11 Former NHL Players Who Should Have Their Number Retired
The news that the Detroit Red Wings will retire Sergei Fedorov's No. 91 in January, more than 10 years after he was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame and over 20 years since he left the team, got us asking one thing: What took so long?
Fedorov was one of the greatest players in Red Wings history, and although his departure from the team in the early 2000s had some acrimony to it, thanks to an offer sheet he signed with the Carolina Hurricanes in 1998, paying respect to franchise legends when earned should rule above all, right?
Fedorov isn't the only player who had to wait to be honored; there are still others from the past waiting and hoping for the same honor to be paid to them.
It's those players whose numbers remain in circulation with their teams rather than hanging in the rafters that we're focusing on. While Fedorov will have his day (January 12, 2026, when Detroit hosts Carolina, naturally), we've picked out a handful of other franchise stars who are worthy of recognition themselves.
Carey Price, Montréal Canadiens
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It's only a matter of time before we see Carey Price's No. 31 hanging in the rafters at Bell Center in Montréal.
Price was the franchise's best goaltender since Patrick Roy and is one of the greatest in the team's 100-plus years of existence. Even though Price didn't win a Stanley Cup for the Habs in his career, it's not like he didn't do his absolute best to make it happen.
So often throughout Price's time on the ice for Montréal did he put the team on his back and carry them as far as he could. He backstopped them to the Stanley Cup Final in 2021 and was responsible for numerous playoff round upsets in his career when the Canadiens, on paper, were outmatched. The one area they weren't was in goal.
He won the Hart and Vezina Trophies in 2015, and if not for debilitating injuries, he'd still be between the pipes for them now. As it is, he hasn't played since April 2022 and missed out on being elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame on the first ballot this year. His time is coming, though, and once his contract expires with the Canadiens after this year, they should put his number up as soon as possible. It belongs.
Mark Recchi, Philadelphia Flyers
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Like many other teams around the league, the Philadelphia Flyers have a hard and fast rule when it comes to retiring numbers: a player must be enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame before they'll do it. That's what makes it a little strange that Mark Recchi's number 8 hasn't been.
Recchi was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2017 after a 22-year career with seven different teams. The team he spent the most years and games with, however, was the Flyers. For 10 seasons, Recchi was part of the orange and black from 1992-1995 and 1999-2004 and helped lead them to the Eastern Conference Final twice.
Two of Recchi's three most prolific scoring seasons came with the Flyers in the early to mid-90s, but the Flyers lacked team success during those seasons and missed the playoffs. Meanwhile, Recchi won three Stanley Cups with Pittsburgh in 1991, Carolina in 2006 and Boston in 2011.
Recchi was inducted into the Flyers Hall of Fame in 2023 and honored with an on-ice ceremony for it, but his number wasn't retired. The Flyers have a history of other great No. 8s with Dave Schultz and Brad Marsh among them. Cam York currently wears it and it's never come out of circulation. If they won't do it just for Recchi, why not retire it for him, Schultz and Marsh, too?
Al MacInnis, Calgary Flames
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When Al MacInnis patrolled the blue line for the Calgary Flames in the 80s and 90s, there were fewer defensemen more intimidating to other defenders and goalies than him.
For 803 games in 13 years, MacInnis played precise, physical defense and also had one of the hardest slap shots in hockey. MacInnis' shot was the stuff of legend, and given that he played most of his career in Calgary while his teammates used wooden sticks, it only adds to the mythology.
Although he was eventually traded to St. Louis in July 1994, his legacy with the Flames included helping them reach the Stanley Cup Final twice and winning it all in 1989, including the Conn Smythe Trophy. It was tough in those days competing against the legendary Edmonton Oilers teams, but he was able to make the Flames the rough and tumble standard to get past them then. And yet, his No. 2 sits unretired.
MacInnis went into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2007 and was honored by the Flames in 2012 as a "Forever Flame," something the team did to pay respect to big-time players from the past without raising their sweater to the rafters. But let's be serious here, without MacInnis (and Joe Nieuwendyk and Theoren Fleury), those Flames teams in the '80s and early '90s don't have that kind of success.
Calgary isn't against retiring numbers, mind you. They've raised Jarome Iginla's No. 12, Lanny McDonald's No. 9, Miikka Kiprusoff's 34 and Mike Vernon's 30 to the high reaches of the Saddledome.
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Peter Bondra, Washington Capitals
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While all the attention over the past 20 years in Washington has been centered around Alexander Ovechkin, before he came along in D.C., the guy who filled the net like mad was Peter Bondra.
Bondra used to be the franchise leader in goals until Ovechkin came along. In 961 games, he had 472 of his 503 career goals with the Capitals. From 1990 until 2004, when he was traded to Ottawa, Bondra was their elite sniper. Nine times, he had 30 or more goals and from 1995-1996 to 1997-1998, he scored 52 goals in a season twice with a 46-goal season sandwiched between them (150 total) and helped lead Washington to their first Stanley Cup Final in 1998.
It's easy to forget about the past when it's not teeming over with great years and great teams, especially when the more recent history has all-time greats and a Stanley Cup championship to remember fondly, but when you look at the other players the Capitals have honored with retired numbers (Yvon Labre, Rod Langway, Mike Gartner and Dale Hunter) it's very hard to argue that Bondra doesn't deserve the honor as well.
Bondra isn't in the Hockey Hall of Fame yet. Although he's one of 48 players to ever score 500 goals, he has the fewest career points of anyone who has. But he's a true legend in Capitals hockey. Putting his No. 12 in the rafters is a must.
