With secret nominations and confidential voting, speculation is part of the Hall\u2019s cryptic history. We\u2019re going to do our best to explore the potential new members and project the Class of 2026. Whom might the Committee choose? Consider this tiered list of candidates for the Annual Elections Meeting in June.<\/p>\n
Reminder: There is a maximum of eight inductees each year: four Male Players; two Female Players; and two Builders (or one if a Referee\/Linesperson is selected).<\/p>\n
FIRST-BALLOT WORTHY<\/p>\n
Patrice Bergeron<\/p>\n
In his usual understated way, Bergeron was a hockey pioneer. Sure, there have been other universally respected shutdown guys. There have been two-way forwards who reliably impacted both ends of the ice. But no one did it as well, as long, or as consistently as Bergeron. Bob Gainey? He won his last Selke Trophy at 27 and never topped 47 points in a season. A different player for a different era. Sergei Fedorov? He stopped earning serious Selke votes in his mid-20s. Bergeron, meanwhile, was a Selke finalist each of his last twelve seasons \u2014 from 26 through 37-years-old \u2014 winning the trophy a record six times. He\u2019s the award\u2019s only three-time winner that reached 400 goals or 1,000 points. Bergeron is one of one, the archetype of a coach\u2019s dream. The career Boston Bruin<\/a> should be an easy choice for first-ballot induction.<\/p>\n Noora R\u00e4ty<\/p>\n Kim St-Pierre (2020) remains the only female goaltender in the Hall of Fame. Whether it\u2019s on the first ballot or not, R\u00e4ty should become the first female European goalie. No woman has won Best Goalie at the World Championships more than twice. R\u00e4ty won the award five times. She first earned the honor at age 17, while her fifth award arrived a month before her 30th birthday. R\u00e4ty\u2019s 10 goalie wins are the most in Olympic history, where she led Team Finland to two bronze medals, a notable feat given the Canada\/USA stranglehold on gold and silver.<\/p>\n ONLY A MATTER OF TIME<\/p>\n Carey Price<\/p>\n A year ago, I left Price out of the first-ballot worthy section. In a stacked class with newcomers Joe Thornton, Zdeno Chara, and Duncan Keith, it was easy to see Price getting lost in the mix. That\u2019s what happened. Statistically, Price\u2019s case is far from perfect \u2014 he mixed in some down seasons with the brilliant ones, was physically out of gas by 32, and Montreal<\/a>\u2018s elusive 25th Stanley Cup didn\u2019t materialize. PPS, my Hall of Fame worthiness metric<\/a>, scores him at 299 versus a standard of 293. Peak Price, however, was legendary. From 2013 to 2017: .928 save percentage; Hart, Vezina, Lindsay Trophies; 10-0 record in Olympic and World Cup action. I\u2019d be shocked if Price, an immense talent, wasn\u2019t inducted next year.<\/p>\n OTHER NOTABLE FIRST-TIMERS<\/p>\n Eric Staal<\/p>\n There are lesser players than Staal in the Hall of Fame. In a neutral scoring era, he would have topped 500 goals and approached 1,200 points. The longtime Carolina Hurricane<\/a> won a Stanley Cup at 21 and was a key part of Canada\u2019s 2010 Olympic gold. But Staal never finished top 15 in Hart voting after his sophomore year. He scored six postseason goals after his 25th birthday. He never got another call to a best-on-best event. PPS has Staal at 214 against a forward standard<\/a> of 217 \u2014 borderline and outside the Hall\u2019s edges. That feels right. Contemporaries Henrik Zetterberg (237), Ryan Getzlaf (228), Patrick Marleau (218), and Rick Nash (216) top Staal in PPS and have better or equally compelling cases.