If Brent Burns wins the Stanley Cup this year, would this seal his entry to the HHOF?

[dalewood12]

I asked the same question about Jamie Benn last week.

Brent Burns career highlights:

881 career points (14th all time for d-man) in 1,415 career games
1x Norris Trophy winner
3x Norris Trophy finalist
6x All Star Game
2x First All Star Team
1x World Championship Gold
1x World Cup Gold

Click to read more...

 

[TheDawnOfANewTage]

Yes- the bust-maker dude needs a challenge.

 

[Perfect_Drug]

Wow. Tough call

 

[CanadienShark]

I'm voting no. I love Burnsie and would be happy to see him make it. My vote is based on what I think HHOF players should be, not based on the relatively low bar the HHOF actually has. Burns is yet another perfect example of Hall of Very Good. Only truly amazing part of his career is his unique play and ability to be both a 1st line forward and a Norris winner.

 

[tarheelhockey]

I think so.

Yes he feels like a lesser candidate, but that has a lot to do with SJ failing to close the deal when they were loaded. Say he wins that 2016 Cup against the Pens. He would be the #1D on a Cup winner, plus:
- Norris winner, three time finalist
- Two time postseason 1st all star
- Probably finish around 950 career points, roughly 10th all time ahead of Orr and Chelios
- Probably finish around 7th/8th all time in D goals, near Orr and Lidstrom
- He’ll play 1500 career games and could conceivably go much higher. The record for a D is 1680.
- If he continues his iron man streak into 2026, will become the second player to hit 1000 and pull in range to break Kessel’s record the following year.

That all looks a lot like a HHOF’er.

The big difference is that he didn’t win that Cup. If he were to pull it off with the time he has left, the image of Burns skating with the Cup would be the kind of “cultural” moment that seals the golden ticket for a guy like McDonald or Andreychuk.

(Obviously there will be asterisks on his scoring totals as he had some points as a forward)