Last month, the Hockey Hall of Fame unveiled its class of 2024, which consisted of five players — three in the male player category, two in the female player category — and two builders. Two of the male players, Pavel Datsyuk and Shea Weber, went in during their first year of eligibility. Jeremy Roenick had been eligible since 2012, or three years after he played his last official game as a professional with the 2008-09 San Jose Sharks. That’s a distinction that’s unique to the HHOF, because it takes into account players who continue to play professionally around the world, even after their NHL careers conclude.
So, for example, Datsyuk played five years in Russia after leaving the Detroit Red Wings following the 2015-16 season, which is why he wasn’t eligible for selection until this year. Jaromir Jagr, the NHL’s second all-time leading scorer, hasn’t played a game in the NHL since 2017-18, but he continues to play a handful of games every year for Kladno, the team he owns in Czechia. If Jagr finally stops playing this year, he’ll become eligible in 2027 — and he’ll be about as sure a thing as there is to a guaranteed first-ballot inductee.
That’s the thing about Hall of Fame debates. They generally aren’t too controversial at the top end.
GO DEEPER
How many players from 2003 draft class will make Hall of Fame?
Among active players, Sidney Crosby — the 10th leading scorer of all time — and his longtime rival Alex Ovechkin (second in goals, behind only Wayne Gretzky) will probably only require a show of hands from among the 18 members of the Hall of Fame selection committee when they become eligible.
Where the discussion gets interesting is as you move further down the list.
Almost all of the most contentious HHOF debates focus on the question of “great versus very good.” Do championships matter? Do individual awards matter? Does finishing near the top of the balloting for individual awards matter? How much do you factor in success at the international level? Does the fact that the NHL hasn’t had a best-on-best competition since 2016 impact the latter criteria?
Complicating matters further is the fact that the HHOF selection in the player category tends to be vague and all-encompassing, saying in the by-laws that honorees are chosen “on the basis of his or her playing ability, sportsmanship, character and contributions to his or her team or teams and to the game of hockey in general.”
That definition clearly leaves a lot of wiggle room for interpretation.
Procedurally, a successful candidate needs 14 of 18 yes votes from the selection committee to gain admission to the Hall — no small feat, considering how many strong personalities populate the selection committee.
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A committee member can serve for a maximum of 15 years, which would consist of five consecutive three-year terms. That’s significant, too, because it means the committee is a dynamic, not static, body. The frequent turnover is probably the best explanation for why a player such as Roenick could be eligible for 12 years and then finally cross the threshold this year. If he was close before, and a few new “yes” votes rotated onto the committee, that gets you in.
So that’s the preamble. Now, for the question: Who among current NHLers eventually makes it to the HHOF? We’re limiting this exercise to active players who’ve played a minimum of five years. It’s too early to project others. We included only players who appeared in an NHL game in 2023-24 and are under contract for 2024-25.
Also, there’ll be a future story on who, among eligible female players, makes the grade.
Here are our tiers on the men’s side:
- They could retire today and make it
- Right on the cusp
- Outside shots
- On track
- Check back in a few years
In 10 seasons from 1989-90 to 1998-99, an average of 56.8 future Hall of Famers were playing every year. That means there could be a similar number right now. We have 29 players listed as locks, on the cusp or on-track candidates. That means a good chunk of the “check back in a few years” tier and maybe a few of the outside shot players will eventually get in. Then there are younger players who are impossible to project, plus perhaps some late-blooming players who will surprise us in the coming years.
Now, let’s dig into the players and our rationale for each.
Within each tier, players are listed by position (forwards, defensemen, then goalies), and skaters are sorted from most points to fewest. Goalies are sorted from most wins to fewest.
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Tier 1 – They could retire today and make it
The tier title covers it. These are the players who already have Hall-worthy resumes, even if they never play another game.
There are, of course, differentiators between players in this grouping. Crosby and Ovechkin, for example, are as locked in as an active player could possibly be. There are others in this tier who don’t have the career accomplishments of Crosby and Ovechkin — few do — but are still bound for the Hall of Fame as defining players of their era. Think Patrick Kane and Evgeni Malkin.
