Hockey Hall of Fame: An early look at possible candidates in 2021

The Hockey Hall of Fame class of 2021 could be a loaded one.

Last week, the Hockey Hall of Fame announced its 2020 class. They will be inducted into the Hall of Fame later this year, most likely in November, but obviously, the novel coronavirus pandemic could throw a monkey wrench into those plans. It’s not too early to start looking at next year’s candidates.

On paper, the HHOF class of 2021 could be a deep one. There are way more than eight people who deserve to get in. Unfortunately, the maximum number of people who can get in is eight. Let’s take a look at who could make the Hall of Fame next year.

First, let’s clarify something. People think Jaromir Jagr is eligible since he has been out of the NHL for three years. The last part is true, but the first part is not. Jagr is not eligible yet because he hasn’t stopped playing professionally. He’s still playing in a Czech league. The Hall of Fame could waive his three-year waiting period, but I don’t see that happening. Not yet, anyway.

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Slam Dunks

The Sedins

As hilarious as it would be for Henrik Sedin to get in next year and make Daniel Sedin have to wait until 2022, that’s not happening. The Sedins are going to be the headliners of the 2021 class, and rightfully so. We’ll never see a set of players so unique and so in tune with each other than the twins.

As impossible as it is to think of one without the other, the Sedins count as two people. So we’re down to two more men’s players.

Should Be Slam Dunk

Alexander Mogilny

It’s starting to frustrate me that Alexander Mogilny isn’t in the Hall of Fame yet. He averaged over a point per game during his career. All but one forward who averaged more points per game than him and played at least 900 games is either in the Hall of Fame or will be once they retire.

Mogilny was the first Russian to captain an NHL team, won a Stanley Cup, won a Lady Byng, and is a member of the Triple Gold Club. That alone should get him into the Hall of Fame. But Mogilny isn’t in the Hall of Fame yet.

I haven’t even gotten to the main reason why he should be in the Hall of Fame. Mogilny is best known for being the first Soviet player to defect from the USSR and play in the NHL. He opened the door for Russians to play in the NHL.

This isn’t the NHL Hall of Fame. It’s the Hockey Hall of Fame. You can’t tell the story of hockey around the globe without talking about Mogilny.

Boris Mikhailov

Much like Mogilny, Boris Mikhailov should already be in the Hockey Hall of Fame. True, he’s technically in the Hockey Hall of Fame since he’s a member of the IIHF Hall of Fame, which is located in the Hockey Hall of Fame. But Mikhailov’s not a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame.

That’s baffling because Mikhailov is one of the most important Russian hockey players of all-time. He captained the infamous USSR men’s hockey dynasty for eight seasons and stood out in the Soviet Hockey League as well. The Hall of Fame couldn’t get Pat Burns in before he died. Hopefully, they don’t make the same mistake with Mikhailov.

Deserving Candidates

Henrik Zetterberg

Henrik Zetterberg is probably getting into the Hall of Fame. He captained a Stanley Cup champion in 2008 and also won the Conn Smythe Trophy that year. Zetterberg’s also a member of the coveted Triple Gold Club. He’s one of the most productive Swedish players of all-time.

Zetterberg isn’t a slam dunk because you could argue he was never the best player on his own team, but if you consider the guys he played with (Nicklas Lidstrom, Steve Yzerman, and Pavel Datsyuk, among others), that’s not an insult.

Patrik Elias

On paper, the HOF case for Patrik Elias isn’t overwhelming. Sure, he won two Stanley Cups. But Elias never won a major award and was only named to one first-team All-Star Team. Excluding a third-place Calder Trophy finish in 1998, he never even finished in the top 5 for any award.

That said, Elias has very impressive counting stats. He got to 1,000 games played and 1,000 points. Only 13 players have done that since 1995-96. Moreover, Elias scored 408 goals. Only 10 players have played at least 1,000 games while picking up at least 1,000 points and 400 goals since 1995-96.

The crux of Elias’s argument, though, is probably advanced stats. Unfortunately, we never got to see his possession stats during his prime. But we do have his possession stats since he turned 30. And boy are they impressive.

Daniel Alfredsson

Daniel Alfredsson is one of the most prolific NHL players from Sweden of all-time. Only Mats Sundin has more points and goals. He’s top five in assists and ranks favorably in points per game as well.

That said, Alfredsson never won a Stanley Cup, which hurts his case. He also only has one major individual award on his resume – a Calder Trophy. Alfredsson is getting into the Hall of Fame one day, but until the ballot gets a little less crowded, he could be one of the odd men out.

Rod Brind’Amour

A year ago, I would have told you Rod Brind’Amour doesn’t have a very good chance of making the Hall of Fame. But then something unexpected happened. Guy Carbonneau made the Hall of Fame. If Carbonneau’s a Hall of Fame player, it’s really hard to argue Brind’Amour shouldn’t be one too.

He was one of the best defensive forwards of the early 21st century, winning two Selke Trophies. Brind’Amour captained the 2006 Carolina Hurricanes to a Stanley Cup win. Combine that with his solid counting stats (over 1,000 games, 400 goals, and 1,000 points) and Brind’Amour has a very strong HOF case.

Interesting Cases

Jere Lehtinen

Much like Brind’Amour, Jere Lehtnien’s case got a lot more interesting when Carbonneau made the Hall of Fame. Lehtinen won three Selke Trophies as a wing. Everyone who has won more Selke Trophies than him is in the Hall of Fame. Plus Lehtinen was a Selke Trophy finalist in three additional seasons.

