If Brent Burns wins the Stanley Cup this year, would this seal his entry to the HHOF?
- Thread starter dalewood12
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TheDawnOfANewTage
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CanadienShark
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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
Offside Review Specialist
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)
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)
AhosDatsyukian
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Probably especially if he keeps playing for a few more years at a high level which I think is a decent bet. I would not be surprised if he hits 1000 points, which honestly could get him in even without a cup. He is also well within reach of the ironman record and the total games played record if he wants to chase those.
So if you changed the poll question to "Will/should Brent Burns make the HHOF"....I'd have to think about it. Maybe? I'd have to look at his resume a bit closer, etc.
What I do feel confident in stating - cup or no cup would have no impact. The only way a cup would have an impact is if he were to play a very significant role in the cup win. Doesn't even have to be a conn smythe, but if he's a ~top 5 player on his cup winning team for example, I think that could be helpful to a HHOF case.
But just a cup? A lot of players win the cup every year. I don't think that does much one way or another for a HHOF induction.
What I do feel confident in stating - cup or no cup would have no impact. The only way a cup would have an impact is if he were to play a very significant role in the cup win. Doesn't even have to be a conn smythe, but if he's a ~top 5 player on his cup winning team for example, I think that could be helpful to a HHOF case.
But just a cup? A lot of players win the cup every year. I don't think that does much one way or another for a HHOF induction.
KevinRedkey
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He has won the Norris Trophy, he is top 10 all time in goals by a defenseman, I believe only 7 or 8 d-men in history have scored more goals in a season then him. Top 15 all time in defenseman points, only about 10 d-men in history have had more points in one season then him. I would say yes for the era he played in.
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Pavel Buchnevich
"Pavel Buchnevich The Fake"
No, a lot of those things you mention mean nothing to my voting criteria.
I tend to say you need two pieces of major individual hardware. That can be overcome, but I don’t think he’s there yet.
1000 points for a defenseman would be very appealing to me. That’s one he’d need to realistically hit, at minimum. The Cup would also help.
I probably lean yes if he can take home a Cup and 1000 career points by the end of his career and no without that.
I tend to say you need two pieces of major individual hardware. That can be overcome, but I don’t think he’s there yet.
1000 points for a defenseman would be very appealing to me. That’s one he’d need to realistically hit, at minimum. The Cup would also help.
I probably lean yes if he can take home a Cup and 1000 career points by the end of his career and no without that.
FissionFire
Registered User
My general HHOF test is whether I ever felt at any point in their career watching them that I was viewing an all-time great player. In Burns case that’s a very emphatic no. He felt more in the tier of a Mike Green / Dan Boyle type than one of the best ever. He will probably make it just based on longevity and stat compiling but he isn’t to me a Hall of Famer.
tarheelhockey
Offside Review Specialist
If he won it this year specifically, he’d do it as a strong top-pair guy on the winning team. That would have him about ~top 5 on the team.
Voight
#winning
I personally dont think so, but there's always the caveat of every Norris winner with the exception of Carlyle being in the hall. They've also really watered down the place in recent years.
I really dont think a cup helps him because his legacy or whatever you wanna call it is set in stone.
I really dont think a cup helps him because his legacy or whatever you wanna call it is set in stone.
2CHAINZ
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Sure maybe. Depends on the actual performance though.
Shea Weber just got in on his first ballot eligible and has 2 first team All Stars. Burns has a Norris and 2 first team All-stars. Burns has significantly better counting stats. The only real edge Weber has is his Hockey Canada resume with 2 Olympic Gold Medals and a reputation for being better defensively.
I think it'd be pretty hard to argue that Shea Weber is a first ballot HHOFer, and that Brent Burns isn't even a Hall of Famer, even without the cup.
I think it'd be pretty hard to argue that Shea Weber is a first ballot HHOFer, and that Brent Burns isn't even a Hall of Famer, even without the cup.
This post doesn't properly represent the difference in their primes. Shea Weber has a lot more quality/top of league seasons than Burns does.
Burns only 3x finished better than 8th in Norris voting (3x top 3)
Weber has 7 seasons of finishing top 7 in Norris or better (also 3x top 3)
I don't think it's the best of comparisons. Weber seemed like an obvious first ballot hall of famer. Burns is a step below that
I don't think Weber screamed first ballot with no Norris's or major end of season hardware. I think a large part of his boost comes from being the face of Nashville for so long, combined with the Hockey Canada stuff.
Burns has was way better counting stats, which do matter even if his sustained prime wasn't as long as Weber. I'm just saying if Weber is a first ballot hall of fame type player in the eyes of the voters, I think it's pretty hard to make a case Burns doesn't deserve enshrinement at all.
