Is Nicklas Backstrom a hall of famer?

[Regal]

He'll get in even though there was probably never a year in his career where he was considered one of the best at his position
What is his highest Hart voting? I know he's never even been close to being nominated for it, but did he ever finish Top 5 even once?

Being a 1C and never even reaching top 5 in Hart voting a single time in your career is no good.

Hard to get Hart votes on a team with a rarely-injured Ovechkin

 

[jetsforever]

Borderline case for sure, the Cup might help him though

 

[Regal]

He's a guy who has the resume to be one of the borderline types who get in for being really good for a long time, even if he was never really in award conversation, like a Sundin or an Oates, but those tend to be hit or miss types, and the fact that he doesn't seem to have the fanfare of some others and was overshadowed by Ovechkin on the same team his whole career instead of being the best player on it, means I could see him get overlooked, while someone like Getzlaf might have a better chance to get in instead mainly due to a better reputation from being the centerpiece of most of his teams, despite them being a similar tier of player.

 

[Fantomas]

He's better than Bernie Federko and at least several other hall of famers.

 

[KoozNetsOff 92]

7x top 10 in assists (6x top 3), 5x top 10 pts. Easy yes.

 

[CanadienShark]

Definitely will. And he'll deserve it.

 

[Nakawick]

If the HHOF has a mediocre class, Backstrom would get in.

 

[Rapsfan]

Aren't there 2 players named Nick Backstrom that played in the NHL? Are they related by any chance?

 

[Hockeyholic]

Yep.

He's certainly a Hall of Famer imo.

 

[Kent Nilsson]

I think he’s easily in.

 

[DannyGallivan]

No. Very good player. Very good career. Does not stand out enough.

However, the NHL has been in the habit of voting in players that were "among" the best of their era without ever separating themselves from the pack (Clarke Gillies and Dick Duff come to mind), so he'll likely get in eventually.

 

[Weztex]

No. Very good player. Very good career. Does not stand out enough.

However, the NHL has been in the habit of voting in players that were "among" the best of their era without ever separating themselves from the pack (Clarke Gillies and Dick Duff come to mind), so he'll likely get in eventually.

Gillies and Duff are really weak and sentimental inductions. Backstrom is in another stratosphere. He's a lot closer to Mike Modano than he is to them.

 

[supsens]

Yes, and then the name should be changed to the hall of very good.

There is nothing in ‘hall of fame’ that suggests hall of the very best so why would they need a new name?

 

[Huokaus]

Aren't there 2 players named Nick Backstrom that played in the NHL? Are they related by any chance?

Swedish center is Nicklas, Finnish goalie was Niklas. Judging from his name goalie Bäckström could be a Fennoswede (Finnish person whose native language is Swedish) but I didn't find any information to confirm nor contradict this. Regardless, I don't think it's likely they're related since Bäckström is a pretty common surname.

 

[82Ninety42011]

He'll get in for being consistently good. The thing with the HOF is if your good for a long time you are in no and ifs or buts. It's a shame it's become this but it's too late now to change it.

 

[User9992]

He is in same class as Getzlaff, Giroux, Tavares, Stamkos etc. Neither better nor worse.

 

[Fataldogg]

Yes, he should get in. He is the model of consistency for a star center. He is not a compiler either, at his best he was arguably the best playmaker in the NHL [at the very least a top-3 playmaker in the NHL at his peak]. He is going to finish with over 1,200 points, probably more. He should be a shoe in for the hall of fame.

 

[Individual 1]

He is in same class as Getzlaff, Giroux, Tavares, Stamkos etc. Neither better nor worse.

Stamkos finished 2nd in points twice as well as 2 5th place finishes, he finished 2nd in Hart voting in 11-12. Stamkos also has 2 Rockets, as well as 3 2nd place goal finishes. Stamkos All Star voting is 2, 2, 3, 3, 4, 4 which is considerably better than the rest of the group.

 

[filinski77]

I personally don't think he "should" be in, but that's based on what I believe the HOF standards should be. In reality it's so much more watered down than it should be. Based on how they do induct people however, I think he will make it.

He has the high-level seasons to make it:
-> Point finishes of 4/4/6/8/9
-> Assist finishes of 1/2/3/3/3/3/7
-> All of the above while being a great 2-way player on top of that

He also has the longetivity to make it in
-> 5th in points since he came into the league
-> 1st in assists since he came into the league

Trying to project where he ends up in all-time point/assist rankings, I used his prior 3 year average, assumed 75GP per year (he doesn't get injured much at all either), and then some very conservative yearly decreases in production:

	GP	A	P	A/GP	P/GP
2021	55	38	53	0.69	0.96
2020	61	42	54	0.69	0.89
2019	80	52	74	0.65	0.93
Avg				0.68	0.92

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

	GP	A	P	A/GP	P/GP
Current	1,011	722	980	0.71	0.97
33yo	75	49	64	0.65	0.85
34yo	75	45	60	0.60	0.80
35yo	75	38	56	0.50	0.75
36yo	75	30	53	0.40	0.70
At end of current contract	1,311	883	1,213
All-time ranking		22nd	46th
37yo	75	30	45	0.40	0.60
38yo	75	26	38	0.35	0.50
	1,461	940	1,295
All-time ranking		16th	37th

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

The first set assumes he retires after his current contract, and then the second assumes he goes on for another couple years. Getting to the top-20 in assists and top-40 in points would be a huge accomplishment, especially while playing his whole career in a lower scoring environment (probably top-20 to 25 in adjusted points and potentially top-10 in adjusted assists). And he wouldn't be seen as a compiler like Marleau for example.

Add to that, barring anything too crazy, he's a lock for #2 all-time in points for Swedish players (with a shot at #1 potentially), and an even better shot at #1 all-time in assists for Swedish players.

 

[Voight]

He'll get in even though there was probably never a year in his career where he was considered one of the best at his position
What is his highest Hart voting? I know he's never even been close to being nominated for it, but did he ever finish Top 5 even once?

Being a 1C and never even reaching top 5 in Hart voting a single time in your career is no good.

In 2010 he was 3rd in points so I'd say he was one of the best at his position. he was 4th in points in 2017 as well and then also placed 6,8,9 a few other years.

While he has that distinction of never making an AST or being nominated for an award, he played with a generational player and was in a stacked era for centers. Thats part of the reason why nobody remembers his really good years; he was always passing to ivy so there weren't any highlight reels or attention on him.

 

[TeeTee]

I think he gets in. A very consistent player that can be counted on season after season.

 

[BlueBull]

We have been having this Conversation once a year Since 2017, and as I've been saying since then:

Yes. He should be in.

 

[Blitzkrug]

I think he's worthy but he's not getting in on the first ballot.

If you look at his resume, it stacks up eerily similar to Adam Oates. Top playmaker who had an all time great goal scorer to feed? Check. No individual awards to speak but was still regarded as one of the best at his position? check. Consistent level of excellence to stay in previously mentioned conversation? Check.

I would have no problem with him getting in but ideally other guys get in first.

 

[Cursed Lemon]

As with many players:

By precedent? Yes.

 

[Rec T]

As the NHL & the HHoF seem bound and determined to have a minimum of 3-4 players per year (for marketing purposes if nothing else...), yeah, maybe in an otherwise weak year. Not first round, not with other really strong players. But him getting in wouldn't surprise me all 'that' much.