Does Kris Letang fall into the category of a Hall of Famer to you?

[Crosby2010]

The classic X-factor guy, I think. So much of his career shows you he is a HHOFer, and then there are those undeniable gaps. And it leaves you wondering if he did enough in between those injury riddled years and those gaffe-inducing post seasons the Pens had in between their Cups.

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[Jumptheshark]

last thread on the topic.

Letang for the HoF?

What do you think, is he a Hall of Famer? No Norris but 2-time 2nd team All-star , won 3 cups, and by the time he retires should have 600-700 points or more. I feel like he's in the Zubov class of player, but feel free to explain why/why not and what kind of comparables you have for him.

forums.hfboards.com

 

[orby]

Letang has had a long and mostly great career - talk about overcoming personal adversity! - but I think he certainly has a borderline case at best for the HHOF. I wouldn't put money on him getting in.

I wouldn't rule out the Pens retiring his number, though, even if it's just a feel-good "butts in seats" move during the post Crosby doldrums.

 

[Montreal Shadow]

Letang has had a long and mostly great career - talk about overcoming personal adversity! - but I think he certainly has a borderline case at best for the HHOF. I wouldn't put money on him getting in.

I wouldn't rule out the Pens retiring his number, though, even if it's just a feel-good "butts in seats" move during the post Crosby doldrums.

Huh? Pretty much guaranteed the Pens retire his number, no?

 

[orby]

Huh? Pretty much guaranteed the Pens retire his number, no?

The Pens almost never retire numbers. They have only done it 3 times in franchise history.

 

[seafoam]

PIT HoF'er but not an Hockey Hall of Famer IMO.

 

[895]

he had two great seasons and maybe 5 or 6 good ones. Not enough.

 

[Erik Alfredsson]

He'll for sure get in. He was the #1 dman of the Crosby era Penguins that won 3 Stanley Cups (even though he was only the #1 dman for one of those cups). He'll finish his career with 1000+ games played and 700+ points. He won't be the best dman in there, but he'll for sure make it in, there are defensemen with weaker resumes than him already in there.

 

[roflstomper]

He's one step below being in the Hall of Very Good.

 

[DitchMarner]

They may want more than two players in the Hall from those Cup-winning Pens teams. If Fleury doesn't get in (I'm almost certain he will), I can see Letang being inducted. Maybe both will be.

 

[centipede2233]

Welcome to the hall of very good Kris. He played his prime in an era where he didn’t win a single Norris but guys like burns, subban and giordano did. Letang likely played against some of the weakest competition for Norris in the past 40 years and still couldn’t win one.

 

[TheDawnOfANewTage]

He'll for sure get in. He was the #1 dman of the Crosby era Penguins that won 3 Stanley Cups (even though he was only the #1 dman for one of those cups). He'll finish his career with 1000+ games played and 700+ points. He won't be the best dman in there, but he'll for sure make it in, there are defensemen with weaker resumes than him already in there.

Will be interesting, but I kinda lean towards this argument. I don’t necessarily agree with it, but once he’s retired I think voters will see it more in that light.

 

[BobCole]

I love the guy but in my mind he's a "hall of very good." With that said, I wouldn't be shocked if he eventually slipped in.

 

[Gregor Samsa]

I’m personally a small HOF guy, basically only the few very best of an era should get in. That ship has sailed though in reality. He could certainly get in on a down year but he’s down the list of best defensemen that played while he played

 

[BertCorbeau]

Team success will help him get in at some point

 

[PlushMinus]

They may want more than two players in the Hall from those Cup-winning Pens teams. If Fleury doesn't get in (I'm almost certain he will), I can see Letang being inducted. Maybe both will be.

There is no "if" - Fleury is guaranteed induction to HHOF.

Letang not 100 percent sure, but wouldn't be surprised.

 

[These Are The Days]

I miss the Letang man crush/love story. That was peak HF

 

[FunkySeeFunkyDo]

745 points in 1094 regular season games. 90 points in 149 playoff games. Best Norris finishes: 3, 4, 6, 6, 7, 8, 9, 9, 17. Masterton. I don’t know the formula, but to me, that’s a not first ballot hall of famer.

 

[Gil Gunderson]

Not really, but since Phil Housley and Doug Wilson are in, it’s pretty hard to argue against Letang being in as well.

 

[These Are The Days]

Also Letang is Hall Of Very Good like a Lecavalier at his peak but it would not surprise me if playing next to 1st ballot HHOFers in Crosby and Malkin will probably be enough to get him in despite how ridiculous that is

 

[Dr Robot]

The first penguin to make it into the hall.

 

[Erik Alfredsson]

Welcome to the hall of very good Kris. He played his prime in an era where he didn’t win a single Norris but guys like burns, subban and giordano did. Letang likely played against some of the weakest competition for Norris in the past 40 years and still couldn’t win one.

He was always injured, he never played enough games to win a Norris.

And while Burns, Subban, and Giordano were weak competition, he was also competing against guys like Karlsson, Doughty, Keith, and Hedman, who are just as good as the top defenseman from any era.

 

[kingsholygrail]

Is he better than Lowe? If so, yes.

 

[Nogatco Rd]

No but he'll get in anyway

 

[SomeDude]

Is he better than Lowe? If so, yes.

If that was actually a standard, there would be like 1200 d-men in.

As someone who has watched Letang’s whole career, there’s not a chance I would put him in the HOF.