Hockey Hall of Fame tiers: Which active NHL players are on course for induction? (2024)

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Tampa Bay Lightning

Nashville Predators

Tier 1 - They could retire today and make it

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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 defensem*n ever to win a Conn Smythe.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Tampa Bay Lightning

Tier 1 - They could retire today and make it

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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.

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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.

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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 defensem*n, ahead of — among others — Erik Karlsson, Kris Letang, Drew Doughty and Alex Pietrangelo, some of whom are also in this tier.

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Minnesota Wild

San Jose Sharks

Carolina Hurricanes

Tier 2 - Right on the cusp

Letang is one of the best defensem*n 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.

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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.

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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.

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St. Louis Blues

Vegas Golden Knights

Tier 2 - Right on the cusp

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Washington Capitals

Tier 3 - Outside shots

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Winnipeg Jets

Tier 4 - On track

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.

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Toronto Maple Leafs

Tier 5 - Check back in a few years

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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 defensem*n and would arguably go No. 1 in a redo of the 2018 draft.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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New York Rangers

Tier 5 - Check back in a few years