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Kristen Shilton, ESPN NHL reporterNov 12, 2024, 07:30 AM ET
- Kristen Shilton is a national NHL reporter for ESPN.
There’s something special about Hockey Hall of Fame Induction weekend.
It happens every year right when the weather turns fully into fall mode, when the leaves are changing, the clocks have gone back and a chill in the air signals the new NHL season is in full swing.
That stretch of days is firstly about celebrating another incoming class: This year, it was players Natalie Darwitz, Pavel Datsyuk, Jeremy Roenick, Shea Weber and Krissy Wendell-Pohl, along with Colin Campbell and David Poile in the “builders” category.
The festivities also allow individuals from around the hockey world to congregate and discuss greater topics pertaining to the NHL at large, and what’s on their radar in the coming months.
And of course, there’s theories about who will be on the Hall of Fame list a year from now.
We’re diving into just a few of the subjects swirling over the past several days in this latest edition of “Overheard.”
Predictions for the HHOF Class of 2025
NHL GMs are used to seeing their decisions dissected, and often find disagreements. So it’s a fun exercise to play pretend voter on the Hall’s selection committee and share who they would add to its hallowed ground.
“Joe Thornton would be top of my list for next year’s group,” one GM said. “Duncan Keith, too.”
“I would love to see [Carey] Price get the call right away,” an assistant GM said. “Also [Alexander] Mogilny has waited long enough.”
The first three names — Thornton, Keith and Price — are all first-year eligible for the Hall in 2025. Mogilny hasn’t gotten a call since his NHL career ended in 2006.
It’s always a fine line balancing which players — men and women — deserve the handful of spots available in each cycle. Consider Mogilny, who played over 1,000 games in the league, won a Stanley Cup and is one of only 30 members in the Triple Gold Club (Olympic Gold, World Championship Gold and a Cup). Even that hasn’t enticed the selectors to put Mogilny in … yet.
He’ll have stiff competition in 2025 given who can qualify.
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Thornton officially retired in October 2023 after last playing for the Florida Panthers in 2021-22. He ranks 14th all time in NHL points (1,539), making him one of just 15 players to crack the 1,500 mark and one of just 14 to tally 1,000 assists. Thornton’s longevity in the league (24 seasons) is also impressive. He has a Hart Trophy to his name and is a one-time league scoring champion, as well as an Olympic gold medalist, World Cup champion and World Junior champ.
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Keith hung up his skates in July 2022 as a three-time Cup champ with the Chicago Blackhawks, having earned one Conn Smythe and two Norris trophies. He’s also a two-time Olympic gold medalist for Canada.
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Price won’t technically be retired until his contract with the Montreal Canadiens expires in 2026, but he hasn’t played a game since 2022 due to a lingering injury. Price played 15 seasons in Montreal and is the winningest goaltender in the franchise’s history. He won a Hart Trophy (one of just seven goaltenders to earn the award), a Vezina Trophy, a William M. Jennings Trophy, a Lester B. Pearson Award and a Bill Masterton Trophy. Price never did hoist a Cup, but he did earn gold medals with Canada at the World Juniors, World Cup and Olympics.
Other first-timers with potential to receive votes are Boston Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask, six-time Norris Trophy finalist Zdeno Chara and long-time Anaheim Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf, each of them with a list of accomplishments worthy of consideration.
Mogilny isn’t the only one who’s been biding their time for the Hall call. Jennifer Botterill (a three-time Olympic gold medalist and five-time world champion), Cassie Campbell-Pascall (two-time Olympic gold medalist and six-time world champion), Meghan Duggan (Olympic gold medalist and seven-time world champion) and Pekka Rinne (a four-time Vezina finalist and one-time winner) all have the accolades to make it in.
And all were mentioned by agents, former players and executives as ones to watch out for when next year’s class is revealed.
NHL expansion buzz
The league’s official party line is that expansion is not top of mind, and there is no pressing need to enter new markets.
However, it’s no secret the NHL intends to keep adding over time, with at least another team or two over the next several years. And why not? According to the latest report from Sportico, NHL clubs have never been more valuable, and that allows the NHL to ask for an even greater expansion fee (perhaps well surpassing the $650 million Seattle doled out in 2021). The league also has receipts for how strong their expansion teams are out of the gate: Vegas won a Stanley Cup in its sixth season; the Kraken were a playoff team by Season 2; and Utah — a relocation club playing in a new market — is off to a fine start.
Now, where might the NHL explore new digs? The league isn’t going to expand for the mere sake of expanding, just to get burned in the long term by a lucrative deal. It would seem, however, that the NHL is taking a closer look at locations in the United States as opposed to Canada.