We included a pair of skaters, Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon, who are still in their 20s. We’ll get into why we believe they’ve already crossed the Hall of Fame threshold.
Goalies have been notoriously underrepresented in the Hall of Fame, though in 2023, the selection committee sought to remedy that by electing three in one HHOF class (Henrik Lundqvist, Tom Barrasso and Mike Vernon). Assuming that establishes a precedent and the Hall starts to look at goalies more favorably, we have four goalies in this tier.
Crosby is the most-esteemed player of this era and has accomplished just about everything imaginable for a hockey player. Stanley Cup titles? Check. Hart Trophies? Check. Olympic gold? Check, with a gold medal game overtime winner to boot.
Crosby is one of 30 members of the Triple Gold Club (winners of Olympic gold, world championship gold and a Stanley Cup), and The Athletic recently put him at No. 4 on its top 100 players in modern NHL history.
C
Pittsburgh Penguins
Tier 1 – They could retire today and make it
Ovechkin has a chance to break Gretzky’s goals record this season, and he checked in just behind Crosby at No. 6 on The Athletic’s rankings. He has three Hart Trophies and won his first Stanley Cup title in 2018.
LW
Washington Capitals
Tier 1 – They could retire today and make it
Though Crosby is the main face of the most recent era of Penguins hockey, Malkin is right there with him. He won a Hart Trophy of his own and earned the Conn Smythe when the Penguins won the 2009 Stanley Cup, their first of the Crosby-Malkin-Kris Letang years.
C
Pittsburgh Penguins
Tier 1 – They could retire today and make it
Kane’s resume is strikingly similar to Malkin’s. Both have three Stanley Cup rings, a Hart Trophy and a Conn Smythe. Kane was an offensive force during Chicago’s run of three Stanley Cup wins in six years and scored the 2010 championship-clinching goal in overtime of Game 6 against the Flyers. Internationally, he has an Olympic silver.
RW
Chicago Blackhawks
New York Rangers
Detroit Red Wings
Tier 1 – They could retire today and make it
Kopitar was the Kings’ leading scorer during each of their two championship seasons, and he has won both the Selke Trophy and Lady Byng twice. As the Selke indicates, he’s been one of the best defensive forwards of the past 20 years, and his 1,211 career points speak to his well-roundedness.
C
Los Angeles Kings
Tier 1 – They could retire today and make it
Tampa Bay’s recent back-to-back Stanley Cup teams will yield multiple Hall of Famers. Stamkos, who recently left for Nashville in free agency, captained those teams. He’s one of the league’s best goal scorers this century and should blow by 600 goals in the coming years. Of the 29 players ahead of him on the all-time goals list, only three aren’t in the Hall of Fame: Patrick Marleau, who will be an interesting case over the coming years, and Crosby and Ovechkin, who are still playing.
LW
C
Tampa Bay Lightning
Nashville Predators
Tier 1 – They could retire today and make it
McDavid still doesn’t have the trophy he craves the most — the Stanley Cup — but he’s won just about everything else in the NHL, including three Hart Trophies and the most recent Conn Smythe. At 27 years old, he might feel young to be considered a lock, but his resume is already over the finish line and will only get more impressive.
With NHL players not going to the Olympics in 2018 or 2022, neither McDavid nor MacKinnon has gotten a chance to fully bolster their international resumes. That should change in 2026.
C
Edmonton Oilers
Tier 1 – They could retire today and make it
Fresh off a career-best regular season, MacKinnon has established himself as one of the premier players of his generation. He already has more career points than fellow Avalanche great Peter Forsberg, who is in the Hall of Fame. He has a championship, Hart Trophy, Calder and Lady Byng.
C
Colorado Avalanche
Tier 1 – They could retire today and make it
Kucherov hasn’t played as many games as his two fellow Tampa Bay greats, but he was equally, if not more, impactful on the Lightning’s championship runs in 2020 and 2021. Across the NHL over the past eight seasons, only Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Nathan MacKinnon have more points than Kucherov, and that’s with the Lightning winger missing the 2020-21 regular season to injury.
