Predicting every NHL team’s future Hall of Famers

San Jose Sharks – Joe Thornton

What’s there to say about Joe Thornton? He wasn’t named to the NHL’s list of the top 100 players of all-time, but he absolutely should have been on that list. Thornton’s the only player in the salary cap era to have at least 90 assists in a single season. And he’s done it twice.

Thornton’s 2005-06 season is one of the greatest of all-time, as he won the Hart Trophy and scoring title despite being traded midseason. Oh, and he basically won the Rocket Richard because Jonathan Cheechoo wouldn’t have won it without Thornton’s help.

Obviously, his offense has always been his calling card. But Thornton has always been strong defensively too and in hindsight, should probably have gotten more attention for the Selke Trophy. He ranks seventh all-time in assists and 14th in points. Thornton jumps to fifth and seventh respectively if you look at era-adjusted assists and points.

San Jose Sharks – Patrick Marleau

Patrick Marleau is basically the Rickey Henderson of the NHL. He has never won a major award and never came close, but he’s been consistently great. Goal scoring is a hard thing to do and Marleau has scored at least 20 goals 15 times in his career (most times since the 1994-95 lockout) and has 568 career goals. 500 goals are the NHL’s equivalent of hitting 500 home runs – if you get there and you didn’t cheat, you’re in.

Honorable mentions: Evgeni Nabokov has a better case than you think. He had a pretty solid NHL career, though he never won a Vezina Trophy or a Stanley Cup. However, Nabokov has influenced a lot of Russian goaltenders. Brent Burns is a late bloomer, but he has been one of the most productive defensemen in the NHL over a five-year span. The Norris Trophy will help his case too.