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Who makes the Hockey Hall of Fame All-Snub Team?

Paul Pidutti
Paul Pidutti(AdjustedHockey)
Jun 17, 2026, 09:00 EDTUpdated: Jun 17, 2026, 09:27 EDT
Henrik Zetterberg
Credit: Red Wings forward Henrik Zetterberg during the Wings' 4-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday, Nov. 9, 2007, at Joe Louis Arena. 0120 Zetterberg Main2 01 20

Everyone has a favorite Hockey Hall of Fame snub. That one player whose exclusion from immortality boils your blood.

If we take a deep breath, however, we can probably agree that it’s already a pretty big Hall of Fame. The plaque room currently houses 445 members. So, we witness more dicey choices than big whiffs. The Selection Committee has tidied up some omissions in recent years too, including the long-overdue inductions of Alexander Mogilny, Jennifer Botterill, and Jeremy Roenick.

But in a big Hall of Fame, it’s easy for fans to draw parallels between inductees and their personal picks. Without transparency on the nominees or the voting results, second-guessing the selections is inevitable.

On Monday, the Hall of Fame will announce its Class of 2026 and Daily Faceoff has you covered. We’ll be projecting the Hall’s newest members later this week and grading the 2026 Class after its release next week. But first: the snubs. We’re building a 20-player roster of snubs in the Male Player category (post-expansion) and a starting six in the Female Player category.

📢 Introduction

Now, if every one of the 18 skaters on our men’s all-snub team entered the Hall of Fame tomorrow, it would dilute the honor. Some of these players are legitimate omissions, easily besting the careers of many current members. Other snubs are borderline, perhaps lacking the ‘it’ factor or impact that might push a player’s candidacy over the edge. But every player named to the team today — yes, even the shockers — has a credible statistical case at a minimum.

It wasn’t long ago that baseball fans thought Tim Raines or Larry Walker weren’t serious Baseball Hall of Fame candidates, either. Major League Baseball — and Cooperstown, N.Y. — had its statistical awakening more than 20 years ago. Hockey’s is still in its early days.

You won’t find some of hockey’s more famous ‘snubs’ on this team. Players like Paul Henderson, Chris Osgood, Rod Brind’Amour, Rick Middleton, Pat Verbeek, or Butch Goring. Why? I can’t make a legitimate case from the data or exhaustive research on their playing careers. And if you can’t make this deep snub team in a big Hall of Fame, then the Selection Committee has been successful at gatekeeping.

The All-Snub Team members have at least one of several of things working against them: they played in a low-scoring era, unfairly limiting their career totals; their NHL careers were cut short by debuting late, retiring early, or switching pro leagues; and/or they lacked the subjective ‘fame’ element that left a sensational career overshadowed.

🚨 Men’s Team: Forwards

Here’s a quick refresh on the Hall of Fame metrics used in the team graphics:

  • PPS (Pidutti Point Share system): a single metric that measures Hall of Fame worthiness. PPS evaluates every NHL player’s career against an induction standard by era and position. A player +15 or greater against the PPS standard is statistically qualified; a player between +15 and -10 is borderline.
  • High Noon: a player’s highest NHL ranking over any three-season stretch at their position (forwards, defensemen, goaltenders). High Noon reveals how elite a player was at the peak of their powers.

Left Wingers

John LeClair (Year of Eligibility: 17th)

  • Hall of Fame Comparable: Paul Kariya
  • The Case: Playoff overtime and World Cup hero was a year-end All-Star five times and scored at a 48-goal pace over six dominant seasons in The Dead Puck Era.

Keith Tkachuk (14th)

  • Hall of Fame Comparable: Daniel Alfredsson
  • The Case: Bruising sniper was a nine-time 30-goal scorer and sits 10th in era adjusted goals-per-game among the 425 members of the 1,000-game club.

Patrik Elias (8th)

  • (Future) Hall of Fame Comparable: Jonathan Toews
  • The Case: Two-way threat led NHL forwards in plus-minus over a 12-season stretch (+203!) as the best offensive player on New Jersey Devils teams that reached three Stanley Cup Finals in four years.

Rick Nash (6th)

  • Hall of Fame Comparable: Dino Ciccarelli
  • The Case: Two-time Olympic gold medalist is 12th in era adjusted goals-per-game in the 1,000-game club and won the Rocket Richard Trophy at age 19.

Centers

Henrik Zetterberg (6th)

  • Hall of Fame Comparable: Jacques Lemaire
  • The Case: Highly-decorated, two-way star did it all: All-Rookie, All-Star, Stanley Cup champion, Conn Smythe Trophy, IIHF World champion, Olympic champion.

Ryan Getzlaf (2nd)

  • Hall of Fame Comparable: Henrik Sedin
  • The Case: Three best-on-best international titles, 120 points in 125 playoff games, Stanley Cup, and Hart Trophy runner-up encapsulates long run as consummate No. 1 center.

Patrick Marleau (3rd)

  • Hall of Fame Comparable: Mike Gartner
  • The Case: Two-time Olympic gold medalist scored 566 goals (25th all-time) and endured to set the record for most games (1,779) in NHL history.

Bernie Nicholls (25th)

  • Hall of Fame Comparable: Darryl Sittler
  • The Case: Talented center tallied 1,209 career points and five 90-point seasons, remaining one of just six players to reach 150 points in a single season.

