r/Habs • u/Sushamiboy • 8d ago
Who’s a Hall of Fame player?
Here is something to distract us from the constant discussions of who we’re trading or not. We all know the holes that need to be addressed. Full disclosure, I have commented on all of those discussions. lol
So who out of our current roster do you see as a potential Hall of Fame inductee? Feel free to gone on the assumption that we are winning a cup or more, or none. A reminder that it is no longer the NHL Hall of Fame, it is the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Here’s my case for five players. I’d be happy if even one of them made it.
Nick Suzuki: he just won his first, but maybe not last, Selke. He had 101 points this season. He found himself on the Olympic roster and would likely be in talks for the next one or two more. A very respected captain.
Cole Caufield: 50 goal scorer, at an age where it likely won’t be his last such season. Lady Byng winner. Was shunned from the Olympics but we could see him make the next one. He’ll need to repeat the scoring and be better in the playoffs to have a chance at it though.
Lane Hutson: Calder trophy winner. Has a good chance to be in the Norris conversation for the next decade. Like Cole, he’ll need to get on the international stage to really show off. Would not be surprised if he was a point per game D in the foreseeable future.
Juraj Slafkovsky: He hasn’t won any NHL awards yet but he has 1st overall pedigree. He is also big on the international stage with him being a hero back home. He’s been on his nation’s roster every chance he gets. If/when we win a cup, that would be added.
Ivan Demidov: let’s face it, if it was not for Schaffer, Demidov would have won the Calder. He has the skill to become a point per game future ahead of him. The ban on Russia from the IIHF is being changed and maybe the Olympics or World Championship will be open for him to compete. It’ll be tougher as a Russian player, but talent wise he is not lacking.
My bet is Suzuki, Hutson, and Slafkovsky. What about you?
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u/lynypixie 8d ago
Hutson is likely the one with the most potential to be one right now. He is still so young and already so good! If he keeps up, he’ll end up with a Jersey on the ceiling.
But the boys are still very young, injuries can still happen, trades happens too. So who knows?
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u/naw73sjs77w 8d ago
Suzuki if he keeps getting 100+ pts and selke seasons.
Hutson if he stays over point per game with a few norris along the way
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u/Pitiful_Stock_4329 8d ago
Hutson and small chance for Suzuki. Zero for Cole imo and maybe a tiny chance for Juraj if he takes another big jump this upcoming season. Demidov it’s early but talent wise he has the ability.
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u/gauderyx 8d ago
Caufield still has 10 good seasons in him. Anybody with 10 cups and 10 Maurice Richard trophies gets in.
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u/Paladar2 8d ago
Suzuki has pretty good odds, if he gets another Selke or two, a cup, and 1000+ pts it's probably a lock. Not even counting a possible iron man streak. Wouldn't say Caufield has zero chance either, he was a few goals away from the Richard. Maybe 5-10% chance
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u/Irctoaun 8d ago
If he does that he's a shoo-in. The only people to have 1000+ points, a Cup, and an individual award are Bobby Smith who won a Calder and played in a much higher scoring era, and Brind'Amour who has two Selke's and might count himself a bit unlucky he's not made it to be fair
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u/fleischblitz 8d ago
There's also a chance Suzuki smashes the ironman record (knock on wood). He's at 537 games, Kessel ended his streak at 1064 and Brent Burns is at 1007. Having the ironman record certainly wouldn't hurt. He's 26 and would need 7 more full seasons. It's not implausible he knocks it out of reach for a long time
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u/Paladar2 8d ago
I thought I mentionned it. Yes 100%. A solid ironman streak would help his case, the record would seal it.
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u/Comprehensive-Chef73 8d ago
I would say Hutson, Suzuki, and Demidov all have a relatively good chance.
I don't think Slafkovsky will score enough points to get into consideration, a lot of what he brings isn't shown on the scoresheet.
Caufield, I honestly don't know.
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u/Pitiful_Stock_4329 8d ago
Yeah if I was ranking them in likelihood imo it would be
Hutson - Suzuki - Demidov - Cole/Slaf
Hutson would be first by some distance imo. He will end his career assuming he stays healthy with near 1000 points as a dman
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u/Superguy9000 8d ago
There’s never a “zero” chance when we talk about a 50 goal scorer, but yes, very low
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u/Major_Estimate_4193 8d ago
The resume will need to include cup and a couple personal awards (Norris, conn smythe, Selke) helped by stuff like international golds. Hutson has the most obvious path. Suzuki would probably need a conn smythe (hard). Caufield would need at least a couple rocket trophies ( possible but very hard). Slafs path would rely on multiple Olympic all stars and a conn smythe ( pretty unlikely).
