With the Hockey Hall of Fame Class of 2019 of Hayley Wickenheiser, Guy Carbonneau, Vaclav Nedomansky, Sergei Zubov, Jim Rutherford and Jerry York being inducted Monday, the induction debate turns to the 2020 Class.

TSN.ca takes a look at the players eligible to join hockey’s most prestigious club in a year’s time.

 

First year of eligibility

Jarome Iginla

Arguably the most prominent name among players in their first year of eligibility for the Hall of Fame, Iginla boasts an impressive resume in both the NHL and internationally.

Iginla finished his 20-year NHL career with 625 goals and 675 assists in 1,554 games spent mostly with the Calgary Flames. He twice won the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy, leading the league with 52 goals in 2001-02 and tied for the lead with 41 goals in 2003-04. Iginla also won the Art Ross Trophy and Lester B. Pearson Trophy after his incredible 2001-02 season.

On the international stage, the 41-year-old is an gold medalist at every stage, highlighted by his Olympic gold medals from 2002 and 2010 with Team Canada. Iginla also won gold at the World Junior Championship in 1996, the World Championship in 1997, and the World Cup of Hockey in 2004.

Shane Doan

Doan is another player with a long track record of representing Canada on the international stage. He won gold medals at the 2004 World Cup of Hockey and the 2003 and 2007 World Championship, and has silver medals from the 2005, 2008, and 2009 World Championship.

Doan played 21 seasons in the NHL, all for the same organization. He played one season for the original Winnipeg Jets after the team drafted him in 1995, before 20 seasons with the Phoenix/Arizona Coyotes. Doan finished his NHL career with 402 goals and 570 assists in 1,540 games.

The 42-year-old won the King Clancy Memorial Trophy after the 2009-10 season and the Mark Messier Leadership Award after the 2011-12 season.

Marian Hossa

Hossa is eligible for induction after a 19-year NHL career split between five teams. Hossa finished his career with 525 goals and 609 assists in 1,309 games, but experienced his most success with the Chicago Blackhawks where he claimed all three of his Stanley Cups.

The 40-year-old appeared in the post-season in 17 of his 19 NHL seasons.

Hossa also played for Slovakia on the international stage at the World Juniors, World Championship, World Cup of Hockey, and Olympics.

 

Previously eligible

Daniel Alfredsson

It was a little surprising to see Daniel Alfredsson miss the cut in 2018, but he could work his way in next year. His 444 goals rank 62nd all-time and he is the Ottawa Senators’ franchise leader in virtually every offensive category.

The 45-year-old, whose career came to and end with the Detroit Red Wings in 2014, posted 1,157 points in 1,246 games. He won the Calder Trophy as a rookie with the Senators in 1996 and served as team captain from 1999-2013.

Internationally, he owns an Olympic gold and silver medal, with 27 points in 26 Olympic contests for Sweden.

Patrik Elias

Rarely does anyone make it to 20 years in the NHL – let alone with one team. Patrik Elias is one of those rare cases, playing 20 seasons all for the New Jersey Devils.

Elias only posted more than 81 points in a season once – tallying 96 in 2000-01 with 40 goals and 56 assists – but his consistency over two decades in the league is impossible to ignore.

So is his impact on the Devils. He is the franchise leader in goals (408), assists (617), points (1,025) and game-winning goals (80). His 1,240 games played for the team rank third in franchise history behind Ken Daneyko (1,283) and Martin Brodeur (1,259).

He also led the Devils to two Stanley Cups, one in 2000 and the other in 2003 alongside Hall of Famers Scott Stevens and Brodeur.

Curtis Joseph

The Hall of Fame debate has waged on for years with Curtis Joseph, but considering he has more wins (454) than other HHOF goaltenders Terry Sawchuk (445), Jacques Plante (437), Tony Esposito (423) and Grant Fuhr (407), he has a compelling case.

Over a 19-year career, Joseph posted a 454-352-96 record. His .906 save percentage ranks 67th all-time, while his 2.79 goal-against average ranks 90th. He ranks 24th in league history with 51 career shutouts.

“Cujo” had at least seven seasons with 30-plus wins and a career GAA of 2.79. But the absence of a Stanley Cup or a Vezina Trophy might be what’s held him back over the years.

Vincent Lecavalier

Another one of the top first-year candidates is former Tampa Bay Lightning captain Vincent Lecavalier.

Over 17 seasons and 1,212 games, he tallied 949 points (421 goals, 528 assists). He sits atop the Lightning’s franchise leaders in regular season goals (383), games played (1,037) and is second in assists (491) to Martin St. Louis’ 588. His best season came in 2006-07, when he scored 52 goals en route to winning the Rocket Richard Trophy.

If he gets the call, it will be the third straight year a member of the Lightning’s 2004 Stanley Cup-winning team will receive a nod with St. Louis set to be inducted in 2018 and Dave Andreychuk entering the Hall of Fame in 2017.

Lecavalier closed out his career in 2015-16, playing in 42 games for the Los Angeles Kings following an early-season trade with the Philadelphia Flyers.

Alexander Mogilny

While he might not have been able to maintain it over the course of his 16-year career, Alexander Mogilny scored a whopping 76 goals with the Buffalo Sabres in 1992-93 and followed that up with 55 a few years later.

Mogilny retired in 2006 with 473 goals and 1,032 points in 990 career games over 16 seasons.

His career totals might be inflated by a couple world-class seasons, but Mogilny was a member of New Jersey’s Stanley Cup winning team in 2000. He also won the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2003.

Brad Richards

Brad Richards – Lecavalier’s teammate from the 2004 Cup team – is also up for induction. Richards won the Conn Smythe Trophy in 2004, which bodes well for his case. Of all the skaters who have won the award and are eligible for the Hall, only Butch Goring and Claude Lemieux have not been inducted.

In 15 NHL seasons spent mostly with the Lightning, Dallas Stars and New York Rangers, Richards posted 298 goals and 634 assists in 1,126 regular season games. He and St. Louis share the Lightning’s season record for assists with 68.

Richards also won a second Stanley Cup with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2015. For his playoff career, he averaged just over a point per game with 18 goals and 29 assists over 45 postseason contests.

Richards finished his career with the Detroit Red Wings.

Jeremy Roenick

Jeremy Roenick has been waiting for his call to the Hall since 2012. If it hasn’t come by now it may never come, but his mix of talent and personality makes the debate rage on.

While he never won a major individual award or a Stanley Cup, he did tally 513 goals and 1,126 points over 20 seasons, including a run of at least 100 points in three straight seasons from 1991 to 1994.

Roenick, who played 1,363 career NHL games, was a nine-time All-Star during his career and ranks 16th in league history with 92 game-winning goals.

The original version of this story was first published on June. 25, 2019.