RW
Tampa Bay Lightning
Tier 1 – They could retire today and make it
Of this tier, Karlsson and McDavid are the only players without a Stanley Cup. The Swedish defenseman does, however, own three Norris Trophies. Every other player with multiple Norris Trophies is in the Hall of Fame, save for Duncan Keith, who will get in when eligible.
D
Ottawa Senators
San Jose Sharks
Pittsburgh Penguins
Tier 1 – They could retire today and make it
Hedman was a constant on the Tampa Bay championship teams. He has a Norris Trophy and has been a premier defenseman for over a decade. He’s also one of only 11 defensemen ever to win a Conn Smythe.
D
Tampa Bay Lightning
Tier 1 – They could retire today and make it
Like Kopitar, Doughty was an integral piece on the Kings’ Stanley Cup teams. He has a Norris Trophy, and if there was any doubt on his Hall of Fame candidacy, his international resume likely puts him over the top: He’s a world championship gold away from the Triple Gold Club, but he has a silver medal in that tournament and a World Cup win to go along with Olympic gold and two Stanley Cup rings.
D
Los Angeles Kings
Tier 1 – They could retire today and make it
Fleury has both the individual hardware (three Stanley Cup rings, a Vezina and a Jennings) and the career statistics (second all time in wins, fourth in games played) to comfortably solidify himself in this tier. The 2003 draft class features plenty of interesting Hall of Fame cases, but Fleury’s leaves no room for debate. He’s in.
Goals against average
2.60
G
Pittsburgh Penguins
Vegas Golden Knights
Chicago Blackhawks
Minnesota Wild
Tier 1 – They could retire today and make it
Bobrovsky and Jonathan Quick are closely comparable. Bobrovsky is 14th all time in wins, Quick is 15th. Bobrovsky won two Vezina Trophies in Columbus and then got over the Stanley Cup hump this past year, after starring for Florida in the Panthers’ 2023 run to the Final. He’s four wins shy of 400, and carries a career save percentage of .915. Even though he can occasionally have an erratic stretch, his overall resume is Hall of Fame caliber.
Goals against average
2.59
G
Philadelphia Flyers
Columbus Blue Jackets
Florida Panthers
Tier 1 – They could retire today and make it
Quick won the Stanley Cup twice for Los Angeles in 2012 and 2014 as a starter and a third time in 2023 with Vegas as a backup. He won the Conn Smythe in 2012 and the Jennings in 2014 and 2018. He’s a two-time Vezina finalist and a 2010 Olympic silver medal winner as a reserve on the U.S. squad. This past season, he passed Ryan Miller to become the winningest U.S. born goalie. He needs seven more wins next year with the New York Rangers to crack the 400-win barrier.
Goals against average
2.47
G
Los Angeles Kings
Vegas Golden Knights
New York Rangers
Tier 1 – They could retire today and make it
Vasilevskiy is still in the early days of his career compared to the other goalies in this tier — 45th on the all-time wins list, with 293 victories in 477 games played thus far. Of course, that also covers two Stanley Cup championships, a Vezina, a Conn Smythe, two first-team All-Star selections and the perception that he was, for a handful of years, the undisputed top goalie of his generation.
Goals against average
2.56
G
Tampa Bay Lightning
Tier 1 – They could retire today and make it
Tier 2 – Right on the cusp
Players in this tier already have an argument to be in the Hall of Fame right now, and they’ll almost certainly get there with more time.
Auston Matthews and Leon Draisaitl both fall in this grouping, but we considered moving them up a tier. Players like Pavel Bure (702 games), Peter Forsberg (708 games) and Eric Lindros (760 games) had injury-shortened careers but were so prolific that they made the Hall of Fame, and Draisaitl and Matthrews both have resumes to rival those players. Would either get in if they never played another NHL game? It feels likely, but for now we have them slightly below their contemporaries McDavid and MacKinnon. Expect Matthews and Draisaitl to join very soon, though.
Others in this group are longtime veterans putting the finishing touches on their career resumes.