Right Wingers

Peter Bondra (17th)

  • Hall of Fame Comparable: Michel Goulet
  • The Case: Dynamic sniper is fifth(!) in era adjusted goals-per-game (minimum 1,000 games) and would have two Rocket Richard Trophies had the award been created earlier.

Marian Gaborik (6th)

  • Hall of Fame Comparable: Denis Savard
  • The Case: Explosive winger was third in NHL in goals-per-game (44-goal pace) over the first seven seasons of the salary cap era and led postseason in goals (14) in the Los Angeles Kings‘ 2014 Cup run.

Ziggy Palffy (11th)

  • Hall of Fame Comparable: Pat LaFontaine
  • The Case: Over his eight full NHL seasons, only six players scored more points-per-game: Jagr, Forsberg, Sakic, Lindros, Kariya, and Selanne.

Pavol Demitra (14th)

  • Hall of Fame Comparable: Peter Stastny
  • The Case: Slovakian Olympic star and Lady Byng Trophy winner is 36th all-time in era adjusted points-per-game among NHL players with at least 800 games.

Just Missed: Markus Naslund; Steve Larmer; Milan Hejduk

LINK: Top 1,500 forwards in PPS

⛔ Men’s Team: Defensemen & Goaltenders

First Pair

Sergei Gonchar (12th)

  • Hall of Fame Comparable: Sergei Zubov
  • The Case: Smooth blueliner second only to Nicklas Lidstrom in games, goals, assists and points over his 20-season career, which included a Stanley Cup, two Olympic medals, and Norris Trophy votes 10 times.

J.C. Tremblay (45th)

  • (Future) Hall of Fame Comparable: Drew Doughty
  • The Case: Five Stanley Cups, five top-five Norris finishes, one WHA championship, and two WHA Top Defenseman awards in a 20-year pro career spanning 1959 to 1979.

Second Pair

Gary Suter (22nd)

  • Hall of Fame Comparable: Doug Wilson
  • The Case: Calder Trophy winner and power play weapon is 16th all-time in points by a defenseman (844) and won a Stanley Cup, World Cup, and Olympic Silver.

Eric Desjardins (18th)

  • Hall of Fame Comparable: Shea Weber
  • The Case: Two-time year-end All Star earned Norris votes seven times, played 168 playoff games featuring a Stanley Cup, and won the 1991 Canada Cup at just 22.

Third Pair

Brian Rafalski (13th)

  • Hall of Fame Comparable: Serge Savard
  • The Case: Late bloomer made playoffs in all 11 of his NHL seasons, played in five Stanley Cup Finals (three rings) and was third in points and second in plus-minus among blueliners during his career.

Mathieu Schneider (14th)

  • Hall of Fame Comparable: Rob Blake
  • The Case: Underappreciated power play specialist is 17th in goals by defensemen (223), scored at least 10 goals on 13 occasions, and won a Stanley Cup and World Cup.

Just Missed: Steve Duchesne

LINK: Top 1,000 defensemen in PPS

Goaltenders

Curtis Joseph (15th)

  • Hall of Fame Comparable: Henrik Lundqvist
  • The Case: Acrobatic, durable star that retired fourth all-time in wins (454) and was a top-five Vezina finisher five times, adding a King Clancy Memorial Trophy for humanitarian work.

Carey Price (2nd)

  • Hall of Fame Comparable: Tom Barrasso
  • The Case: From 2013 to 2017: Hart, Vezina, Lindsay Trophies, .928 save percentage, 10-0 record in Olympic and World Cup action as the most feared goalie in hockey.

Just Missed: John Vanbiesbrouck

LINK: Top 400 goaltenders in PPS

🥅 Women’s Starting Six

Sixteen years after Cammi Granato and Angela James were the inaugural women elected to the Hall of Fame, there are now 14 players inducted into the Female Player category. It’s been slow moving. But the Selection Committee finally used its two-slot maximum in both 2024 and 2025. There are no shortage of overqualified holdover candidates still waiting — only two defenders and one goaltender have been elected (versus 11 forwards).

Jenny Potter (9th)

  • The Case: College superstar, four-time Olympic medalist, and 10-time World Championship medalist that sits fourth in Olympic points (32) and 11th in World Championship points (61).

Maria Rooth (14th)

  • The Case: Trailblazing, four-time Patty Kazmaier Award Finalist led Sweden to a shocking Olympic Silver and was the first European female player inducted to the IIHF Hockey Hall of Fame.

Karyn Bye (17th)

  • The Case: Pioneer that led USA to the first Olympic Gold (team-best five goals), the IIHF and U.S. Hockey Hall of Famer is still fourth in World Championship points-per-game (1.70).

Monique Lamoreux (6th)

  • The Case: Versatile American won three Olympic medals and gold at six of her seven World Championships, where she made four All-Star teams (three as defender, one as forward).

Thérèse Brisson (17th)

  • The Case: Foundational 1990s defender won all six World Championships she played in (three as captain) and led Canada’s blueline in scoring in winning Olympic Gold in Salt Lake City.

Shannon Szabados (5th)

  • The Case: Arguably the best-ever goalie in women’s hockey history was twice named Best Goaltender in Olympic play (8-1 record, .959 save percentage).

Just Missed: Julie Chu; Meghan Duggan; Dawn McGuire; Florence Schelling

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Data from Hockey Reference; Elite Prospects; Quant Hockey

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