<\/p>\n Amanda Kessel<\/p>\n For a time, Kessel was on the short list of best players on the planet. Among those with 40-plus World Championship games, she\u2019s 9th in points-per-game (1.37). The eight above her? Seven Hall of Famers and G.O.A.T. candidate Hilary Knight. Where Kessel\u2019s case goes murky is that between a serious concussion, other injuries, boycotting with the players\u2019 union, and last suiting up at 31, her post-college career was short. Such \u2018what-if\u2019 career types \u2014 call it the Eric Lindros version \u2014 are consistently rewarded in the Male Player category. But with just 14 female players elected, only the most iconic women have plaques so far. As the Hall fills its female backlog, Kessel\u2019s career should get further consideration.<\/p>\n Phil Kessel<\/p>\n Amanda\u2019s brother, Phil, is no slouch, either. The Every Man Iron Man is a fun case. Kessel shrugged convention to exceptional heights. Criticized for his fitness, he played a record 1,064 consecutive games. Pushed out of Boston and Toronto<\/a>, he went to Pittsburgh<\/a>, scored 45 playoff points and won two Cups. Kessel scores 207 in PPS, more Hall of Very Good than Hall of Fame. But even his toughest critic would bump his career up for the iron man feat, Conn Smythe-level playoff runs, and Best Forward nod in Sochi. My gut says that such a polarizing player won\u2019t earn 14 Yes votes from the current 18-person Selection Committee<\/a>. But I think there\u2019s some hope that a future Committee of his peers might one day advocate for Phil.<\/p>\n Rebecca Johnston<\/p>\n While she didn\u2019t have Amanda\u2019s Kessel\u2019s dominant peak, Johnston was a relentless, enduring fixture for Team Canada for 16 years. The only Canadian forwards to play in more World Championships than her 11 events? Marie-Philip Poulin (15) and Hall of Famers Hayley Wickenheiser (13), Jayna Hefford (12), and Caroline Ouellette (12). A tenacious force, Johnston is tied for eighth all-time in Olympic points (26) and ranks 23rd in World Championship points (48). With so few women inducted to date, the bar remains extremely high. Respected, well-rounded players with big career totals cruise into the Hall on the men\u2019s side.<\/p>\n Other first-timer shoutouts:\u00a0two-time playoff points leader David Krejci; 319-game winner Craig Anderson; two-time Jennings winner Jaroslav Halak; 1,000-game club members Paul Stastny, Jakub Voracek, Josh Bailey, Wayne Simmonds, Alex Edler, Derick Brassard; two-time Cup winner Patric Hornqvist<\/p>\n THE PEOPLE\u2019S PICKS<\/p>\n My social media mentions<\/a> are a frequent hub for fans and media to name drop popular holdover candidates \u2014 these are common mainstream picks.<\/p>\n Henrik Zetterberg<\/p>\n Zetterberg continues to headline Most Deserving Players on the Outside conversations. Without context, his totals look light: 337 goals, 960 points. But in a neutral era, that\u2019s 1,069 points in 1,111 games \u2014 a career 79-point pace as a two-way weapon. A Triple Gold club member and Conn Smythe winner, Zetterberg has a\u00a0strong case<\/a>. PPS scores him at 237 in the Qualified tier, the #6 forward among Hall holdovers.<\/p>\n Sergei Gonchar<\/p>\n I\u2019m a longtime backer of Gonchar\u2019s candidacy, outlined here in this 2023 piece<\/a>. He is a brilliant mind and talent whose excellence is lost from playing the Hall\u2019s most under-represented position in the most offensively suppressed era since expansion. Gonchar\u2019s got the highest PPS (281) among eligible blueliners \u2014 above recent first-ballot defenders Zdeno Chara (279), Duncan Keith (258), and Shea Weber (257). It\u2019s time to elect Gonchar. This is a perfect year to make it happen.<\/p>\n Shannon Szabados<\/p>\n Eligible since 2022, Szabados is arguably the greatest physical talent and best puck stopper in women\u2019s hockey history. She played against men at the junior, college, and professionals levels. With an 8-1 record in three Olympic Games, Szabados posted a comical .959 save percentage as two-time Best Goaltender. If Raty enters on the first go, Szabados would be a fantastic choice to join her and Price in a stacked goalie class.