Letang for the HoF?

[billybudd]

good player, but no

the last 5 defencemen to be inducted in the HOF

S.Zubov
C.Pronger
N.Lidstrom
P.Housley
R.Blake

I don't think he compares.

I'm not sure Letang should get in (leaning "no" at this time), but I'd definitely rather have him on my team than Housley and would view him as a coinflip against Zubov.

 

[Oddbob]

He is certainly a very good defenceman, but doesn't have the accolades to support his case. Maybe if he hadn't had so many injuries than I could potentially see it.

 

[The Macho King]

I'm not sure Letang should get in (leaning "no" at this time), but I'd definitely rather have him on my team than Housley and would view him as a coinflip against Zubov.

For Zubovs faults, he has a pretty long and consistent career. Definitely a bad induction, but more defensible than Housley at least.

 

[thadd]

Anderson is in.

OMG! It happened 12 years ago and I have no clue!!! LMAO! Holy cow. To be fair I was in my 20's then and don't remember much of those years.

 

[chethejet]

He has another say three years of play to be in the category of one of the best D men. Very few have his offensive ability and skating end to end. He generally average 25 minutes per game and despite his health concerns and time away from the ice, he has the numbers to be in. When healthy he can change the game with one pass or rush. His upside outweighs his downside. So if Zubov and Housely and Blake are in he certainly belongs in.

 

[Hockey4Lyfe]

Going to agree with what the majority is saying. No.

doesn’t take away that he is a very good player. As a Penguins fan I wish he could eliminate the crippling and game changing mistakes he seems to pull off every other game. But other than that, he’s one of the best in the game.

but he just doesn’t have the numbers or accolades to back up being in the HOF.

 

[billybudd]

For Zubovs faults, he has a pretty long and consistent career. Definitely a bad induction, but more defensible than Housley at least.

Long career as a quality, franchise two-way D with 1 Norris nomination (no wins), 2 championships, 1 all-star team selection and a handful of all-star game appearances. Letang's resume is actually tracking to be slightly better on paper at this time. On the ice, having seen plenty of games from both, I personally think they're probably a wash.

There are persuasive arguments for why Letang is not a Hall of Famer, but "here are the last 5 to get in; Letang doesn't compare to them" isn't one of these arguments when Zubov and Housley are on the list.

 

[Neutrinos]

I think Zubov is a fair comparable

 

[Seanaconda]

OMG! It happened 12 years ago and I have no clue!!! LMAO! Holy cow. To be fair I was in my 20's then and don't remember much of those years.

oilers only put jerseys in the rafters if they make the hall other than that wha guy soo

 

[DickSmehlik]

Keep in mind, Zubov didn't receive his first and only Norris nomination (yes, nomination) until the 2005-06 season. Yet he was just inducted into the HoF.

Yeah but Zubov had to compete with peers like Leetch, Chelios, Lidstrom, Pronger, Macinnis not to mention Bourque and Coffey.

Letang's competition is far, far weeker and he has never outshined any of his peers.

 

[BHD]

Yeah but Zubov had to compete with peers like Leetch, Chelios, Lidstrom, Pronger, Macinnis not to mention Bourque and Coffey.

Letang's competition is far, far weeker and he has never outshined any of his peers.

That’s more accurate.

 

[Hockeyholic]

If Letang gets in, so should Ryan Suter and Desjardins.

 

[Lemieuxs]

If you had to rate the top 5 defensemen of the past 10 years, I would say he would be in the conversation. Not sure if that translates to HOF worthy but he definitely has the points and cups.

 

[Senor Catface]

How do you think players enter the Hockey Hall of Fame?

Brute force

 

[Clode]

No

 

[edog37]

Gotta think Fleury gets in too, unless you're talking present day Pens

nope. Fleury has only one cup as a starter & a whole bunch of playoff meltdowns. Plus no individual hardware to speak of either.

 

[These Are The Days]

If you have to ask.....


So what's that tell you?



I don't sit there and wonder if I'm watching an HHOFer in a guy like Zdeno Chara. I don't sit there and wonder about Nicklas Backstrom. Or Marc-Andre Fleury. Or if a guy like Nathan MacKinnon or Andrei Vasilevskiy is on pace to join their ranks some day.




And for what it's worth prime Zubov was one of the best all around defenders of the DPE. Half the time Letang struggles with his consistency on his bad nights he wasn't even the best defenseman on his own team.

