Projecting the 2024 Hall of Fame class: Weber, Datsyuk headline newly eligible candidates

The 2023 Hall of Fame Class, officially inducted Monday night, more or less blew up the model for what we can expect from the selection committee going forward. Obvious first balloter Henrik Lundqvist got in, as did the overqualified Caroline Ouellette. But after the Hall dusted off longtime omissions Tom Barrasso, Mike Vernon and Pierre Turgeon, arguably bypassing a few more-qualified candidates, all bets are officially off. Anything can happen. The sixth or 11^th-most qualified player could get the next fateful June phone call before the most qualified does.

It might not be fair, but it’s fun. With the anything-goes mentality in mind, whom might the Hall of Fame select for 2024? Consider this tiered list of candidates.

FIRST-BALLOT WORTHY

Pavel Datsyuk

The Magic Man deserves to slide into the Hall in his first year of eligibility, as smoothly as he slid pucks past goaltenders while embarrassing them with toe drags on breakaways. Datsyuk was one of the most complete players of his generation, winning three Selke Trophies, four Lady Byng Trophies and two Stanley Cups while playing his entire career with the Detroit Red Wings (rights being traded to Arizona notwithstanding). He’s the only player in NHL history to win three Selkes and finish top 10 in scoring three times. The Russian Factor could hold him out as the invasion of Ukraine continues, but Datsyuk might be too qualified for the politics to hold him out. The selection committee would be tipping its hand by doing so.

NARRATIVE PICK

Henrik Zetterberg

Zetterberg’s numbers don’t pop as much as some other prominent Hall of Fame candidates’, suppressed by spending a significant portion of his career in a low-scoring era. He’s not a 1,000-point scorer or even a 400-goal scorer, and he’s a one-time second-team all-star. But he’s one of the best playoff performers of his era, a Conn Smythe Trophy winner, a consummate pro who played a brainy two-way game. The Hall has a history of getting “cute” with its classes – such as when inducted Daniel and Henrik Sedin and longtime teammate Roberto Luongo in 2022 – so, if Zetterberg is going to get in sooner or later anyway, it might make sense to induct him with his longtime teammate and friend Datsyuk. They accomplished everything in their NHL careers side by side, so they might as well enter the Hall that way, too.

ONLY A MATTER OF TIME

Shea Weber

Weber is the Brad Park of his generation, a perennially dominant defenseman who accomplished everything but win the Norris and the Stanley Cup. Weber finished as a Norris finalist four times and a runner-up twice. He was a two-time first-team all-star and two-time second-team all-star. He played in a Stanley Cup Final. He won Olympic gold twice. He was neck and neck with Zdeno Chara for the hardest shooting players of their era. From Weber’s debut season of 2005-06 through his final season of 2020-21, no blueliners scored more than his 224 goals. He was big, mean and well-rounded. Whether he gets one or not, he deserves a first-ballot induction.

Jennifer Botterill

Keeping in mind that the Hall has two spots for women each year: it’s inexcusable that Botterill remains on the outside looking in. She won three Olympic gold medals and five World Championships for Canada and is a two-time MVP at the Worlds. She’s also the first and only two-time winner of the NCAA’s Patty Kazmaier Award as the top Div. I player. She is beyond overqualified for her Hall call at this point.

THE PEOPLE’S PICKS

Curtis Joseph

If you aren’t familiar with the work of the great Paul Pidutti: he has taken pro hockey career analysis to a new level with Adjusted Hockey, his meticulously researched system that lays out players’ Hall of Fame cases in tremendous detail. According to Pidutti’s player card, Joseph ranks among the biggest snubs of all. He never took home a Vezina Trophy or Stanley Cup, but he graded out as the top goalie twice, a top-five goalie five times and a top-10 goalie eight times and sits fourth on the all-time wins list to boot. That Vernon and Barrasso got in before him suggests a bias toward championships. Joseph was better for longer.

Alexander Mogilny

International tensions have perhaps made the Hall wary of inducting Russians, but that argument makes little sense for Mogilny, who would be celebrated in this case for defecting from the Soviet Union. His resume as a dominant scorer warrants an induction to boot. He’s the most glaring Hall omission, according to Pidutti. Maybe Datsyuk’s overwhelming case will open the door for another Russian to get in with him.

OTHER NOTABLE FIRST-TIMERS

Ilya Kovalchuk

It’s the Hockey Hall of Fame, not the NHL Hall of Fame? Really, Kovalchuk should be a first-balloter when you factor in his KHL and international accomplishments on top of what he did in North America. He buried 443 goals in 926 NHL games, leading the league once and finishing top-10 eight times. Only Alex Ovechkin did it better while Kovalchuk was an NHLer. Had he not walked away for six years, he’d be an easy 500- and probably and easy 600-goal scorer. He was also underrated for his overall impact on the ice. He averaged more than 23 minutes per game during his four seasons with the New Jersey Devils before he left for Russia.

Pekka Rinne

The career Predator becomes an immediate threat to leapfrog CuJo. Rinne has a Vezina, he’s a four-time Vezina finalist, and he cracks the all-time top 20 in wins and save percentage. He led the league in wins once and shutouts twice to boot.

Patrick Marleau

If we’re honest with ourselves: Marleau was a Hall of Very Good player for pretty much his whole career. But when you amass 566 goals, 1,197 points and play the most games of any player, ever, you craft a unique Hall of Fame resume. He wouldn’t get into my Hall of Fame, but I fully expect him to meet the Hall’s standard and get the call eventually. Maybe he will go in with Joe Thornton a few years from now.

Ryan Miller

Miller’s case is quite similar to Rinne’s, dotted with a single Vezina and the 14^th most wins in NHL history. International play is admissible for the Hall, don’t forget, and Miller’s performance at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics was so memorably awesome that it earned him the tournament MVP. That could break a tie between him and Rinne or Joseph.

PREVIOUSLY OVERLOOKED

Sergei Gonchar: 18^th all-time in points among D-men despite playing much of his career in the Dead Puck Era.

Patrik Elias: Consistently great, 1,000-plus points, would’ve had sexier totals in the higher-scoring era, multiple Stanley Cup rings with the Devils.

Julie Chu: Five World Championships, three Clarkson Cups, Clarkson Cup MVP, played forward and defense at different stages of her career, Red Kelly style.

John LeClair: At least people fight for Mogilny; LeClair might be the most under-the-radar omission of anyone. He was a dominant goal-scorer during the lowest-scoring era. Pidutti breaks it down here.

Meghan Duggan: Non-stop winner who piled up World Championship golds, won Olympic gold and was instrumental in helping secure equitable treatment for the U.S. women’s national team in 2017.

Rod Brind’Amour: If Guy Carbonneau is in with three Selkes, what about Brind’Amour with two Selkes and 521 more points?

Jeremy Roenick: Now that Turgeon is in, Roenick is the top-scoring player among all eligible candidates outside the Hall with 1,216 points.

Keith Tkachuk: One of three players in NHL history with 500+ goals and 2,000+ PIM.

Builder category

Fran Rider

Where would the women’s game be today without Rider? She founded the Ontario Women’s Hockey Association in 1975 and the Canadian national championship in 1982. She lobbied for the IIHF to recognize the Women’s World Championship starting in 1990. Olympic participation? Clarkson Cup? Isobel Cup? PWHL? No single person is more responsible for these achievements than Rider. Her omission from the builder category is as glaring as any in the player category.

Predicted Class of 2024

Pavel Datsyuk
Henrik Zetterberg
Shea Weber
Jennifer Botterill
Alexander Mogilny
Fran Rider (Builder)