<\/p>\n Curtis Joseph<\/p>\n I\u2019ve been pumping Cujo\u2019s tires for a while now. By PPS, he\u2019s\u00a0the #1 most overlooked goalie<\/a>, his score of 322 comfortably exceeding the standard by 30. Absent a Vezina (he finished top-five on five occasions) or Stanley Cup (same with Roberto Luongo and Henrik Lundqvist), Joseph\u2019s long and elite career remains lost amidst the legends of his prime (Patrick Roy, Dominik Hasek, Martin Brodeur).<\/p>\n Keith Tkachuk<\/p>\n Playing the \u2018if this person is already inducted\u2019 game can lead to poor choices through shaky degrees of separation. But Jeremy Roenick\u2019s 2024 induction, a worthy and ultimately celebrated choice, should make Big Walt\u2019s call a formality. Tkachuk led the NHL in goals in 1996-97 and his 538 goals (35th all-time) equate to 584 in a neutral era (27th all-time). By PPS, it\u2019s Tkachuk 257 to Roenick\u2019s 246. Both are qualified.<\/p>\n Meghan Duggan<\/p>\n With Botterill elected, there are many women up for most glaring exclusion. Duggan is a popular choice. Duggan\u2019s per-game numbers don\u2019t sizzle but her r\u00e9sum\u00e9 and impact do. Kazmaier Award. Three NCAA titles. Seven consecutive World Championship gold medals. Captain of 2018 Olympic gold team. Face of Team USA\u2019s near-boycott of the 2017 World Championship seeking fair support for the program. Maybe your pick is Julie Chu? Or Meghan Agosta? Or Karen Bye? Or Jenny Potter? Or Maria Rooth? The female holdover candidates are on another level compared to the male candidates in 2026.<\/p>\n Rod Brind\u2019Amour<\/p>\n I\u2019ve warmed on Brind\u2019Amour\u2019s case. Not on his playing career<\/a> in isolation, to be clear. By High Noon \u2014 my equivalent of golf\u2019s world rankings<\/a> \u2014 Brind\u2019Amour peaked as the #27 forward in the NHL. His PPS is 202, firmly in the Hall of Very Good tier. But it would be a positive, precedent-setting move to elect The Bod as a Builder. Would that make him The Body Builder? Bad jokes aside, the Hall\u2019s current by-laws separate playing and non-playing careers. But if an overall hockey life is worthy \u2014 across playing and coaching\/executive careers \u2014 let\u2019s call them a Builder<\/a> and move on.<\/p>\n THE HIPSTER\u2019S PICKS<\/p>\n If you know, you know. With proper context, these candidates are worthy. The future \u2018Tim Raines\u2019 Hall of Famers that require an open mind to validate.<\/p>\n Patrik Elias<\/p>\n Quietly, Elias was the best offensive player on a Devils<\/a>\u2018 core that made three Cup Finals in four years, winning twice. If you\u2019re after sexy totals, Elias isn\u2019t your man. He played at the worst possible time on the worst possible team for scoring. In a neutral era, his stat line is much different: six 30-goal seasons; four 80-point seasons; career highs of 45 goals and 104 points; career totals of 464 goals and 1,144 points. All while being the two-way conscience of a defensive juggernaut that finished top-10 in goals against each of his first 15 seasons. By PPS, he\u2019s comfortably qualified, parked between Jonathan Toews and Roenick.<\/p>\n Peter Bondra<\/p>\n File Bondra in the Wrong Place, Wrong Time folder for snipers. Had the Richard Trophy been created four years earlier, the electric Washington<\/a> winger would have two in his living room. Bondra scored at a 44-goal pace over a full decade, a long and impressive run of world-class sniping. Perhaps most impressive? Among the 410 members of the 1,000 game club, Bondra ranks fifth in era adjusted goals-per-game (0.49)\u2026 wedged between Bobby Hull and Wayne Gretzky!<\/p>\n Tomas Vokoun<\/p>\n Yes, really. Believe it or not, Vokoun\u2019s career body of work is nearly indistinguishable from Price\u2019s.<\/p>\n Now that you\u2019re cleaning the coffee off your screen, let\u2019s dig in.