Who is the Red Wings next Hockey Hall of Famer?
This year's Hockey Hall of Fame class included Red Wings legend Pavel Datsyuk. While former teammate Henrik Zetterberg is the odds-on favorite to follow him in. Other 2024 inductees suggest that former teammate Chris Osgood might have the credentials to join him, too.
Mandatory Credit: Leon Halip-USA TODAY Sports - Who is the Red Wings next Hockey Hall of Famer?Pavel Datsyuk became the latest Red Wing to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame as a player Tuesday, when he joined the 2024 class alongside Jeremy Roenick, Shea Weber, Natalie Darwitz and Krissy Wendell-Pohl. Former Detroit player Colin Campbell joined Datsyuk in the builder category, alongside longtime Nashville Predators general manager David Poile.
For a franchise with as rich a history as Detroit, Datsyuk probably isn’t going to be the last Red Wing inducted into the Hall. So who might join him next?
The most obvious answer is his Euro-Twin counterpart, former Detroit captain Henrik Zetterberg. The 2008 Conn Smythe winner and member of the illustrious Triple Gold Club is the Red Wings’ most accomplished player not already in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Already a member of the IIHF Hall of Fame, it seems as though it’s only a matter of time before Zetterberg gets into its Toronto counterpart considering his international and NHL hardware.
But Zetterberg isn’t the only former Red Wing with the credentials to join the Hall. With Roenick added based off statistical merit more so than league-leading talent, the selection committee showed its changing views on what makes a Hall of Famer a hall of famer. And it just might think that Chris Osgood is one of them.
The Hockey Hall of Fame enshrines the greatest contributors to the overall sport, most often the award-winning superstars but sometimes the more consistent, statistically accomplished NHLers. Roenick's selection pays respect to the rarer, latter rationale — one sharing some similarities to Osgood.
Osgood’s Hall of Fame case, in oversimplified form, goes like this: He was one of the NHL’s best goaltenders in the 1990s, if not for league-leading talent then for his ability to consistently win games. He never won a Vezina Trophy as the league’s best netminder, but he won three Stanley Cups (two as the primary starter) and he chipped in on two William M. Jennings Trophy wins for the fewest goals allowed. But the greatest argument for Osgood’s place in the Hall is that he’s one of just 13 goalies in league history to reach the 400-win threshold. And of those 13, Osgood and his contemporary Curtis Joseph are the only retired players not elected into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
For the longest time, Osgood’s Hall of Fame snub made complete sense — right or wrong — because of the committee’s preference for players who were the best of their era and had the hardware to prove it. Earlier classes often rewarded players with more defined career accomplishments in the form of championships and trophies — the Vezina winners such as Dominik Hasek or Patrick Roy from his era, for example.
This year, the tide may have turned more than before. Hardware is not what got Roenick into the Hall of Fame; outside of Olympic silver, most of his awards come from his junior days. And if the committee wanted to induct the best players from his era, he was far from the very top. His best statistical finish was third in goals in 1991-92 and fifth in scoring for 1993-94.
Roenick’s big sell for the Hockey Hall of Fame is that he’s a 500 goal scorer, one of just 47 players to do so even if he never led the league in scoring to win a Rocket Richard Trophy. All but four of the 42 retired players to reach that milestone have been inducted into the Hall of Fame. Roenick is not the first player to get in on such statistical merit alone — Dino Ciccarelli, who scored 608, never won a league award but was inducted in 2010. But Roenick’s induction suggests that the current committee values these statistical milestones, if not for the first time than once again.
The 400 win mark might as well be the goaltender’s spiritual equivalent to the 500 goal mark, an accomplishment so significant that it trumps any lack of hardware in the Hall of Fame debate. And if Roenick can get in for his 500 goals, then Osgood can get in for his 400 wins.
Both Roenick and Osgood may have been overshadowed by their peers. Both may not have been among the greatest players of their generation. But if Roenick can get in 12 years after his initial eligibility, then Osgood can get in, too.
It's far more likely that a surefire candidate like Zetterberg gets in sooner. But, Roenick's case shows that today's committees are valuing statistical accomplishments like Osgood's profile.
If the committee is determined to revisit some of its earlier cases, then Osgood might very well be a future Red Wing inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.