There's certainly a case to be made for him, but even as one of his biggest fans I can think of reasons why he shouldn't be in:
-- In his prime and peak years, he was VERY offence-only. He took face-offs of course, and he could hit to hurt people on rare occasions, but essentially he was one-dimensional. Like, he made Gretzky or Lemieux look like Guy Carbonneau. (This obviously changed later in Jersey, but by then he's passing his best days.)
-- He's not associated with any big winners. He came close with Jersey in '94, but... no cigar.
-- He rarely even played for strong regular season clubs. The Kings finished 2nd in 1989, Rangers 2nd in 1991 (but mediocre club), Jersey 2nd in 1994, and the Hawks 2nd in 1996. Among these barely four good clubs in Nicholls' 16 or 17 seasons, only Jersey in 1994 was a really good team --- and he played only 61 games for them and was sixth in team scoring.
So, yeah, I mean on talent Nicholls is a Hall of Famer. Looking at peak seasons (basically 1988-89 and 1989-90), he is also a Hall of Famer. But in the overall picture, he's kind of borderline. And with the borderline guys, it's usually how well remembered the players' prime period is that sways yay or nay to the Hall of Fame. In Nicholls' case, not a lot of people remember his salad years as his teams weren't going anywhere.
Would you say that Bernie Nicholls, is the guy you'd think of as being your cut-off guy for HOF-standards? I always perk-up a bit whenever you talk about him up in threads; meaning that it's fun to read. You've never tried to make a case as to why he should be in, but somehow through reading what you've written over the years, I actually (these days) think that he should be in.
a) He's the only teammate of Wayne Gretzky's to have registered as high as 150 points in a season.
Which should get more attention, especially in the Wayne vs Mario thread. Messier never had that kind of a season, as the 2nd line center with the Oilers playing behind Gretzky. The Oilers clearly had more depth for Messier to have kind of a season in Edmonton, in comparison to what Nicholls had to work with. If Gretzky was really in decline by that point (which I don't think that he was), how was he still able to produce at a +2 PPG pace when he's saddled with guys not named Robitaille and Nicholls as linemates 5v5? How is someone like Nicholls able to have that big of a season considering that he's brand new to playing with Gretzky?
I also wonder how many other '80s All Star types, could have slid into the 2nd line center role in that situation, and replicated what Nicholls had done. Was Nicholls a little more of a savant than he gets credit for being? I also wonder if players who are considered greater than Nicholls, like Francis (who had similar numbers up to that point), Hawerchuk, Savard, etc, would have had as great of a season as Nicholls' had.
How about '88-'89 Yzerman, playing behind Gretzky? Would he have had more or less points than he accrued with Detroit that same season? Hmmm...
Also, it took a while for Francis to adjust as the 2nd line center behind Lemieux; in the points department. I was a big Francis fan at the time - I bought a Whalers jersey with his name on it when he was already playing with the Penguins - and I don't think his '91-92 regular season was overly inspiring.
b) What if Bernie Nicholls never gets traded?
I understand the logic of the trade at the time, but... I would have loved to have seen what Nicholls could have done over the course of 5 years playing with Gretzky. I think it also hurts Nicholls career, having to move from team to team in the back half of his career. Having said that, I think his run with the Oilers, especially in the playoffs, deserves attention. He was a pretty good playoff performer over the length of his career.
I sort of have him in line with Neal Broten and Adam Oates, for improving his two-way play in his 30s. He was still pretty good in Chicago when he's in his mid-30s. He seemed to be that guy that helped Joe Murphy play to his ability.
c) He
really produced playing behind other great centers, or centers who had great seasons.
Just looking at Marcel Dionne's last "great" season in '84-'85, Gretzky from '88 to parts of '90, and Jimmy Carson in '87-'88 (although I'm not sure who was considered as the #1 on that team).
I'd have to imagine that he's one of the best 2nd line centers - specifically as a point producer - in the history of the game.