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Should Alfredsson Get the Hockey Hall of Fame Call Tomorrow?

June 23, 2020, 10:12 PM ET [139 Comments]
Michael Stuart
Ottawa Senators Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
The Hockey Hall of Fame is set to announce the Class of 2020 tomorrow afternoon, and Ottawa Senators fans are wondering if this is the year that will see Daniel Alfredsson get the nod. Eligible since 2017, Alfredsson has been unsuccessful in the previous three years. Could 2020 finally be his year?

The reality of the situation is that *2017* should have been his year. By any individual metric, Daniel Alfredsson is a Hall of Fame-worthy player. He tallied over 400 goals and 1,100 points in the NHL. He was a six-time all-star in the NHL. He won the Calder Trophy in 2006. He won the King Clancy Memorial Trophy and Mark Messier Leadership Award during his tenure in the league. The one knock against Alfredsson in the eyes of some is his lack of NHL team success, but it hardly seems fair to malign such an exemplary career on that basis. If the Senators had won the Stanley Cup in 2007, this conversation of “will he or won’t he get in” isn’t happening today. Let's not forget that he won a Gold Medal with Team Sweden at the 2006 Olympic Games. His career is deserving of induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Beyond the subjective case to be made, objectively it’s quite clear that Alfredsson fits in with existing Hall of Fame members. Per Wikipedia’s tabulation of stats, only five retired players with more career points than Alfredsson aren’t in the Hall of Fame, and many with fewer career points than Alfredsson are in the Hall of Fame. When you adjust for era and consider just how dominant he was for such a long stretch of time, Alfredsson’s career stands out among his peers:

Unfortunately, if The Athletic’s informal poll of media members is any indication, it seems like there’s a decent chance that Alfredsson will once again be left on the sidelines when tomorrow’s names are announced. While Marian Hossa, who was a phenomenal but slightly less productive player than Alfredsson, seems to enjoy broad support from the hockey community, Alfredsson’s case has remained a difficult sell in certain circles.

Regardless of what happens tomorrow, weeks in advance of a Hall of Fame announcement like this provide a nice opportunity to remember the careers of franchise-defining players. Daniel Alfredsson was one of those players for Ottawa.

As always, thanks for reading.

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