The Bruins captain doesn’t come close to the peaks of Matthews and Draisaitl, his fellow forwards in this tier, but he is one of the best wingers of his generation. He has four top-10 finishes in Hart Trophy voting and has made four end-of-season All-Star teams. He won the Stanley Cup in 2011 and has been a staple on contending Bruins teams ever since.
Right now, Marchand’s case is borderline. A few more seasons like his 2023-24 campaign (67 points in 82 games) could push him over the top.
LW
Boston Bruins
Tier 2 – Right on the cusp
Draisaitl has a Hart Trophy, and he’s already played more games (719) than Bure or Forsberg. Though he hasn’t won the Stanley Cup — he and McDavid’s Oilers fell one game short this summer — he has gaudy postseason numbers. He has averaged 1.46 points per game (108 points in 74 games), which is fourth all time behind Gretzky, Lemieux and McDavid among players who have appeared in at least 50 playoff games.
C
Edmonton Oilers
Tier 2 – Right on the cusp
Matthews already has 368 goals at 26 years old. Among players with more than 300 goals, he’s third all time in goals-per-game (0.65). That’s ahead of Gretzky and Ovechkin and behind only Mario Lemieux and Mike Bossy. He’s already won a Hart Trophy and led the league in goals three times. Everyone else with three goal crowns is either in the Hall of Fame or will be (Ovechkin). He has played in only 562 games, which is the only reason he’s not already a lock.
C
Toronto Maple Leafs
Tier 2 – Right on the cusp
Burns is another player from the 2003 draft class likely to make the Hockey Hall of Fame. He is 14th all time in scoring among defensemen, ahead of — among others — Erik Karlsson, Kris Letang, Drew Doughty and Alex Pietrangelo, some of whom are also in this tier.
D
Minnesota Wild
San Jose Sharks
Carolina Hurricanes
Tier 2 – Right on the cusp
Letang is one of the best defensemen of his era and has his name on the Stanley Cup three times with the Penguins, though he missed their 2017 run to injury. He’d likely be a lock with a Norris but never quite took home the trophy, finishing as high as third in 2013 and fourth in 2016. Regardless, he feels bound for the Hall of Fame, and he has four years left on his contract to add to his counting stats. He’s 25th all time in points by a defenseman and could vault into the top 20 this coming season.
D
Pittsburgh Penguins
Tier 2 – Right on the cusp
Josi has some of the individual accolades Letang doesn’t. He’s won a Norris and has finished second in voting two other times. Unlike Letang, though, he has never been on a Stanley Cup winner. That shouldn’t be a deal breaker, and neither should Letang’s lack of individual hardware. It is, however, why we put both in this tier rather than up a grouping with Hedman and Doughty.
D
Nashville Predators
Tier 2 – Right on the cusp
Pietrangelo has three top-five Norris finishes and was the No. 1 defenseman on both the Blues and Golden Knights Stanley Cup-winning clubs. Weber’s recent induction opens the door a bit for players like Pietrangelo, who has more points in fewer games played than the former Canadiens captain. Like both Letang and Josi, Pietrangelo has term left on his contract to continue adding counting stats.
D
St. Louis Blues
Vegas Golden Knights
Tier 2 – Right on the cusp
Tier 3 – Outside shots
These players all have a chance to make the Hall of Fame, though perhaps not a good one. Many will be bound for the imaginary Hall of Very Good.
All the players in this tier have more than 1,000 games played in their career. The heavy lifting on their resumes is done. Some could still add to their cases, though. O’Reilly, Tavares, Giroux and Benn all had 60 or more points last season.
Giroux and John Tavares have similar cases. In the 2010s decade (2010-11 through 2019-20), Giroux was fourth in total points (741) and Tavares was fifth (715). Giroux has three top-five Hart finishes, and Tavares has two third places, both with the Islanders. In Flyers history, Giroux is second to only Bobby Clarke in games played and points, and he reached a Stanley Cup Final with Philadelphia in 2010.