There’s no doubt the league would want to reestablish a team in the Phoenix area at some point to continue hockey’s growth in the southern states. A few other cities mentioned by the people we spoke to were the usual suspects: namely Houston and Atlanta.
“We know those cities can support multiple major sports teams,” one executive explained. “There’s a foundation of interest in both locations in bringing [the NHL] there, too, and that wouldn’t exist unless [potential owners] believed the fan base would get behind an NHL team. So you’ll keep hearing the same places again and again.”
One agent’s impassioned argument for putting a team back in Quebec City was stimulating: “The history, from the team itself to the fans there; you do [expansion] the right way, and how could they go wrong?” But of course, that city’s past financial issues (the Nordiques were eventually moved to Denver) and the relatively small population (just over 800,000 in its metro area, versus over 6 million in greater Atlanta and 7.5 million in the greater Houston area) does hinder Quebec City’s opportunity (its proximity to clubs in Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto doesn’t help, either).
And despite two former Atlanta teams — the Flames in 1980 and Thrashers in 2011 — having relocated, NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly has expressed optimism as recently as last year that previous problems with that market could be “overcome” in a second go-around.
There’s not a set figure in mind for how many teams the NHL will eventually get to, but the league won’t keep expanding forever. Beyond just location considerations, execs caution against diluting the sport. The league doesn’t seem concerned about that possibility, though, and is convinced there is plenty of depth out there to keep the game evolving.
Who will win the 4 Nations Face-off?
The 4 Nations Face-off is up for grabs.
That’s the prevailing wisdom around the upcoming tournament, where the USA, Canada, Sweden and Finland will battle it out in the first international hockey affair of its kind since the 2016 World Cup.
And despite the popular notion that the winner will come down to Canada and the USA, don’t sleep on Finland or Sweden.
“Everyone might want it to be USA-Canada in the end,” one exec said, “but just look at who the Swedes and Fins have in their lineups. You’re not just jogging through those teams. It’s going to be fun watching how each roster actually matches up.”
Beyond just pondering who could emerge victorious, there were a few conversations that repeatedly cropped up. For example, would Canada make room for Connor Bedard? He’ll be part of that country’s plans for at least another decade to come — including at the 2026 Olympics — so could Bedard get the nod over, say, an established Nick Suzuki or fellow upstart in Dallas Stars center Wyatt Johnston? Opinions were split on whether Bedard would ultimately make the final cut.
What is up for debate is whether Canada’s goaltending will be an Achilles’ heel, just as netminding appears to be one of Team USA’s greatest strengths. In fact, there weren’t many holes anyone could punch in the U.S. goaltending group from top to bottom. Given how hot Connor Hellebuyck has been to start this season, the way Jake Oettinger has come into his own, the potential of Jeremy Swayman and the possibility even of Thatcher Demko — that group could be a real difference-maker.
One point of debate for the U.S. was whether Tage Thompson or Cole Caufield would find their way into the U.S.’s plans. Both have been projected as the team’s potential extra skater, and each brings a unique skill set that would complement its attack — but the verdict likely depends on who else the U.S. taps to line up ahead of that 13th forward.
One Hockey Hall of Famer — chiming in anonymously — is positive that no matter who the U.S. puts on the ice, it will be the team to beat in the tournament.
“There is no huge weakness there,” he said. “Show me where the USA doesn’t have undeniable depth.”
Sweden could have concerns about how to fill out the third and fourth lines. Do the Swedes prioritize veterans or youth, not just in who makes the roster but where they line up? One exec was particularly bullish on seeing Leo Carlsson — Anaheim’s No. 2 pick in 2023 — take a significant role for the Swedes.
“Carlsson’s an exciting player that’s not talked about enough as it is,” he said. “Highlighting him now and for what he means for Sweden is a big thing.”
There’s also the question of whether Gabriel Landeskog — who has been sidelined the past two seasons following knee surgery — will be available to Sweden for the tournament. Colorado’s captain suffered a setback recently in the recovery process that Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said wasn’t “unexpected” and the team was still hopeful Landeskog would return at some point this season. Even if he could play by February, it may not be in Landeskog’s best interest to jump into something like the 4 Nations tournament.
For Finland, there’s enviable center depth available, but their defense being short on star power (outside of Miro Heiskanen) could make corralling high-flying offenses a challenge. The key though is how short the tournament is (six round-robin games, followed by the championship game). One good — or bad — day at the office can make or break the journey for any of these four countries. That’s why excitement for what’s to come does feel genuine, and not only because there hasn’t been a best-on-best showcase like this in years.
“Every country has a lot of great options,” one player noted. “That’s what’s cool about it. I don’t know who will end up going, but you know it’ll be the sort of hockey we have been missing for the last, like, 10 years.”
