Every NHL Team's Most Likely Hockey Hall of Famer
Enshrinement in the Hockey Hall of Fame is the highest personal award to which an NHL player can aspire. It notes that player as one of the all-time greats, or at the very least as an exceptional third-liner with a lot of Cup rings.
Chris Pronger gets the title photo here because he's not an active player; though he's still under contract with the Philadelphia Flyers, his career is finished. He's a lock for the Hall, after an irritating, controversial and brilliantly successful 1,167-game career.
But which player on each of the NHL's 30 teams has the best case for eventual elevation to the Hall of Fame? The following slideshow attempts to answer that question, generally deferring to proven veterans whenever possible and identifying promising youngsters when it isn't. Read on to see which players could be bound for the Hall.
Anaheim Ducks: Corey Perry
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Credentials: Perry edges out teammate Ryan Getzlaf here because despite inferior career points totals he has some significant hardware in his cabinet. 2010-11 was a career year for Perry, who led the league in goals and won the Hart Trophy; he also secured his first of two (and counting) first-team NHL All-Star berths.
Will he make it? Perry isn't a shoo-in, but he's also only 29; he has lots of time yet to add some awards to the cupboards and rack up the point totals.
Arizona Coyotes: Oliver Ekman-Larsson
2 of 30
Credentials: Ekman-Larsson is still in the early days of his career, but the 23-year-old got some votes for both the Norris Trophy and the end-of-season All-Star team in each of the last two seasons and is still some ways from reaching his prime.
Will he make it? We're a long way from being able to answer that question. If he goes on the with his career the way he's started it, Ekman-Larsson is likely to spend the heart of his career as one of the NHL's elite defencemen.
Boston Bruins: Zdeno Chara
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Credentials: After a mediocre start, Chara has enjoyed a stunning career. The mammoth defenceman only has a single Norris Trophy win but has been named to the NHL's season-end All-Star team on seven different occasions. He captained the Boston Bruins to a Stanley Cup win in 2011 and has more than 500 points over a major-league career that has spanned 1,147 games so far.
Will he make it? Yes, he certainly will. Chara has been a dominant presence ever since the New York Islanders gave up on him at age 23.
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Buffalo Sabres: Nikita Zadorov
4 of 30
Credentials: We're 30 games into Zadorov's career, which makes it way too early to be talking about this sort of thing. But it's a good bet that none of Buffalo's veterans are slated for the Hall of Fame, so here we are.
Will he make it? There's no way of knowing. Buffalo has a ton of good young players, including guys like Rasmus Ristolainen and Sam Reinhart, and clearly the hope is that they evolve into HHOF-level players.
Calgary Flames: Sean Monahan
5 of 30
Credentials: Monahan is only 20 years old, but his game has improved by leaps and bounds over his rookie campaign. His early NHL results in combination with his draft pedigree make him an interesting player to watch.
Will he make it? It's impossible to say at this point. He just seems a better bet than any of the established veterans. That latter list includes Mark Giordano, who should get some serious Norris Trophy consideration this summer; however, at 31 years old, he is a little late in the game to start putting together the kind of awards collection that guarantees entry to the Hall.
Carolina Hurricanes: Eric Staal
6 of 30
Credentials: A lot of players collect a surprising amount of their career hardware in their early years, and the 30-year-old Staal is a good example of that; his best season came in 2005-06 when he put up 100 points, made the NHL's second All-Star team and won a Stanley Cup with the Hurricanes. Otherwise, the cupboard is pretty bare, but it's worth noting he's sitting at 700-odd points already on his career.
Will he make it? At this point, things could really go either way, and it's going to depend on how well Staal performs in his later years. A big season or two and some more hardware would help.
Chicago Blackhawks: Duncan Keith
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Credentials: The biggest point in Keith's favour is that he's won the Norris Trophy as the NHL's best defenceman twice in his career; he's only the 12th defenceman in league history to do that, and the other 11 are in the Hall of Fame. The 31-year-old also played a key role in two Cup wins (which doesn't hurt his chances even a little) and has lots of time yet to do more.
Will he make it? It's going to be pretty interesting when all is said and done to look back at how many of Chicago's current players make the Hall of Fame. Between Keith, Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Marian Hossa, the 'Hawks have at least four credible candidates.
Colorado Avalanche: Jarome Iginla
8 of 30
Credentials: A four-time NHL All-Star, Iginla has led the league in goal-scoring twice and was named the league's most valuable player by his peers in 2002. The 37-year-old has 1,188 points over a career spanning nearly two decades and is still a reasonably productive scorer.
Will he make it? This should be an easy choice for the Hall of Fame voters. Iginla has enjoyed a long and productive career and over a decade at the heart of it was consistently among the league's very best forwards.
Columbus Blue Jackets: Ryan Johansen
9 of 30
Credentials: The fourth overall pick from the 2010 draft really hit his stride last season after a problematic start to his career; he's gone even further in the early going of 2014-15 and is now scoring at nearly a point-per-game pace. The 22-year-old's case is built less on what he's done than on what he might still do.