Pat LaFontaine, New York Islanders
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Pat LaFontaine has been a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame since 2003, and he's had his No. 16 retired by the Buffalo Sabres since 2006. But the team that he started his career with, the New York Islanders, has not done so.
In his Hall of Fame career, LaFontaine had his best seasons with the Isles. In eight years on Long Island, he scored 238 goals and had 471 points in 530 games from 1983 to 1991.
LaFontaine missed out on being part of the Islanders' Stanley Cup dynasty by a year and joined them when they lost the Cup Final rematch against the Edmonton Oilers in five games in 1984. When you look at the players who have all been honored with their number being retired by the Islanders, the thing that unites them all is that they were all part of the franchise when they won four consecutive Stanley Cups at the start of the 80s.
Had the Islanders won the Cup again in 1984, would LaFontaine's No. 16 already be retired? You have to wonder if that'd be the case, especially since he was the new young blood joining a veteran squad of proven winners with Mike Bossy, Denis Potvin and Billy Smith among them.
The Isles have only honored the players from the Cup dynasty with jersey retirements. They should consider extending that to LaFontaine and possibly the player who he was traded for, Pierre Turgeon.
Alexander Mogilny, Buffalo Sabres
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It's been such a long time coming for Alexander Mogilny to be elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame. When he was announced as one of the members of the Class of 2025, it was a moment where fans reacted in unison that it was about time/
What's amazing about his story is that he snuck out of the Soviet Union to join the Buffalo Sabres and be part of the NHL, and it was in Buffalo where he captured everyone's imagination with his speed, tenaciousness, and skill.
In six seasons with the Sabres, he piled up 211 goals and 444 points in 381 games and had 76 goals in 1992-1993, a mark that ties him with Phil Esposito and Teemu Selanne for fifth most goals in a season. Mogilny's 76-goal mark is 20 goals more than Danny Gare's 5,6, which used to be the Sabres team record for a season.
And yet, even with all of these incredible seasons and now a place in the Hall of Fame, his No. 89 was never retired by the Sabres and is currently worn by Alex Tuch. As it is, Tuch is the only other player in franchise history to wear the number, and he chose it as a way to pay tribute to him since he grew up a Sabres fan.
Sabres retired numbers are an interesting group of players who all meant a lot to the team when they were there, but Mogilny's place in NHL history doesn't happen without the Sabres. If they decided to put 89 in the rafters, we're pretty sure Tuch would be right there to help honor him to do it.
Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg, Detroit Red Wings
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Seeing how long it took the Detroit Red Wings to honor Sergei Fedorov and retire his number made us wonder how long it might take for them to do the same with some of their more recent greats.
We've already seen them retire Nicklas Lidström's No. 5 in 2014 and he wasn't elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame until the following year. But two other, more modern Red Wings are worthy of number retirements as well.
Pavel Datsyuk was elected to the Hall as part of the Class of 2024 and Henrik Zetterberg has been eligible for election since 2021. Both players were vital to helping them win the Stanley Cup in 2008 and returning to the Final the following year as well. Datsyuk was also part of the 2002 Cup championship team and was a human highlight reel throughout his career in Detroit.
Both players were brilliant defensive players and could rack up points. Datsyuk did so with moves that left jaws dropping, while Zetterberg was more of a classic offensive player with a healthy mix of style and ability. Those Red Wings teams were a wealth of riches, but Datsyuk and Zetterberg joining the likes of Lidström made them frustrating to game-plan against.
The Red Wings have been mired in playoff darkness the past nine seasons and, sure, retiring Fedorov's number could be seen as a way to help fill the building by more cynical fans, but if they were to honor Datsyuk and Zetterberg similarly, we doubt there'd be any complaining.
Ryan Getzlaf, Anaheim Ducks
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The Anaheim Ducks don't have an overly extensive hockey history, but over time, they've retired the numbers of only three players: Teemu Selänne, Paul Kariya and Scott Niedermayer.
It's impossible to argue with recognizing three Hall of Fame players, but isn't it about time to honor a guy who spent his entire great career in Orange County, like Ryan Getzlaf?
Getzlaf was a lifetime Anaheim Duck and played all 1,157 games in his career with the franchise. That means he scored all 1,019 points there and helped them win the Stanley Cup in 2007 in just his second season in the NHL. Although he wasn't a big-time flashy goal scorer like Selänne or Kariya, he was a superb playmaker and an elite defensive forward. He was also runner-up for the Hart Trophy to Sidney Crosby in 2014.
Ever since Getzlaf retired in 2022, no one else has worn his No. 15 and if there's anyone in team history who's more deserving than him to get their number retired, it might be Corey Perry or Jean-Sébastien Giguere, but those guys didn't do it all in Anaheim the way Getzlaf did.
Patrice Bergeron and Zdeno Chara, Boston Bruins
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We'll watch Zdeno Chara be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame this November and we'll likely see Patrice Bergeron do the same next year when he's first eligible to be elected. What we should see soon after for both players is their numbers getting raised to the rafters at TD Garden in Boston.
Chara and Bergeron each proved to be all-time greats in hockey with the Bruins and were key cogs in their 2011 Stanley Cup win. Their awards did that too, with Bergeron being essentially the Selke Trophy winner annually, taking it home six times and Chara a Norris candidate routinely yet somehow winning it only once in 2009.
The Bruins are not shy about honoring their all-time greats. They've retired 12 numbers through history, with the most recent being Willie O'Ree, having his No. 22 retired in 2022. There's not much reason to get up and yell about having Chara and Bergeron's numbers getting retired because it's just a matter of time.
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