three Gold Script parallels. Its advertised averages include three base short prints or rookies and two stickers. That bonus pack gives the blaster its own collecting purpose: Gold Script is exclusive to this format.

The $69.99 retail box contains 36 seven-card packs, or 252 cards. It averages 12 base short prints or rookies and seven stickers. It offers more regular packs for building the photographic set, while Hobby supplies the Mascot Lenticular, Super Script and Colors & Contours chases discussed above. Box averages describe production-wide collation, not a guarantee for every box.

MVP also includes division-based rookie redemptions and a separate 2026 NHL No. 1 draft-pick SP redemption. Those are redemption cards, distinct from the 29 named rookies already in the base checklist.

For this release, the strongest reasons to look are quite specific: Martone and Hagens in a crisp rookie frame, Makar's restrained gold treatment, Celebrini's green patterned chase, and Gritty doing everything possible to steal the article's opening photograph. The mascots may be the long shot, but they give this edition of MVP a memorable personality of its own.