Does Nicklas Backstrom make the HHOF?

[SeanMoneyHands]

I think there is a strong possibility. What do you think?

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[VeteranPresence]

If Getzlaf gets in then Backstrom has no excuse, but I don't think either should. We're diluting it every year with choices like the last few classes.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

No chance. 0 awards won of any note.

 

[Trash Panda]

Hall of very good.

He just didn’t have an HOF worthy career.

 

[JaegerDice]

Amoung the best of the Hall of Very Good.

No individual awards, one international gold.

 

[Mulletman]

Yes he will, but only because Ovechkin will carry him in! Hopefully Backstrom thanks Ovechkin and says he wouldn't have made the hall of fame without him, just like Paul Kariya thanked Selanne and said he wouldn't have made it without him!

 

[filinski77]

Situation in my opinion where he probably will, but doesn't really deserve it based on what I think the HOF should be.

 

[Hockey Outsider]

Situation in my opinion where he probably will, but doesn't really deserve it based on what I think the HOF should be.

Agreed. He's clearly deserving based on the established precedents, even though ideally I wish the Hall had a somewhat higher bar.

 

[banks]

No. Absolutely not.

He's got over a thousand games played, and over a thousand points. And that's the only thing you can put on a display in the Hall for Backstrom. It seems any player with 1000 games and points gets discussion for the hall, but that just doesn't make sense to me. It's the Hall of Fame. Not the hall of stats.

 

[BrokenFace]

I think he should. He's gonna end up playing a huge role in breaking Gretzky's goal record, which was often called an unbreakable record. Just for that he deserves to be in to me. Add a cup and his solid 2 way play while being glued to a winger notorious for not playing defense and it's enough for me to put him in.

 

[Devil Dancer]

Caps fan voting no.

Love him, but he doesn't have much of a trophy collection.

He was at best the third best forward on the 2018 team.

 

[Video Nasty]

No. Absolutely not.

He's got over a thousand games played, and over a thousand points. And that's the only thing you can put on a display in the Hall for Backstrom. It seems any player with 1000 games and points gets discussion for the hall, but that just doesn't make sense to me. It's the Hall of Fame. Not the hall of stats.

Other reasons he should make it.

1. He was one of the best playmakers of his era, and perhaps even all-time when taking over a hundred years of history into account. Of the 31 players all-time currently ahead of him in assists per game, all but two are in the Hall of Fame, are active sure-fire Hall of Famers, or are tracking to be.

2. As of right now, he’s among a group of just 24 players all-time with at least 9 50+ assists seasons. Every member is in the Hall of Fame or will be.

3. Had scoring finishes of 4, 4, 6, 8, 9. Had assists finishes of 1, 2, 3, 3, 3, 3.

4. The Ovechkin connection. Backstrom is an instrumental reason why Ovechkin isn’t lacking a Cup. Look up a random Ovechkin goal and there’s a decent chance Backstrom is the guy who passed it to him. That covers the fame part singlehandedly, and if someone is racking up assists and points like he was for the first dozen seasons of his career before injuries ate away at him, that brings its own type of fame as well.

5. The Hall of Fame has never been, and thankfully, never will be a place where only the most decorated players are enshrined. I’m thankful that players like Backstrom, or “worse” get inducted all the time, because it helps prevent them from being forgotten.

 

[Crow]

The questions is “Does he make it?”

Not sure seems like the answer here. Surprised so many people are sure. He couldn’t be more borderline to me.

 

[Acallabeth]

Yes he does.

Nick was a top 3 playmaker of his era, led the league in assists once and was routinely top 3, he had a 100 point season in an era when it meant something, he is Ovechkin's iconic setup man.

When he makes it, Nick will be among the weaker HHOF members, but he won't be out of place. I would prefer if the Hall was reserved for the players in contention for the 'best in the world' title, but it is not.

 

[Perfect_Drug]

He's a lock for the HHOF.

Simple math is: the top 40 players in any given decade will eventually get in.

Over the past 25 years, only 21 players have 1000 points. Backstrom is one of them.

Backstrom is 18th in scoring since 2000.

NHL Stats

The official source for NHL Stats including skaters, goalies, teams stats and more.

www.nhl.com

Soo... does anyone have a compelling reason as to why Backstrom is not one of the top 40 players during the decade of his peak? And can you name the 40 players you would put ahead of him?

 

[Crow]

He's a lock for the HHOF.

Simple math is: the top 40 players in any given decade will eventually get in.
If you can name 40 more deserving players during his peak then he won't.

Over the past 25 years, only 21 players have 1000 points. Backstrom is one of them.

Backstrom is 18th in scoring since 2000.

NHL Stats

The official source for NHL Stats including skaters, goalies, teams stats and more.

www.nhl.com

Soo... does anyone have a compelling reason as to why Backstrom is not one of the top 40 players during the decade of his peak? And can you name the 40 players you would put ahead of him?

What makes you think 40 players from his peak will get in?

I’m not sure your simple math is right.

 

[sansabri]

1000 games, 1000 pts? yeah, he goes in

 

[Perfect_Drug]

What makes you think 40 players from his peak will get in?

I’m not sure your simple math is right.

4 players get in each year.

For the simple sake of math, lets say what a player does in a 10 year span is more or less what gets them in or not.

Who are the 40 better players than Backstrom that had a better 10 year stretch than Backstroms 2008-2018?

I'm pointing out that Backstrom was clearly one of the top 40 players for a solid 10 year stretch, which mathematically makes him HHOF-tier.

 

[Crow]

4 players per year get in.

Yeah but their peaks don’t necessarily need to overlap as much as you are saying.

 

[thethirdhockeyman91]

If Shea Weber is a Hall of Famer then yes Backstrom is a Lock

 

[vancityluongo]

backstrom has the stats, but he doesn't have the reputation, awards, or demographics - canadian born, big market/o6 team, big physical intangibles guy, etc.

he also fizzled out due to injuries relatively early. if he was still ovi's center during the past couple years of the goal record chase, that might've been enough of a push. but he probably won't be on the radar as a first balloter... i'd say it's a matter of maybe in a weaker year that he sneaks in

 

[Regal]

Yeah but their peaks don’t necessarily need to overlap as much as you are saying.

It doesn’t really matter, because there would still be roughly 40 inducted over a 10 year span. So guys in their primes in that same 08-18 period might get inducted over a larger span but it would all even out. If you go back to the 90s where most guys are inducted already, there’s around 50 players each season. A few that are pre-prime, a few that are post-prime and then about 40 who are in their primes.

If we go back to say 92-93, there was 52 skaters currently in the Hall, plus 6 goalies. And that doesn’t include Jagr.

 

[Crow]

It doesn’t really matter, because there would still be roughly 40 inducted over a 10 year span. So guys in their primes in that same 08-18 period might get inducted over a larger span but it would all even out. If you go back to the 90s where most guys are inducted already, there’s around 50 players each season. A few that are pre-prime, a few that are post-prime and then about 40 who are in their primes.

If we go back to say 92-93, there was 52 skaters currently in the Hall, plus 6 goalies. And that doesn’t include Jagr.

Damn that’s a hell of a lot more than I thought there would be.

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

He absolutely should not but he will

 

[WillardJFredricks]

If Getzlaf gets in then Backstrom has no excuse, but I don't think either should. We're diluting it every year with choices like the last few classes.

Exactly. There needs to be a higher standard. So many of these guys belong in the imaginary "Very Good Hall of Fame". They need to have the same standard as baseball (which does have a few iffy choices, but not nearly as many as the hockey hall).