Sebastian Aho (CAR) a future HOF’er… or nah?

[Bouboumaster]

If his career were to stop today, no

But he has the potential to get in there someday

 

[nowhereman]

Not a chance. Come on, people.

This is a guy who's never been a top 20 player at a consistent level. He's below a PPG in one of the game's highest scoring eras, where racking up points hasn't been this easy since the 80s, and has no individual or team success. Considering the quality of players who have been left out of the Hall, SA would need a miracle to get in. Kevin Lowe is the lowest bar to hurdle for a HHOFer career and that guy had 6 Cups to his name and all the political connections money could buy.

 

[Terry Yake]

no

 

[hirawl]

Definitely needs some shiny silverware on top of 10+ more years of high end hockey in the National.

What he's done is he's built a solid foundation to have a slim chance. Great player though.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Not a chance. Come on, people.

This is a guy who's never been a top 20 player at a consistent level. He's below a PPG in one of the game's highest scoring eras, where racking up points hasn't been this easy since the 80s, and has no individual or team success. Considering the quality of players who have been left out of the Hall, SA would need a miracle to get in. Kevin Lowe is the lowest bar to hurdle for a HHOFer career and that guy had 6 Cups to his name and all the political connections money could buy.

Again I ask — was Joe Mullen a consistent top 20 player? That’s the kind of player Aho’s competing against in the “borderline top 20 player who compiled big enough career numbers” category.

 

[Esq]

Again I ask — was Joe Mullen a consistent top 20 player? That’s the kind of player Aho’s competing against in the “borderline top 20 player who compiled big enough career numbers” category.

No, he wasn't. But goal scorers get valued higher, and Mullen's 1989 postseason was unreal.

 

[Calderon]

Through his first two seasons Aho was 56 points under ppg. Since then, he's been a dependable mid-tier 1C hovering at 1.0 ppg (487 points in 483 gp for 1.008 ppg). Over that stretch he's 16th in raw points, T25th in ppg. No accolades.

In a sense he's plateaued and given his age he might still have his career year ahead of him but we've just as likely seen his best. And it's been good — high floor but not that high of a ceiling. Not HHOF worthy.

If he plays as long as Patrick Marleau, he'll be more deserving of HHOF of the two but thankfully PM hasn't been voted in.

Edit: What about Kopitar as a comparison? Aho's arguably a more dependable scorer though Kopitar's prime was in the lower scoring 2010's and Kopi's got the Selke stuff covered quite well.

 

[NotCommitted]

IMO his offensive numbers could've been a lot higher playing somewhere else, he hasn't exactly had star wingers. I think him plateauing at PPG tells more about Hurricanes and his role in the team. We got a glimpse of what could've been with Guentzel, who scored 25 points in 17 games playing with Aho.

 

[Felidae]

I'd say he's in the Giroux tier; right on the edge, but I hope both get in as a fan.

Feels like every once in a while I have to remind people how good Giroux actually was, so here we go again...


Giroux has 4 seasons finishing top 10 in points (2, 3, 3, 10). Was also a hart finalist including 2 other seasons finishing 4th in voting.

Aho has never been a top 10 point producer in the league nor has he finished higher than 10th in hart or Selke voting.

Putting them in the same tier is severely underrating Giroux, who has a better resume than the borderline HOF cases and a few others.

Aho isn't close nor on track to have a HOF resume. He'd have to find another level for that to happen.. Start contending for Selke's or increase his production by a decent amount.

 

[HFpapi]

There are no standards these days. I really like Aho and think he's a fantastic player but what would his resume be if he essentially just doubled his current career?

A handful of 80 point seasons, good career numbers via compiling consistently, zero individual awards or even a sniff at one, and being a borderline top 20 player at his peak?

He's a lesser Patrick Marleau who himself I don't think belongs.

 

[PenguinSuitedUp]

Again I ask — was Joe Mullen a consistent top 20 player? That’s the kind of player Aho’s competing against in the “borderline top 20 player who compiled big enough career numbers” category.

The problem with this line of thought is that there are already too many ‘very good’ players in the hall. Voters need to be more selective with who gets in, and a bunch of players need to be retroactively removed.

 

[Barrie22]

Joe mullen although wasn't a top end player with a bunch of awards, still was the first american to put up 500 goals and 1000 points. Lady byng, 1st team all star, 3 time cup winner. That is 4 more awards and accomplishments then aho has at the moment.

 

[tucker3434]

Not as of now, nor if he has a standard career trajectory and tails off a bit when he’s ~33. If he’s one of those freaks that can play for another decade at this level, he might get in based on cumulative stats. But it seems unlikely.

 

[BullLund]

Not as of now, nor if he has a standard career trajectory and tails off a bit when he’s ~33. If he’s one of those freaks that can play for another decade at this level, he might get in based on cumulative stats. But it seems unlikely.

It wouldn't surprise me if he is such a freak because he seems to play hockey more at a cerebral level rather than relying on physical ability alone. Depends on the amount of injuries that pile up, I guess.

 

[djboos22]

As a long time, die hard Canes fan, I would say he has a good chance IF he keeps his pace up. I already prefer him to Eric Staal and he is on track to surpass him in all franchise categories.

Staal had his 100 point, cup winning, playoff point leading season in the same year. After that, he scored more than 80 points just one more time (he was on track during the 12-13 season, so if you count that two more times) and was a consistent 70 point player who was known for taking days off.

Aho's teams have been much much better, but I think his overall game and leadership is better. Aho already has three seasons of 80 or more and I expect a few more of those as well.

 

[Gaylord Q Tinkledink]

Hall of very good, but who knows with some of the selections.

 

[bleedgreen]

As a Canes fan I’m not seeing hof yet. I see a solid number one center, which generally isn’t good enough? He’s become a good two way player and is a consistent producer whether he’s playing well or not. He’s more the master of capitalizing on mistakes making the most of space than a guy who can dominate the opposition. He’s smart more than ridiculously skilled.

He’s never been enough to carry the Canes anywhere big. At this point he ironically mirrors Francis in what kind of player he is. Aho has his points in the playoffs but you don’t notice him as much, as opponents play physical on him. He’s yet to really have that dominant performance when it matters most.

If the Canes could find him a 2C a la Trocheck to take some heat off him he’s shown he has another level and his prime is right now. They’re wasting his prime a bit without that 2C imo and I think they need it as a team to take the next step. The current lineup is good for RBA’s system but lacks a 2C, goaltending and probably a couple upgraded dmen.

He could get to the hof but the case gets easier with some hardware.

Always have liked him more than EStaal.

 

[TropicOfNoReturn]

At this moment, not even close.
Very good player, and I suppose could get there eventually....but a long long way to go

 

[elmaco]

Career PPG players should get in even without significant accolades.

 

[Macbanan]

If he wins at a minimum one Stanley cup and has amazing longevity close to Marleau he'll probably get in.

But with a normal career trajectory he's not close.