I actually WANT that to happen. Using old school card stock and vintage photography. Now would be the right year to do it...truly celebrate the NHL's 100th anniversary by making cards for the years and players who don't have them yet.
I actually begged Topps to resurrect the Archives brand in the NBA and make actual sets for the years they didn't produce them in the 1980s. This was around 2001/02 when I first started being active online, but they never replied. Replay (the NBA set you reference) bombed so badly that Panini actually created an apology set for the people who bought it. I didn't...just to get the set represented in my collection I bought the cheapest card available on COMC.
I list the Parkhurst Missing Link set chronologically first in my listings even though it was issued in 1994. Eventually, I hope to get NHL cards that predate the 1956-57 season but I don't have any yet. It won't be first then. but it is now.
VERY slow trading due to health problems. Not transferrable so safe to trade with, just moving is painful and can't always access the cards.
Cardboard History My COMC
New Collection Website: Cardboard History Gallery (Still under construction)
Tips on how to make your scans look like the card does in hand (No more washed out, fuzzy scans!):