The case against Lehtinen, though, is he didn’t put up impressive numbers. In 875 regular season games, he scored 243 goals and 514 points. Those aren’t shabby, but it certainly doesn’t scream out “Hall of Fame”. Still, if defensive forwards are finally getting recognized, Lehtinen has the credentials to be one of them.

Theoren Fleury

Theo Fleury never won a major individual award but was one of the NHL’s premier power forwards for most of his career. It’s also worth noting that he’s Indigenous and the Hall of Fame doesn’t have nearly enough Indigenous players. He has a Stanley Cup, a World Juniors gold medal, and an Olympic gold medal, which helps his case.

Fleury battled addictions, a Crohn’s Disease diagnosis in 1995, and other problems to pick up over 1,000 career points, 400 goals, and 1,000 games played. If I were in charge, he’d be in the Hall of Fame. But with no major individual awards and only one All-Star team nomination (second team in 1994-95), it’s going to be hard for him to make the Hall of Fame unless voters change their criteria.

Rick Nash

Rick Nash’s career was a pretty great one. He struggled with injuries for a good portion of his career. But when Nash was healthy, very few players could put pucks in the net like him. In 1,060 games, he scored 437 goals with 805 points. Nash won two Olympic Gold Medals in 2010 and 2014 with Canada, which should help his case.

Pierre Turgeon

He never won a major award aside from the Lady Byng Trophy (1993), but he’s arguably the most prolific player in NHL history who isn’t in the Hockey Hall of Fame. I get that his legacy is a bit complicated, but Turgeon’s numbers are Hall of Fame-caliber. So why isn’t he in? Isn’t that all that should matter?

Honorable mentions: Jeremy Roenick, Curtis Joseph, Sergei Gonchar

Women Players

The Hall of Fame hasn’t been overly kind to women’s players, so the line’s getting a bit long as far as deserving candidates are concerned.

Julie Chu is one of the greatest American female hockey players of all-time. She finished her college career as the NCAA’s all-time leading scorer with 287 points in four seasons.

Internationally, Chu’s resume is an outstanding one. She was an important part of Team USA, helping them win three silver medals (2002, 2010, 2014) and one bronze medal (2006) at the Winter Olympics. Chu also led Team USA to five gold medals and four silver medals at the World Championships.

Professionally, she won Clarkson Cups with the Minnesota Whitecaps of the WWHL and with the Montreal Stars of the CWHL.

Off the ice, Chu is an Asian-American, which is important because minorities in hockey are quite rare. She serves as a role model and an ambassador for hockey.

On the Canadian side, there’s Jennifer Botterill. She’s one of the most decorated players in the history of women’s hockey, helping Canada build their women’s hockey dynasty with three gold medals and a silver medal at the Winter Olympics. Though Botterill never won a Clarkson Cup, she was very dominant during her professional career.

If you’re a sucker for a sentimental narrative like me, you’ve got to be rooting for Julie Chu and her wife Caroline Ouellette to make it into the Hockey Hall of Fame together. She won gold medals at four straight Winter Olympics, which puts her in very rare company. Ouellette is among Canada’s most productive women hockey players of all-time and won four Clarkson Cups.

There are countless other women’s hockey candidates as well. Natalie Darwitz, Cassie Campbell-Pascall, Jenny Potter, Hong Guo (who once had Wayne Gretzky bow to her), and Florence Schelling each stand out to me. Riikka Sallinen’s going to be eligible in 2022 and she deserves to get in on the first ballot because she’s such a significant figure in international women’s hockey.

Builders

Builders are more complicated than players, so I’m not going to say much. But I’ll say this. There are zero female builders in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Also, there are zero builders with significant ties to women’s hockey. That needs to change as soon as possible.

How about Marguerite Norris, the NHL’s first female executive? She’s the first woman with her name on the Stanley Cup. And it’s on their twice, as Norris helped the Red Wings win two Stanley Cups.

You could make a strong case for Florence Schelling, who’s the first female general manager of a professional men’s hockey team. Yes, it’s overseas, but who cares? She’s a pioneer and she’s (hopefully) opening the doors for other women to get into front offices. That said, putting Schelling in as a builder is sort of a slap in the face to her playing career. But if that’s how Schelling has to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, so be it.

Dani Rylan helped form the NWHL and currently serves as its commissioner. Gary Bettman got in as an active commissioner, so there’s no reason Rylan should have to wait.

Harrison Browne was one of the NWHL’s inaugural 100 players and helped the Buffalo Beauts win the Clarkson Cup in 2017 and the Metropolitan Riveters win the Clarkson Cup in 2018.

However, Browne’s legacy off the ice is why he should be in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Browne came out as a transgender man in 2016. He wasn’t just the first transgender professional hockey player, he was the first transgender professional athlete in any team sport.

Obviously, his legacy’s a bit complicated because he retired at a fairly young age (25 years old). However, Browne’s a pioneer. He’s played a large role in several Pride Nights across the NHL.

Browne is spending his post-hockey career helping to increase the visibility of the transgender community. It’ll be a while before Browne gets in because it will take time to fully appreciate the impact of him coming out as a transgender male, but he should get in eventually.

If you’re looking for a symbolic first women’s builder, look no further than Fran Rider. Very few, if any, people have done more to help advance women’s hockey than Rider. She helped form the Ontario Women’s Hockey Association, which is the governing body for women’s hockey in Canada, in 1975.

Rider also helped create the first women’s hockey world championship tournament in 1987 and helped organize the 1990 IIHF women’s hockey world championship in 1990. She did all of this with minimal outside help. Rider’s unparalleled commitment to women’s hockey makes her a slam dunk candidate to be the first female builder in the Hall of Fame.