<\/p>\n Price had an MVP year, a special international career, and a couple of memorable playoff runs. Vokoun got minimal Vezina love, won nine playoff games, and his Czechia teams weren\u2019t best-on-best heavyweights. But there\u2019s little evidence Price was a better goalie. Hidden in Nashville<\/a> and Florida<\/a>, Vokoun\u2019s excellent career earned little fanfare. Yet, he saved 171 goals above NHL average for his shot load (to Price\u2019s 103). That\u2019s 16th-most in NHL history. He was top-five in NHL save percentage four times (to Price\u2019s two). Vokoun also won two World Championships, going 21-5-1 with a bonkers .942 save percentage at the event over his career. Vokoun\u2019s not going to the Hall soon. But maybe he deserves a look\u2026<\/p>\n John LeClair<\/p>\n I\u2019ve highlighted Big John\u2019s dominant prime<\/a> before. It bears repeating: over a six-season window from 1995-2000, LeClair scored at a 48-goal pace in the Dead Puck Era. That same output scaled to Glenn Anderson\u2019s prime? Seasons of 58, 65, 67, 77, 64, and 58 goals\u00a0\u2014 a total of 389 goals in six seasons, or 65 per year. Outside of this period, LeClair\u2019s career was light as he got a late start (four-year NCAA career) and early finish (chronic injuries). But he found time for heroics. LeClair had two overtime goals in the 1993 Cup Finals and a tournament All-Star team nod in the 1996 World Cup \u2014 USA\u2019s only best-on-best title.<\/p>\n PREVIOUSLY OVERLOOKED<\/p>\n Patrick Marleau: No, Marleau was never elite. He did finish fourth and sixth in goals, scoring 44 once. But he reached 80 points only twice despite rarely missing a game. He was good enough to impact two Olympic gold-winning rosters and hung around to score 566 goals in the most games in NHL history (1,779). PPS says he\u2019s right at the standard (+1). I sense few will be excited or disappointed if Marleau slips in one day.<\/p>\n Ryan Getzlaf: Like Price, Getzlaf was lost on a crowded first ballot in 2024. Unlike Marleau, however, the career Anaheim Duck<\/a> was elite, the runner-up to Sidney Crosby for the Hart and Ross Trophies in his signature 2013-14 season. His postseason numbers \u2014 120 points in 125 games \u2014 and three best-on-best international titles are notable separators. At 228 in PPS, Getzlaf isn\u2019t a slam dunk but sits a solid +11 over the standard. He\u2019s a safe bet to eventually enter the Hall.<\/p>\n Florence Schelling: Eligible since 2021, Schelling\u2019s case is Hall-worthy. Her emergence on the Swiss national team at 15 years old (!) delivered a 15-year run of relevance to the program. Schelling had a superb NCAA career (.940 save percentage), but her greatest feats were carrying Switzerland to 2012 World Championship bronze (Best Goaltender) and 2014 Sochi bronze (Tournament MVP). Schelling has a goalie-record 44 Olympic outings (.924 save percentage) and is second to Raty in Olympic wins (9).<\/p>\n Ryan Miller:\u00a0Miller was famously cooking in 2009-10 \u2014 Vezina, fourth in Hart balloting, Olympic MVP. By PPS, he sits right on the borderline and only Joseph, John Vanbiesbrouck, and Price rate above him in the overlooked goalie rankings. But with Vezina votes just twice in 18 years, Miller may not capture the imagination.<\/p>\n 1970s & 1980s Swedish trailblazers:\u00a0The Hall has never known what to do with top European talent that first arrived in North America. With careers weaved across home countries, the WHA, and the NHL, many of the world\u2019s one-time best are the victims of awkward splits. Three Swedes come to mind. Whether current Committee member Anders Hedberg (four 50-goal, 100-point WHA seasons), Kent \u2018The Magic Man\u2019 Nilsson (900 points in 711 games in North America), or H\u00e5kan Loob (Triple Gold Club), there are strong candidates. As part of a little-known balloting clause, should there be fewer players selected than the allowable max, the Committee votes only on nominated candidates eligible for 15-plus years. It\u2019s often why we get the odd throwback choice out of nowhere. In a year low on fresh blood, one of these pioneers could get a surprise call.