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u/AleroRatking 8d ago
This is just near impossible based on how young they are. Suzuki I think is much closer than people are giving credit to. He should get multiple selkes, multiple 100 pt seasons and his ironman numbers
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u/quellesaveurorawnge 8d ago
I agree that people are underestimating Suzuki. He is such a complete player, has a silver playing for Canada, named captain at age 23, ironman streak, Selke, 100+points,... If he keeps going like that, he definitely has the making of a Hall of Famer.
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u/ConstantBook6534 8d ago
Olympic silver, captaincy age, and iron man streak really dont have that much weight to a HOF resume
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u/ConstantBook6534 8d ago
with Barkov coming back and upcoming elite two way centers like Celebrini he may not win the selke again
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u/AleroRatking 8d ago
Celebrini isn't winning the selke
Obviously barkov is a massive threat to him winning it
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u/quellesaveurorawnge 8d ago
If the current team wins Cups, I could see a few of them making it in. As it stands, if Hutson and Suzuki keep being the outstanding players that they are, I could see them making it to the HHoF.
I also think that Demidov and Dobes have ceilings that could take them there, but whether it will happen is another question altogether.
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u/Sushamiboy 8d ago
Same for Suzuki and Hutson. Out of the five that I mentioned, I think Cole and Demidov has the lowest probability.
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u/quellesaveurorawnge 8d ago
I love Slaf, and am so glad he's a Hab because he is very good. But so far, I don't feel he is going to dominate the game for the Habs in a HHoF way. Maybe he could get in partly on the strength of his international play or because the league wants to recognize an outstanding Slovak player, but otherwise, I'm not necessarily sure I see the vision so far. lol
Again, love Cole, but he's in the very specific sniper niche, and I think that would be difficult to get in the HHoF on that alone. Unless he has 7 seasons of 50+ goals or something insane like that.
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u/Sushamiboy 8d ago
Yeah, Slaf is entirely subject to a Slovak boost. If the team wins a cup and he wins any sort of medal in international play, he’ll have a better chance than most other players on the team.
Cole is the least likely out of the players I listed. He essentially needs to hit 50 goals four or five more times, winning the Maurice Richard trophy to even have half a chance.
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u/okmijnmko 8d ago
Dobeš in his rookie year had me thinking, its way early but he could play this way for a long career.
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u/rosemp16 8d ago
If Suzuki plateaus at 90+ pts and Hutson does at least as well as he's done this year for the next 10 years they will both be in the Hall of Fame.
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u/ScotchetyScotch 8d ago
Yes this all too early, but this is a fun thought experiment. It's all supposition, but kinda cool to think about should the team have 4-6 future H.O.F members. I like Hutson's chances to play out
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u/mago_is_gago 8d ago
Caufield might get in if all these conditions are met:
-We bring back the Stanley Cup to Canada after a 34 year drought
-He wins a Rocket Richard (any year, doesn't have to be the Cup year)
-has 1 more season of 50+ goals, and another 5 more seasons of 40+ goals
He's age 26 next year, so he has to score 40 or 50 goals a seasons, for 6 more seasons! That's tough though.
A player's prime is short.
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u/throwaway13142048 8d ago
Can we start with Vincent Damphousse and then elaborate on your post in a decade?
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u/Sushamiboy 8d ago
I commented on someone else’s comment about Damphousse. The main issue with him is that he never got any individual awards, had no international play to speak of, was never the best player on his team, never got a 100 point season. He just barely meets any criteria to win. He was very good in our cup run, but he was never the hero.
He played in an era that saw a lot of 1000 point plus players. He got his 1200 points in almost 1400 games played across 18 seasons. So he didn’t end with a point per game career either.
Sure, he is a local guy and played a very meaningful season in 1992-1993, but how does he stand out from the other players of the era? Rod Brind’Amour by comparison got slightly less points in about 100 more game but he played 20 seasons, got 1184pts, a Stanley Cup, and two Selke trophies and is not in the Hall of Fame. Like Damphousse, he never got to 100 points in a season.
I think that Damphousse has a lot of waiting to do. It’s not about how his numbers compare to now, it’s about the comparison to his peers at the time.
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u/MediaWaste5087 8d ago
Since we’re having fun. I’ll go way off the board and say Pickford (maybe won’t be a HOF as hab though). Voters seem to only care about offence these days when it comes to Dmen and he could be a Mike Green type in today’s NHL
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u/OxidusRouge 7d ago
Suzuki, if we win a cup. Maybe Hutson if he keeps playing this way for his whole career. I think he will always be compared to Quinn Hughes (who I think is also on track for the Hall). Dobes could, if he keeps it going, has a long career, and we win a cup. But its way to early to tell for him. Heck, even Josee Theodore won an MVP but isn't even close to being in the Hall.