RW
C
Philadelphia Flyers
Florida Panthers
Ottawa Senators
Tier 3 – Outside shots
Tavares has an Olympic gold, has accumulated more than 1,000 points and has a good chance of reaching 500 goals. Jeremy Roenick’s induction could make inclusion possible for players like Tavares, but the Leafs captain still has some work to do before he’s in that territory. Now, if he finds a way to bring a certain trophy to Toronto, his odds will increase substantially.
C
LW
New York Islanders
Toronto Maple Leafs
Tier 3 – Outside shots
Benn’s resume feels a bit behind Tavares and Giroux. He had a strong five-season peak from 2013-14 to 2017-18 in which he averaged nearly a point per game and amassed 172 goals, plus won an Olympic gold. He had only one top-10 finish in Hart voting (third in 2015-16), and there are plenty of Hall of Very Good players who have had similar career outputs. Is Benn more worthy than Keith Tkachuk, Alexander Mogilny, Peter Bondra and Marian Gaborik? None of them is currently in the Hall of Fame.
LW
C
Dallas Stars
Tier 3 – Outside shots
Perry is one of the most fascinating players to consider. He has a Stanley Cup and won the Hart Trophy with a 50-goal season in 2010-11. Internationally, he’s part of the Triple Gold Club. On the surface, that all feels like a Hall of Fame resume, but Perry never had a prolonged stretch of stardom. At this point, he seems unlikely to reach the 1,000-point or 500-goal mark. In recent years, Perry has been a bottom-six player on some of the league’s best teams, reaching the Stanley Cup Final with Dallas, Montreal, Tampa Bay and Edmonton. He hasn’t lifted the trophy, though, since 2007 with Anaheim.
RW
Anaheim Ducks
Dallas Stars
Montreal Canadiens
Tampa Bay Lightning
Chicago Blackhawks
Edmonton Oilers
Tier 3 – Outside shots
O’Reilly has had an exceptional career, and his trophy case includes a Stanley Cup, Conn Smythe Trophy, Selke and Lady Byng, as well as two World Championship golds, plus one from a World Cup. NHLers not going to the Olympics in 2018 and 2022 likely robbed him of a chance at the Triple Gold Club. He’s in the Kopitar, Patrice Bergeron mold but with a bit less offense, having never scored 30 goals in a season or been a point-per-game player. If Rod Brind’Amour isn’t in, O’Reilly feels destined to fall a bit short. That, of course, could change if his game ages well with Barry Trotz’s revamped group of Predators.
C
Colorado Avalanche
Buffalo Sabres
St. Louis Blues
Toronto Maple Leafs
Nashville Predators
Tier 3 – Outside shots
Suter, in his prime, demonstrated great all-around ability, finishing top five in Norris voting three times. However, he made the first All-Star team just once in his career. He’s top 10 in games played by a defenseman with 1,444, a total he’ll add to this coming season with the Blues.
D
Nashville Predators
Minnesota Wild
Dallas Stars
St. Louis Blues
Tier 3 – Outside shots
Carlson has an outside shot because of his three-season span from 2017-18 to 2019-20. He finished top-five in Norris voting all three of those years, made two end-of-season All-Star teams and helped Washington win the Stanley Cup. We considered putting him a tier above with Pietrangelo — his offensive numbers are better — but he isn’t quite at the same level defensively. He seems likely to fall a bit short of induction, but Weber’s inclusion opens the door for candidates like him.
D
Washington Capitals
Tier 3 – Outside shots
Tier 4 – On track
If these players keep doing what they’re doing, they’ll be in.
The problem with Panarin’s candidacy is he got such a late NHL start. Panarin was never drafted (he became eligible in 2010) and thus spent five seasons in the KHL, before a breakout 62-points-in-56 games season for SKA St. Petersburg gave him the chance to sign with Chicago as a free agent. Panarin was an overnight sensation. He won the Calder in 2016 (ahead of, among others, Connor McDavid) and has been a better than a point-a-game player ever since (781 in 672). This past season, he finished fourth in NHL scoring with 120 points, so he is showing no signs of slowing down. He’ll likely need to keep up that pace for another four years minimum, but if he does, he has a chance.