Will he make it? It's impossible to say at the moment whether Johansen will make it, but we should also mention Sergei Bobrovsky, who at 26 has one Vezina already and is in his third consecutive year of looking like a franchise goalie.
Dallas Stars: Tyler Seguin
10 of 30
Credentials: As with Johansen, Seguin's case is more about potential than past. The 22-year-old currently leads the NHL with 25 goals and sits second with 42 points; this comes on the heels of an 84-point season that won him some Hart Trophy consideration in 2013-14. Very few players in the NHL can match his offensive talent.
Will he make it? Seguin and frequent collaborator Jamie Benn (a first-team NHL All-Star in 2013-14) are certainly off to brilliant starts to their careers, but in both cases there's a lot of road yet to travel.
Detroit Red Wings: Pavel Datsyuk
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Credentials: Datsyuk's reputation should be secure, despite somewhat modest (by Hockey Hall of Fame standards) career totals and a lack of All-Star nominations. The two-time Stanley Cup winner has three Selke trophies as the NHL's best defensive forward and four Lady Byng wins.
Will he make it? He should clear the hurdle without much trouble at all. Depending on health and how much longer he plays, he may not reach the 1,000-point mark on his career, but his prime years were exceptionally good, plus he added a lot of value beyond scoring totals.
Edmonton Oilers: Taylor Hall
12 of 30
Credentials: The 23-year-old Hall is in a similar position to fellow 2010 drafts Ryan Johansen and Tyler Seguin in that he's shown a lot in the early going but the bulk of his career still lies in front of him. Hall got serious All-Star consideration in both 2012-13 (when the Alex Ovechkin double-nomination cost him a spot) and in 2013-14.
Will he make it? He has a reasonable shot at putting together a HHOF-level career, assuming that he can stay healthy and that his team finally gets some traction.
Florida Panthers: Aaron Ekblad
13 of 30
Credentials: The first overall pick from the 2014 draft has barely even started his NHL career, though he's making a decent case for the Calder as an 18-year-old defenceman. But he gets the nod over more established players—including the exceptional Roberto Luongo, whose lack of hardware will likely mean he gets overlooked for the Hall.
Will he make it? It's ridiculous to even try and guess the answer to that question at this point. The early returns are good, for what that's worth.
Los Angeles Kings: Drew Doughty
14 of 30
Credentials: The 25-year-old Doughty is the youngest of several Kings with a shot at the Hockey Hall of Fame. The Los Angeles defender has seemingly been in the Norris conversation since his rookie year, but he has yet to win the award, mostly because he doesn't put up overly gaudy point totals. He's been the No. 1 defenceman on two championship teams, and at some point he'll start adding to his thin collection of regular-season hardware.
Will he make it? It really depends on whether he can make some All-Star teams sometime in the near future. The Hall of Fame selection committee seems to spend a lot of time looking at career awards.
Minnesota Wild: Ryan Suter
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Credentials: The 2013 Norris Trophy runner-up has finished in the top 10 in NHL All-Star voting over each of the last four years, and with 21 points in 29 games he is looking at another strong run at a spot. He's spent most of the last decade as one of the NHL's best two-way defenders.
Will he make it? The Wild have a bunch of excellent veterans who need to play five really strong years or so to have a shot at ending up in the Hall of Fame. Suter is probably the best bet of that group; as long as he's playing half of each game for Minnesota, he's going to be in the Norris discussion.
Montreal Canadiens: P.K. Subban
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Credentials: Subban is only 25 years old, so his list of credentials isn't all that long. Still, he already has one Norris Trophy under his belt and has lots of open road in front of him. The 2014 Olympian is a franchise talent.
Will he make it? It's still pretty early to say one way or the other; all we know for sure is that he's accomplished some impressive things and is trending in the right direction. Carey Price probably deserves a mention here, too; we opted for Subban because Price has yet to win his first Vezina.
Nashville Predators: Shea Weber
17 of 30
Credentials: As odd as it sounds, Weber has never won a Norris Trophy. The Nashville Predators' franchise defenceman has been an NHL All-Star three times and finished in the top eight of Norris voting in each of the last six seasons, though.
Will he make it? Defencemen are tougher to evaluate than forwards, but Weber is a good bet to make it into the Hall, particularly if he can win that elusive Norris sometime before calling it a career.
New Jersey Devils: Jaromir Jagr
18 of 30
Credentials: Jagr has led the NHL in scoring on five occasions. Three times he's been selected by his peers as the league's best player. He's an eight-time NHL All-Star. He currently sits fifth all-time in NHL scoring and has a good chance of claiming the fourth spot from Ron Francis before the end of 2014-15.
Will he make it? This isn't even a question. When the 42-year-old finally gets around to retiring, he'll be a shoo-in for enshrinement.
New York Islanders: John Tavares
19 of 30
Credentials: This is another one of those picks where the early returns have been solid, but a lot is going to depend on what happens the rest of the way. 2009's first overall pick is in his fourth consecutive campaign scoring in the point-per-game range and is always in the year-end awards conversation.
Will he make it? Tavares has to put in a solid decade of strong play, and picking up some awards along the way wouldn't hurt either.
