The Hockey Hall of Fame induction ceremonies concluded Monday night with the seven-member class of 2023 officially welcomed to the Hall at the lavish annual schmoozefest in Toronto.
Naturally, that begs the question: Who’ll be enshrined in 2024?
It’s a complex question, largely because there are at least six players eligible for the first time in 2024 who should eventually make it to the Hall.
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The problem is two are Russians and one of them, Pavel Datsyuk, would probably be as close to a shoo-in, if not for the fact that the war in Ukraine continues to rage. My understanding is that fact may prevent Russian players from getting into the Hall, as the committee could take a stand similar to the one that has kept Russian teams from participating in major international events.
Officially, nationality doesn’t matter — and the selection committee has gone to great lengths in recent years to include European-born players that might have been overlooked in the past. But the Hall is also all about telling feel-good stories and there’s not much feel-good going on geopolitically. It’s partly why two eligible and deserving Russian players — Alex Mogilny and Sergei Gonchar — haven’t had the call yet. But those two didn’t make it before the war started, so that’s allowed the Hall to skirt the issue.
And you could argue that the second eligible Russian — Ilya Kovalchuk — isn’t necessarily a first-ballot Hall of Famer either, though he’ll get consideration at some point.
But Datsyuk?
Datsyuk will be hard to overlook. He made it into the NHL’s top 100 players of all time in the 2017 poll, and Datsyuk was No. 43 in our NHL99 project, in which we tried to select the top 100 players of the modern NHL era.
So it would be a noteworthy omission if Datsyuk didn’t make it in his first year of eligibility.
Under HHOF bylaws, up to four candidates in the male player category can make it to the Hall and up to two candidates in the female player category. In addition, the Hall can elect up to two builders or one builder and one candidate in the referee/linesman category.
In addition to first-year eligibles, any player who has been passed over can be nominated again. Some prominent names there include: Mogilny and Gonchar, Rod Brind’Amour and Henrik Zetterberg, Patrick Elias and Keith Tkachuk, Jeremy Roenick and Theo Fleury, plus goaltenders Chris Osgood, Mike Richter, Curtis Joseph and others.
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In the female player category, it’s going to get increasingly crowded, with several standout players such as Shannon Szabados, Meghan Duggan and the Lamoureux sisters, Monique and Jocelyne, all having been retired long enough now to get consideration. And that doesn’t include players who’ve been passed over in recent years such as Jen Botterill or Natalie Darwitz.
Let’s look at the male player category first, beginning with the first distinction: It’s not the NHL Hall of Fame, but the Hockey Hall of Fame, so a player’s international resume counts too.
In Datsyuk’s case, he last played in the NHL with the 2015-16 Detroit Red Wings and had a credible 49 points in 65 games. After that, he played five full seasons in the KHL, completing his career with Yekaterinburg Automobilist in 2020-21. He won seven NHL trophies — four Lady Byngs, three Selkes — was a member of Detroit’s 2002 and 2008 Stanley Cup teams, and was a lynchpin on a Red Wings’ team that never missed the playoffs in his 14 years in the organization. He’ll get in. The only question is when.
When the NHL introduced the salary cap in 2005-06, it created something of a thorny issue for the Hall of Fame because nowadays, players who have long ago hung up their skates, can linger on a team’s payroll because salary is still owed to them. In 2015, the HHOF clarified its stance — that a player does not have to be officially retired to be eligible for selection. As long as they haven’t played any hockey in three years, they can be considered. It’s how Chris Pronger made it in 2015, even though he was still getting paid.
Shea Weber last played in the NHL in the 2020-21 season — 48 regular-season games and 22 more in the playoffs for the Montreal Canadiens and officially, is now on the Arizona Coyotes’ payroll on injured reserve. But Weber is a seven-time NHL all-star, a three-time Norris Trophy finalist, and internationally won the world juniors, the world championships, two Olympic gold medals and the 2016 World Cup. He is known for the velocity of his shot and the rugged physical style he played. Among the first-year eligibles, he has the best chance of making it in right away.
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In 2023, after years of overlooking goaltenders, the HHOF elected three — Henrik Lundqvist, Mike Vernon and Tom Barrasso. In 2024, two more could join their ranks, beginning with Ryan Miller, who retired after playing 16 games for Anaheim in the 2020-21 season. In all, Miller played 796 games over 18 seasons, is 14th all-time in wins and his 391 NHL victories are the most ever by a U.S.-born goalie. He was also named MVP of the 2010 Olympics, leading the United States to a silver medal. Miller will be slightly favored over …
Pekka Rinne played his entire career for the Nashville Predators and won the 2018 Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s top goalie. He produced a .917 career save percentage and a 369-213-75 overall record. He is a four-time all-star and helped Finland to a silver medal at the 2014 world championships. Both Miller and Rinne have HHOF credentials, it’s just a matter of time for both.
Patrick Marleau will be a tricky name for the selection committee to consider because there is often a debate about whether the Hall should be reserved for the truly great, or it’s enough to be part of the very, very good. In Marleau’s case, his greatest appeal will be longevity. In his final season, Marleau passed Gordie Howe to become the all-time leader in NHL games played (1,779). Howe played 1,767 in the NHL and 419 more in the WHA. In 23 seasons, Marleau produced 522 goals and 589 assists, respectable totals that will have him under consideration for sure. But he only exceeded the 80-point threshold twice in his NHL career (2006 and 2010). That singular distinction — of playing the most games in NHL history — might tip the scales in his favor. But it’s not a sure thing. And it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him have to wait a year or two to get in. Maybe he’ll make it in when Joe Thornton eventually becomes eligible in 2025.
Meanwhile, as noted above, the female player category could also get more controversial because current HHOF rules specify a maximum of two candidates per year — and the field of eligible players is getting increasingly deep.
Kim St-Pierre became the first goalie inducted in the female category in 2020, but Shannon Szabados of Canada is arguably the greatest goalie in women’s hockey history — two Olympic gold medals, one silver plus six world championship medals. She’ll be in sooner than later.
Meghan Duggan is honored for winning gold before the game between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Buffalo Sabres at Amalie Arena on February 28, 2018. (Scott Audette / NHLI via Getty Images)Meghan Duggan is as close to a guarantee as you can get. Duggan won Olympic gold in 2018 and silver in 2014 and 2010. She won seven gold medals and one silver at the world championships. She is a two-time Clarkson Cup champion and won the 2011 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Trophy as the best player in U.S. college hockey.
In 2022, the HHOF elected twins Daniel and Henrik Sedin to the Hall of Fame in the same year and at some point, that may also happen for twin sisters Monique Lamoureux-Morando and Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson who — like Duggan, won an Olympic gold in 2018 and silvers in 2014 and 2010. They had six gold medals apiece at the world championships. Their final Olympics had a storybook ending too: Lamoureux-Morando scored the tying goal with less than seven minutes remaining, and then Lamoureux-Davidson scored the decisive shootout goal, leading the U.S. to its second Olympic title and first since the 1998 Nagano Games.
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If Szabados and Duggan make it in 2024, then the Hall can put the Lamoureux sisters in 2025. Of course, that means several worthy candidates who’ve previously been overlooked, such as Botterill and Darwitz, will fall through the cracks unless the HHOF broadens the female player category to include more than two candidates per year.
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(Top photos of Ryan Miller and Shea Weber: Brett Holmes / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images and Mike Carlson / Getty Images)
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