LW
Chicago Blackhawks
Columbus Blue Jackets
New York Rangers
Tier 4 – On track
Picked 25th by Boston in 2014, Pastrnak has a chance to battle Leon Draisaitl as the best player to emerge from that draft class. In 2023, Pastrnak was a finalist for both the Hart and the Lindsay after a 61-goal season, and he’s produced 110 points or more in consecutive NHL seasons. With 727 points in 674 career games, plus gold and bronze medals for Czechia at the world championships, he’d have to fall off a cliff not to make it to the Hall eventually.
RW
Boston Bruins
Tier 4 – On track
With Patrice Bergeron retired, Barkov seems destined to make the Selke Trophy as the NHL’s best defensive forward his personal domain for years to come. Barkov captained the Florida Panthers to the 2024 Stanley Cup and is a reliable point-a-game player whenever he’s healthy. There are elements of both Bergeron’s game and Kopitar’s in the way Barkov plays — with a defensive awareness that matches his offensive abilities. Coaches and teammates love it; you can easily imagine Hall of Fame selection committee members sharing the same sentiment.
C
Florida Panthers
Tier 4 – On track
Rantanen can sometimes get overshadowed in Colorado by his frequent linemate Nathan MacKinnon, but in the same way Jari Kurri contributed greatly to Wayne Gretzky’s scoring achievements, so too does Rantanen to MacKinnon’s. Ever since arriving full-time in the NHL eight seasons ago, Rantanen has scored better than a point a game six times. He’s a 6-foot-4, hard-to-move behemoth, with the sort of great hands you don’t often see on a big man. He’s 570 games into his NHL career, has 617 career points, won a Stanley Cup in 2022 and made the second All-Star team in 2021. Kurri and Teemu Selanne are inarguably the two greatest Finnish-born forwards in NHL history; Rantanen has a chance to join them in the Hall if he can keep up the level of his current play.
RW
Colorado Avalanche
Tier 4 – On track
Only 25, Makar has already won a Calder, a Norris, a Conn Smythe and the Stanley Cup. He’s a two-time first team All-Star and a two-time second team All-Star and has a chance to become one of the all-time greats on defense, even though he’s played only 315 career regular-season games (but scored 336 points in that time, a production level that’s close to what Bobby Orr once did). When Quinn Hughes won the Norris this year, he described Makar as — other than his two brothers — his favorite player to watch in the current NHL. Hard to argue with that sentiment.
D
Colorado Avalanche
Tier 4 – On track
Goalie careers can go off track in unexpected ways, but Hellebuyck has been the model of consistency in what can be an inconsistent position. He has two Vezinas, two first team All-Star selections, one second, a 44-win season, plus a career save percentage of .917. He’s only 53rd on the all-time wins list, so he needs to climb the ladder still, but at age 31, signed for seven more years, it looks as if he could finish in the top 10 if he can keep up his current pace.
Goals against average
2.63
G
Winnipeg Jets
Tier 4 – On track
Tier 5 – Check back in a few years
Each of these players has had an excellent start to his career. It’s too soon to put them in the on-track category, either because they’re too young or because they haven’t quite shown enough yet, but with another season or two they could put themselves in special territory.
Entering the final year of his contract, Marner’s future in Toronto is a major source of conversation around the hockey world. Regardless of if he’s been disappointing in the playoffs, he’s had a remarkable start to his career. He’s eighth in league scoring over the past six seasons and has been a Selke finalist. The next stretch of his career will be fascinating — both from a league and Leafs perspective and in regards to his longer-term legacy.
RW
Toronto Maple Leafs
Tier 5 – Check back in a few years
Tkachuk’s Hall of Fame credentials have gotten a big boost since a blockbuster trade sent him from Calgary to the Panthers ahead of the 2022-23 season. He finished third in Hart voting his first year with Florida and had an exceptional postseason run, leading the Panthers to a Stanley Cup Final appearance. His numbers weren’t as prolific this past season, but he still had 88 points and won his first Stanley Cup ring.