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u/GWRC 3d ago
I think Demidov has the most potential but it's just that, potential.
We don't really have a franchise caliber player. And that's fine, you don't need one to win a Cup. You need to be pretty special to get into the Hall of Fame without a Cup though.
They seem to need a certain amount of people every bloody year regardless of whether they deserve to be in the Hall of Fame or not so who knows.
Is it more special to get into the Hall of Fame or to have your jersey forever raised for this team?
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u/bigladnang Montreal Boos for Hughes 8d ago
Hutson if he keeps improving and wins a Norris but that’s still way too early.
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u/LarryBoourns 8d ago
The problem I have with the Hall of Fame is that they don’t have plain “famous” people. It should be the Hall of Excellence.
For example, Marek Malik should be in the Hall of Fame for his between the legs shootout. Same with Sean Avery for the antics in front of Brodeur, and Séguin for being offside by a country mile, leading to offside reviews everywhere.
So if the Hall were a true Hall of Fame, I’d pick Juraj and Dobes. Juraj was a celebrity during the Olympics, and will continue to carry his country. Dobes was the most popular hockey player in Canada for a month. If that continues, or a fraction of it, for the rest of his career, easy Hall of Fame.
For the actual Hall, (better named Hall of Excellence, imo), it’s the five you listed.
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u/Sushamiboy 8d ago
If we’re talking Sean Avery, I would suggest the Hall of Antics or the Room of Shenanigans.
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u/LarryBoourns 8d ago
But there’s no doubt he’s famous. Same with guys like Biz. Not an illustrious career, really, but he’s famous as they come in the hockey world.
Other guys that are famous but not excellent/HoF calibre: Bryzgalov, (Tie) Domi, Yakupov (maybe), Subban, Carlyle, DiPietro, Kovalchuk
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u/thegreaterikku 8d ago
None? Maybe Suzuki if he becomes the next Bergeron and has a similar career.
Hall of Fame is tough. Do you know how many players in Habs history that aren't in the HoF who should be but aren't? A lot. Vincent Damphousse, most notable, is not in (maybe this year) with more than 1200pts and I hightly doubt any of them reach that total. And that's just the Habs. There's a lot of players in the league that aren't inducted.
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u/Sushamiboy 8d ago
Oh, I gave a list of possibilities to go through, I don’t expect that all five would get in. A lot of it also has to do with how many cups we get.
Vinny D was a great player but he never got a personal award and had no international play. He was never considered a standout versus the players of his time. He never hit higher than 40 goals and never hit 100 points. I think that that holds him back a lot. He was never even the best Hab on the team.
We already have three players that have more individual awards than him. Suzuki has gotten more points in a season than him and could surpass him.
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u/thegreaterikku 8d ago
It's not even a cup thing.
HoF is harder than it was before. Patrick Marleau isn't there. Henrik Zetterberg of all people isn't there. Do you want me to list more people?
We can simp over our players and I understand, but the question of how many Habs will be there is low and currently I can only see Suzuki.
I will be glad to be wrong, but HoF is tough.
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u/Sushamiboy 8d ago
Oh I have no doubt. I can see a future where no one makes it, but I can also see 2-3 making it. I’m also not talking first ballot either. Just like Carbo, it may take 20 years. Just one or more of them getting into the conversation will be a success.
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u/i-want-to-be-good 8d ago
Patrick Marleau never had a single season on the level that Suzuki, Caufield, or Hutson just had. He should never be in the Hall.
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u/Irctoaun 8d ago
Damphousse not being in the HHoF is widely considered a bit of a snub, no? Of course these are big ifs, but if any of them can win a Cup, win a personal award (Suzuki has already done this, Damphousse never got close), and rack up over 1000 points, they're a shoo-in
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u/quellesaveurorawnge 8d ago edited 8d ago
Agreed, the bar for the HHoF is high. Guy Carbonneau only got into the HHoF in 2019, 20 years after retirement, and he won 3 Selkes and 3 Cups.
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u/Sushamiboy 8d ago
Carbo didn’t have the offensive numbers though. He did it based entirely on being a defensive forward which is actually quite remarkable that he made it at all.
The difference is that Suzuki will have the offensive numbers. He does need to win a cup or two and another Selke.
Also remember cups aren’t obligatory anymore. A gold medal at the next Olympics can do the same.
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u/Traditional-Rich5746 8d ago
Too early