Does Johnny Gaudreau deserve a place in the Hockey Hall of Fame?

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Austin Kelly
August 31, 2024 (8:01 PM)

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The passing of Johnny Gaudreau has brought forward questions on the highest possible honor for the late forward after his death Thursday at the age of 31.

Gaudreau, who spent 11 seasons in the National Hockey League, was given tributes from across the Hockey sphere and beyond after his death.

On the popular Hockey message board site, HFBoards, users discussed if Johnny Gaudreau's sudden short career warranted an argument for induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Understandably, the debate was contentious, with on one side supporters of the move with the belief that Gaudreau was on pace to be a potential HHOF candidate with more years in the league. Others argued that his final career totals don't warrant being a hall of famer.

Some users argued for other ways of honoring Johnny Gaudreau, including his #13 jersey being retired by the Calgary Flames & Columbus Blue Jackets.

Does Johnny Gaudreau's career warrant a HHOF discussion?

The obvious case for Gaudreau's candidacy is the fact his career was cut short by tragedy. In 763 NHL games, Gaudreau had 243 goals, 500 assists & 743 points. Since the post original-six era (1967-68) Gaudreau's PPG (0.97) is tied for 106th all time for players up to age 31. This ties Gaudreau with Keith Tkachuk and Dany Heatley.

Tkachuk continued to be a prominent offensive player later in his career, but despite being a 500 goal scorer, he has not made the Hall of Fame.

There are currently 16 former NHLers in the hall with a lower PPG at the same age than Gaudreau. One prominent name that stands out is former Boston Bruins star Cam Neely.

Neely retired at 31 due to a hip issue that he could not recover from. One of the top goalscoring threats of the late 80s and early 90s, Neely and Gaudreau have some similar career stats.

Neely - 726GP 395G 299A 694P (0.96PPG)
Gaudreau - 763GP 243G 500A 743P (0.97PPG)

Johnny Gaudreau was named a NHL All-Star seven times vs Neely's five. Neely was a four-time second NHL All-Star team. Gaudreau was a one-time All-Star, but a first-team.

Beyond the All-Star nods, the trophy cabinet for both players were left unfilled, Neely only winning a Masterton for perseverance and Gaudreau winning a Lady Byng for sportsmanship.

Johnny Gaudreau's 115 points were second in the NHL just two years ago.

It took nine years for Neely to be named to the Hall, it would be a surprise if the voting committee were to induct Gaudreau it'd be in year one, but they've looked at a player who lost what could've been a long career with a similar career arc.

On the opposing end, there are four players who scored more than 115 points in a season, Gaudreau's best, who are not in the hall, and like Gaudreau, had shortened careers.

The most points by a player not in the Hall is Dennis Maruk's 136 for the Washington Capitals in 1981-82. Like Gaudreau, Mark was an undersized forward with a creative game. Maruk's career hit a downward swing after a trade to Minnesota where he struggled to replicate his offensive dominance, something Johnny Gaudreau had been facing in his two seasons in Columbus.

Another player who reached the 115PT mark is Barry Pederson, who suffered a major health setback after being diagnosed with a benign tumor at the age of 23. The year prior, Pederson had 116 points for the Boston Bruins. Although he had shown positive production in his return from a shortened 1984-85 season, Pederson would tail off in the late 80's before retiring at 31.

His drop off was less severe than Johnny Gaudreau, who still managed 60 points in his final NHL feason. Pederson had just 9 points in 32 games in his last season playing with Boston. Another positive on Gaudreau's side is Pederson's lack of silverware, only two All-Star appearances. Pederson won a Stanley Cup with Pittsburgh in 1991 while playing 46 games, but did not appear in any playoff action.

The other two are Rob Brown, a dominant major junior scorer who looked poised to replicate his offensive prowess alongside Mario Lemieux in Pittsburgh, but dropped off after being traded a few years earlier at the age of just 22. The other is Kent Nilsson. The Swede was one of the first European stars in the NHL who was a two-time All-Star before leaving the league after just eight seasons in 1986-87, having just won the Stanley Cup with the Edmonton Oilers.

Nilsson would bounce around Europe, continuing to dominate. He had a stint with Edmonton in 1995, but only played nine seasons, eight in full.

Johnny Gaudreau : Hall of Famer

The case for Johnny Gaudreau as a Hockey Hall of Famer is one that can go any way. His career path mirrors the HOFer Neely more than it does a Barry Pederson or Rob Brown.

The most popular comparison, however, that will perhaps be the most convincing is Valeri Kharlamov. The Soviet superstar winger tragically died in a car accident at 33, being a one-man show on one of the most stacked international squads of all time. Even without playing an NHL game, it was evident the talent of Kharlamov, especially in the 1972 Summit Series.

The argument for Johnny Gaudreau vs Kharlamov is a discussion most fans probably wouldn't have a surefire viewing selection, more specifically in Kharlamov's case, but for the career Hockey people in the Hall, it may be the most interesting case study for handling "what could've been?"

The similarities to Neely make for a convincing, although still debatable induction. More unanimous arguments are in regards to the retiring of Gaudreau's number #13 for the Calgary Flames and Columbus Blue Jackets, as well as for Boston College, along with the #21 jersey of his younger brother Matthew, who also died in the deadly crash.

Assuming Gaudreau had not been in that fatal accident, and the discussion was on his candidacy right now, the case would most likely lie in the borderline. Given it's now tragically the end of his career, there's more allowance of a "what-if?", although even still, the borderline case still seems to lean as just that.

Johnny Gaudreau likely won't have his eligibility waived by the HHOF, so he'd be first eligible in 2027, and he may not make it on his first try. It would take the Hall coming together and honoring Gaudreau's potential rather than signifying his career was one conventional of the hall, which on stats alone is not a slam-dunk.

In the end if Johnny Gaudreau is inducted into the hall, it would be hard to find even the doubters question the choice to induct one of the top players of his era as an understandable acknowledgment for a player who's case deserved better than to remain clouded if it was enough in the far too little time he got to make his case for hockey's highest honor.