Over the past three seasons, Tkachuk is tied with Rantanen for sixth in the NHL with 301 points. Tkachuk is only 26 and in the thick of his prime with a strong supporting cast in Florida, so there’s plenty of reason to believe he’ll continue putting up All-Star caliber seasons. If he stacks enough of those together, he could be Hall of Fame bound, an honor that has so far eluded his father, Keith, who had 538 goals and 1,065 points in his career.
RW
Calgary Flames
Florida Panthers
Tier 5 – Check back in a few years
Aho does not have the explosive offensive totals of some other players on this list, but he regularly appears on Selke ballots. Fairly or unfairly, his candidacy could come down to if Carolina can ever get over the hump and go on a Stanley Cup run.
C
Carolina Hurricanes
Tier 5 – Check back in a few years
Across the state from Tkachuk, Point has often been overshadowed by Tampa Bay teammates and has never been on an end-of-season All-Star team or finished in the top 20 in Hart voting. He does, however, already have two Stanley Cup wins and three seasons with more than 40 goals and 90 points. He also led the NHL in playoff goals in both 2020 and 2021, scoring 14 in each Tampa Bay run resulting in a championship. Those postseason heroics should be taken into consideration when someday evaluating his case.
C
RW
Tampa Bay Lightning
Tier 5 – Check back in a few years
Eichel is one of the most fascinating players to evaluate in regards to the Hall of Fame. He undoubtedly has the talent to make it and showed he can be the No. 1 center on a championship team in 2023. The big question is if he can stay healthy enough to amass enough of a resume. Through nine NHL seasons, he’s had only one year with more than 80 points (82 in 77 games in 2018-19). He was on pace for more the next season, but it was cut off because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Still only 27, he’ll need to string together a few fully healthy seasons with gaudy numbers to firmly cement himself as a candidate.
C
Buffalo Sabres
Vegas Golden Knights
Tier 5 – Check back in a few years
Jack Hughes just finished his fifth year in the league, so he’s barely eligible for this exercise. His past two seasons show why he was the No. 1 draft pick in 2019. He had 99 points and led the Devils to the postseason in 2022-23, then struggled with injuries this past season but still put up 74 points in 62 games. If he stays healthy, there’s not much that should get in his way.
C
New Jersey Devils
Tier 5 – Check back in a few years
Hughes, still only 24, won his first Norris Trophy this past season after collecting 92 points. He’s already established himself as one of the league’s top defensemen and would arguably go No. 1 in a redo of the 2018 draft.
D
Vancouver Canucks
Tier 5 – Check back in a few years
Fox won his first Norris Trophy in 2021, and he has three other top-five finishes. He spent three years playing college hockey at Harvard, so he didn’t debut until he was 21, but he’s been consistently excellent since his breakout 2020-21 season. If he keeps stringing together top-five Norris finishes, he’ll be hard to ignore when it comes time to evaluate his Hall of Fame candidacy.
D
New York Rangers
Tier 5 – Check back in a few years
McAvoy has two top-five Norris finishes and has shown he can play No. 1 defenseman minutes on an elite-level team.
D
Boston Bruins
Tier 5 – Check back in a few years
Heiskanen has never finished higher than seventh in Norris voting but, similarly to McAvoy, he’s proven he can be a No. 1 defenseman on a title-contending team. He’s played 23-plus minutes a game every season since entering the league, and he’ll be on a Dallas team in position to be a contender for years to come.
D
Dallas Stars
Tier 5 – Check back in a few years
As we discussed earlier, goaltenders have traditionally been underrepresented in the Hall of Fame. If Shesterkin continues on his current trajectory, though, he’ll be a prime candidate to get in. At 28, he’s coming off an excellent playoff run with the Rangers, and he won a Vezina and was a Hart finalist in 2021-22. His numbers that year were astronomical: He had a .935 save percentage and led the league in goals saved above expected by nearly 10 goals, per Evolving-Hockey.
Goals against average
2.43
G
New York Rangers
Tier 5 – Check back in a few years
(Illustration: Sean Reilly / The Athletic; Photos: Matthew Stockman, Dave Sandford, Derek Cain / Getty Images)
