Predicting every NHL team’s future Hall of Famers

Florida Panthers – Roberto Luongo

The Hall of Fame is often unfairly cruel to goaltenders. That said, it would be a travesty if Roberto Luongo isn’t put in the Hall of Fame. If nothing else, you could literally just have his best tweets projected onto a wall.

In all seriousness, Luongo is one of the best goalies of all-time. He has zero Vezina Trophies, but he is in the top three in wins, saves, and games played. Luongo also has one of the highest save percentages of all-time. Even with zero individual awards, I feel like that’s enough to put him in the Hall of Fame.

Of course, people said the same thing about Curtis Joseph, and look where that got him. But I feel like Luongo’s different because I have never talked to anyone who hates the guy. And whether we want to admit it or not, being liked matters a lot when your name comes up as a Hall of Fame candidate.

Another reason why Luongo should get in is that the floor for goalies right now is set way too high. Getting Luongo in there would make it a little bit lower. Seriously, the Hall of Fame needs more modern goalies.

Honorable mentions: Aleksander Barkov has been the most underrated player in the NHL for at least four years now. Frankly, that’s impressive (and also telling of how silly the word “underrated” is). Barkov has a Lady Byng on his resume and is annually in the Selke Trophy discussion. He needs some more major awards and a Stanley Cup wouldn’t hurt. But he’s already carved out a fairly impressive resume.