<\/p>\n BUILDER CATEGORY<\/p>\n Dani\u00e8le Sauvageau became the Hall\u2019s first female Builder in 2025. But perhaps the best Builder candidate of any gender remains 74-year-old Fran Rider. A member of the Order of Canada, Rider is widely considered the most impactful person in the evolution of women\u2019s hockey. The Committee has elected women at a snail\u2019s pace historically, however, making it difficult to expect consecutive female choices in the category.<\/p>\n So, I\u2019m going to suggest two unique additions on the men\u2019s side. First, Francois Allaire, likely the most influential goalie coach in hockey history. Allaire\u2019s methods revolutionized the position, first in Quebec and eventually globally through famed pupil Patrick Roy. Now 70, Allaire was on the staff of three Cup winners \u2014 Roy\u2019s Habs in 1986 and 1993 and J-S Giguere\u2019s Ducks in 2007.<\/p>\n It\u2019s been 11 years since an on-ice official was inducted, one of only two in the 21st century. Why have the category if there\u2019s no longer a sincere attempt to use it? To the chagrin of 1990s Leafs\u2019 fans, I\u2019ll pitch referee Kerry Fraser. The famously well-coifed zebra still holds the NHL record with over 1,900 career games and was assigned a dozen Stanley Cup Finals.<\/p>\n ELECT JAGR?<\/p>\n A regular online movement emerges annually when Jagr extends his career, most recently in October for his 38th professional season. <\/p>\n Since 1999, the Hall\u2019s by-laws prevent the Committee from allowing anyone to skip the line, except in unique humanitarian situations. I\u2019ve written before about who deserves the exemption<\/a>, if it were still allowable. But should there be a rule change to elect Jagr now? Or uphold the wait?<\/p>\n I love the wait. After all, Jagr\u2019s 53 years-old, not 93-years-old. It\u2019s become a universally cool thing to watch him soldier on into his 50s. As his career extends and the wait grows, it only adds to Jags\u2019 legend. In PPS, he\u2019s the #5 most Hall-worthy forward ever behind Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Crosby, and Gordie Howe. What\u2019s a few more years for what will be one of the most hyped inductions ever?<\/p>\n PREDICTED CLASS OF 2026<\/p>\n Patrice Bergeron (1st year)<\/p>\n Carey Price (2nd year)<\/p>\n Sergei Gonchar (9th year)<\/p>\n Kent Nilsson (26th year)<\/p>\n Noora R\u00e4ty (1st year)<\/p>\n Meghan Duggan (6th year)<\/p>\n Francois Allaire (Builder)<\/p>\n Kerry Fraser (Referee)<\/p>\n ELIGIBLE CANDIDATES: STATISTICAL SUMMARY<\/p>\n All-time PPS leaderboards: Top 1,500 Forwards<\/a>; Top 1,000 Defensemen<\/a>; Top 400 Goaltenders<\/a><\/p>\n Data from Hockey-Reference<\/a>;\u00a0Quant Hockey<\/a>; Elite Prospects<\/a><\/p>\n _____<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Class of 2025 was officially enshrined into the Hockey Hall of Fame last night. Their sketched portraits…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":276584,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[433],"tags":[49,48,448,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-276583","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-nhl","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276583","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=276583"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276583\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/276584"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=276583"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=276583"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=276583"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/p>\n
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