New York Rangers: Martin St. Louis
20 of 30
Credentials: St. Louis' trophy cabinet has to be getting crowded. The five-time NHL All-Star has twice led the league in scoring and was recognized as the best player in the game by both his peers and the PHWA in 2004—the same year he helped Tampa Bay to a Stanley cup win.
Will he make it? St. Louis earns the nod here over teammate Henrik Lundqvist because he's a sure thing. Lundqvist too is an exceptional candidate, but St. Louis deserves enshrinement even if he retires over the Christmas break.
Ottawa Senators: Erik Karlsson
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Credentials: The 24-year-old Karlsson already has one Norris win under his belt from 2012, and he's one of the very few elite offensive defenders across the NHL. He's a good bet to land significantly more hardware over the next decade or so; voters can't resist the point totals he's capable of.
Will he make it? It's early, but his offensive ability from the blue line is second-to-none in the NHL.
Philadelphia Flyers: Claude Giroux
22 of 30
Credentials: Giroux is in his fifth season now as one of the NHL's best offensive producers, and his 41 points in 34 games this season put him not far behind league-scoring leader (and linemate) Jakub Voracek.
Will he make it? If the 26-year-old can start collecting some awards over the next few years, he'll help his case significantly. Teammate Vincent Lecavalier is a good warning as to how quickly a top-flight offensive producer can fall off a cliff, so now is the time for Giroux.
Pittsburgh Penguins: Sidney Crosby
23 of 30
Credentials: It's easy to forget that Crosby is only 27, because he's already accomplished so much. He's been an NHL All-Star on four occasions, led the league in goals (once) and points (twice) and has been recognized by the players as the league's most valuable player three times. He has 806 points in just 580 career games.
Will he make it? Yes. Crosby's body of work is such that he could retire this summer before his 28th birthday and still be a sure-thing Hall of Famer.
San Jose Sharks: Joe Thornton
24 of 30
Credentials: The 2006 NHL MVP is second-to-none as a playmaker over his career. Despite playing in a low-scoring era, the 35-year-old has racked up 1,224 points over his career and has some productive seasons left in him.
Will he make it? Yes. A Cup win couldn't hurt, but Thornton has just been too good for too long to be overlooked.
St. Louis Blues: Martin Brodeur
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Credentials: The NHL's rookie of the year in 1994 backstopped the New Jersey Devils to three championships. He's a seven-time NHL All-Star and a four-time winner of the Vezina Trophy as the league's top goaltender, and no goalie in the history of the game has been between the pipes for more wins.
Will he make it? This is another no-brainer. No matter how poorly Brodeur plays for the Blues, his place as one of the game's top goalies is secure.
Tampa Bay Lightning: Steven Stamkos
26 of 30
Credentials: Tampa Bay's captain is the best pure goal scorer in the NHL; only Alex Ovechkin is even in the mix. Only 24 years old, Stamkos has already led the league twice in goal scoring, is well over a point-per-game on his career and has yet to hit what are typically a forward's prime scoring years.
Will he make it? Injury might slow him down, but Stamkos is a wonderful talent. If he stays healthy and keeps playing the way he has, he'll make the cut.
Toronto Maple Leafs: Phil Kessel
27 of 30
Credentials: Kessel has 30-plus goals in five of the last six seasons (excluding the lockout-shortened 2012-13 campaign where he tallied 20 in 48 games) and has been a point per-game player or in the range for the last three. He's an exceptionally productive offensive player.
Will he make it? Stranger things have happened, but at this juncture it looks unlikely. The 27-year-old has yet to collect a significant year-end award.
Vancouver Canucks: Henrik and Daniel Sedin
28 of 30
Credentials: I swore I wasn't going to put two players in the headline, and then I got to Vancouver. Henrik and Daniel have been welded at the hip for the entirety of their careers. Both have two All-Star nominations, an Art Ross Trophy and an NHL MVP award; both are likely to top 1,000 points before all is said and done.
Will they make it? Probably. It's awfully hard to ignore any player named the best in the NHL in a season, particularly when that achievement is married to brilliant work elsewhere.
Washington Capitals: Alex Ovechkin
29 of 30
Credentials: Ovechkin has been in the NHL nine seasons and has been named to either the first or second All-Star team nine times. Granted, he was named twice in 2012-13, but even so that's impressive. He beat Sidney Crosby out for the Calder Trophy in 2006, has led the league in goals four times and has been named MVP by either the writers or the players in four different seasons.
Will he make it? Yes. We can talk about Ovechkin's defensive play, but he's such a talented goal scorer that the Hall of Fame isn't going to worry about it.
Winnipeg Jets: Jacob Trouba
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Credentials: Trouba's credentials are pretty slim; he is after all only 20 years old. But with none of the Jets' veterans looking particularly Hall-worthy, the young defenceman with a complete game rates a mention here. Less than 100 games into his career, he's a legitimate top-four guy and has been a top-pairing option for Winnipeg.
Will he make it? There's nothing but open road on the horizon; we'll have to see what he does with it.
Statistics courtesy of Hockey-Reference.com and current through the start of action on Tuesday.
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