6 Biggest Snubs From the 2025 Hockey Hall of Fame Announcement

Nothing gets everyone going more than a good Hall of Fame debate.

Who’s worthy, who’s not? Who deserves and who should get a longer look? Among all the questions and talking points we come up with, deciding who we believe belongs is a big discussion.

The Hockey Hall of Fame elected Zdeno Chara, Joe Thornton, Duncan Keith, Alexander Mogilny (at long last after 16 years), Jennifer Botterill, Brianna Decker, along with Danièle Sauvageau and Jack Parker as builders to the class of 2025 on Tuesday.

It’s hard to argue against them because they were incredible players with amazing careers, and we salute them for it.

But for everyone who was elected, there are limits to how many can make it into the Hockey Hall of Fame each year, which means there are some more-than-worthy candidates who are on the outside looking in. For some, it’s been an unfortunately regular (and perhaps unfair) occurrence, and for others, the wait continues until next year.

We’ve picked out some of the more disappointing omissions while fully noting that cracking through with this year’s first year eligible players was going to be very difficult.

Carey Price

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Despite being under contract with the Montréal Canadiens for one more year, Carey Price was eligible for the Hockey Hall of Fame for the first time this year. He’s not officially retired, but his career has been over since April 2022 because of a debilitating knee injury.

Price set the bar for modern goaltenders and the aura he carried going into any game, regular season or playoffs, was enough to psyche out opposing teams. Just ask any of the teams that had to deal with Price and the Canadiens in the playoffs how much fun they had doing that (the answer: None, no fun.).

In 2015, Price won the Vezina and was voted as the league MVP and until Connor Hellebuyck won it this year he was the last goalie to do so. He led a massive underdog Canadiens team to the Stanley Cup Final in the COVID-truncated 2021 season before losing in five games to Tampa Bay. He helped the Habs knock off Toronto, Winnipeg and Vegas on the way to the Final that year.

Goalies getting into the Hall of Fame creates very particular arguments because judging the position through the eras is extremely difficult. A lot of what is telling about a goaltender is the reputation they had in the game and among his peers and foes and the amount of respect Price earned through his performances and the reputation he had as a big-game player means his wait to get into the Hall will not be long.

Keith Tkachuk

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There was a time in the 1980s and 90s when power forwards dominated the game and Keith Tkachuk was among the most ferocious. He’s 35th all-time in goals scored with 538 and had 1,065 career points. Keith also was the inspiration for the style of play his sons Matthew and Brady play because his 2,219 penalty minutes place him 41st in league history.

Tkachuk’s career with Winnipeg/Phoenix, St. Louis and Atlanta never saw him land on a Stanley Cup winning team, but he scored 50 or more goals twice and yet never had a 100-point season. Among Americans, Tkachuk is third all-time in goals trailing only Brett Hull and Mike Modano. He’s seventh among Americans in points and fourth in penalty minutes.

Scoring 500 goals in a career is a very good way to secure a place in the Hall of Fame. Of the 48 players who have scored 500 or more goals, 39 have made it into the Hall of Fame and 10 of them scored fewer goals than Tkachuk. He’s been eligible for a few years now but with the flood of incredible players that became eligible, it’s understandable how he’d get lost in the mix. You’d have to think with the success Matthew and Brady are having that it’ll help juice up the attention paid to Keith’s career.

Rod Brind'Amour

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The case for Rod Brind’Amour to make the hall of fame is a fascinating one.  In 1,484 career games, he posted 1,184 points with 452 of them goals. Brind’Amour was never the “star” player wherever he was. He was outshined by Brett Hull and Adam Oates in St. Louis, Eric Lindros and the “Legion of Doom” in Philadelphia, and Ron Francis and Eric Staal in Carolina. Being outshined doesn’t diminish one’s career, however.

Brind’Amour was a part of three Eastern Conference Championship teams (Philadelphia in 1997 and Carolina in 2002 and 2006) and captained the Hurricanes to their first and only Stanley Cup in ’06. He’s forever been a respected player and was one of the most hard-nosed do-it-all types night in and night out.

His career point total is solid, good for 55th all-time and he was a dedicated two-way forward as well. That he’s become an outstanding coach in Carolina and his team plays in a similar way that he did in the 90s and 2000s only helps draw more attention to how solid of a player he was.

Is he a hall of fame player? Crossing through multiple style eras makes this a difficult debate.

Ryan Getzlaf

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It gets a bit lost in the shuffle thanks to playing in Anaheim, but Ryan Getzlaf had an outstanding career.

In 1,157 games, Getzlaf posted 1,019 points and proved to be an outstanding playmaker throughout his entire career with the Ducks. With his size (6’4” 220 pounds), his presence on the ice was immediately noticeable. When he threw his body around at opponents it landed in a punishing way.

Getzlaf was a powerful two-way forward who set up his teammates, a rare trait. Of his 1,019 points, just 282 were goals. On top of being a great player in the regular season, he was also huge in the playoffs. He had 17 points during the Ducks 2007 Stanley Cup season and had 20 points during their run to the Western Conference Final in 2015 where they lost to Chicago in seven games. On top of that, he was an excellent defensive center and great on draws as well.

This was Getzlaf’s first year on the ballot and his case is strong to make it to the Hall of Fame down the road. Although he never won an individual, he was runner-up to Sidney Crosby for the Hart Trophy in 2014 and was one of four other players to get first-place votes.

Patrik Eliáš

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As much as we talk about things like “East Coast bias” when it comes to who we pay attention to in the NHL, Patrik Eliáš spent his entire career in the East and yet was always deeply underappreciated. Playing in New Jersey will do that, sure, but his case to be a Hall of Famer is a good one.

Eliáš played a vital role in leading the Devils to the Stanley Cup Final four times in his career and helping them win twice (2000, 2003). Starting in 1997, he was a fixture in the lineup and was a perpetual offensive threat for a notably defensive team.

Three times he scored 30 or more goals in a season and had a career-high 40 in 2000-2001. That season, he finished sixth in voting for MVP and eighth for the Selke, all while he led New Jersey in scoring as they went to Game 7 of the Cup Final before losing to Raymond Bourque and the Colorado Avalanche.

Eliáš was as steady as it gets throughout his career and he finished with 1,025 points in 1,240 career games. Martin Brodeur (rightfully) gets most of the credit for the Devils’ success, but goals help you win games too and Eliáš was the guy who drove a championship offense for numerous years.

Julie Chu

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When it comes to women’s hockey players getting elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame, the Hall has been a bit slow to make sure to honor the best of the best. Just look at how long it took them to elect Jennifer Botterill, for example. And as long as that took, the case Julie Chu has for the Hall is an open-and-shut one.

Chu was an elite player while at Harvard putting up 284 points in 129 games over four years. She was a finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Award as the best player in women’s college hockey twice, winning it once. She was a four-time Olympic medalist with the United States (three silvers and a bronze) and a five-time Women’s World Championships gold medalist. She was also a three-time professional champion in the CWHL with Montréal.

Chu is a legend in women’s hockey in the United States and any player with her resume is deserving of enshrinement in the hall of fame. But Chu is one of many women’s players worthy of the honor. Megan Duggan, Cassie Campbell, Manon Rheaume and Shannon Szabados are others worthy of consideration as well. It’s one thing to have a backlog of great players to elect eventually, it’s another to have them just waiting around for years.