 

[UnSandvich]

nope. Fleury has only one cup as a starter & a whole bunch of playoff meltdowns. Plus no individual hardware to speak of either.

True, but he'll also finish 3rd all-time in wins by a goalie, unless he retires early or Lundqvist has a late career resurgence. He already has 150 more career wins than the next closest Pens goalie, and led the Knights to the Finals in his first season there. And a Cup is a Cup (just look at all the people saying Lundqvist shouldn't make it into the Hall without one).

 

[edog37]

True, but he'll also finish 3rd all-time in wins by a goalie, unless he retires early or Lundqvist has a late career resurgence. He already has 150 more career wins than the next closest Pens goalie, and led the Knights to the Finals in his first season there. And a Cup is a Cup (just look at all the people saying Lundqvist shouldn't make it into the Hall without one).

Yes a Cup is a Cup but with goalies it seems the voters look for more than that. They want to see records & hardware. Fleury really has neither. If he won a Vezina, then perhaps, but he’s like Chris Osgood. Very good, but not HoF.

 

[Neutrinos]

Yeah but Zubov had to compete with peers like Leetch, Chelios, Lidstrom, Pronger, Macinnis not to mention Bourque and Coffey.

Letang's competition is far, far weeker and he has never outshined any of his peers.

Letang's competition during his career:

Lidstrom, Chara, Keith, Doughty, Pronger, Hedman, Karlsson, Weber

 

[Gurglesons]

Yeah but Zubov had to compete with peers like Leetch, Chelios, Lidstrom, Pronger, Macinnis not to mention Bourque and Coffey.

Letang's competition is far, far weeker and he has never outshined any of his peers.

And Zubov did?

Letang also was the best defenseman in 2013, but because of injury did not win the Norris.

And I’d put Keith and Karlsson above all of the D listed there outside of Lidstrom and Bourque. Chelios is probably in their range.

 

[Ted Hoffman]

He’s a weird case. He doesn’t have the accolades but I think he’s a Hall of Fame talent and been very underrated at times over the course of his career.

His defense has certainly been overrated for a large swath of his career. It's not lousy like it was early in his career when it was incredibly overrated; it's better than Paul Coffey, but it's still not even up to say Rob Blake level.

That said, I think Zubov's selection is only slightly stronger than Bernie Federko's, and Federko shouldn't be in the HHOF unless there's some exhibit that happens to have a piece of equipment from him or he's bought a ticket to go visit.

And he was a better all round player than Zubov was.

Not even close. Zubov, you could put out in any situation and not worry about how he'd do going back to his first days in the league and extending throughout much of his career - and that's with other good defensemen around him. Letang has times where it appears he's trying to handle the puck like it's a live grenade and he totally brain-farts about defense because he's too busy trying to think about making an up-ice rush - and he's out there because the alternatives have been worse.

Again, it's getting better, but it's still not even semi-elite level.

He’d likely have multiple Norris trophies.

He's got exactly 1 finalist nod even when healthy. Let's stick with the facts on hand, not make assumptions that can lead to some really bad conclusions.

Yeah but Zubov had to compete with peers like Leetch, Chelios, Lidstrom, Pronger, Macinnis not to mention Bourque and Coffey.

Letang's competition is far, far weeker and he has never outshined any of his peers.

This is a poor argument to make, because it relies on nostalgia to make the point. Quit comparing guys of today to guys of the past to make an argument about someone's qualifications today; judge them relative to their peers, which is what the measuring stick should always be.

And on that measuring stick, Letang is still behind his peers.

 

[thadd]

oilers only put jerseys in the rafters if they make the hall other than that wha guy soo

I knew his jersey was retired. I just thought it was because of all the awesome things he did for us. He still holds the franchise record for most game winning goals.

 

[Karl Eriksson]

Realistically the only two Pens players from this era to be locks for the HoF are Sid & Geno.

fleury is a lock.

 

[The Macho King]

If you have to ask.....


So what's that tell you?



I don't sit there and wonder if I'm watching an HHOFer in a guy like Zdeno Chara. I don't sit there and wonder about Nicklas Backstrom. Or Marc-Andre Fleury. Or if a guy like Nathan MacKinnon or Andrei Vasilevskiy is on pace to join their ranks some day.




And for what it's worth prime Zubov was one of the best all around defenders of the DPE. Half the time Letang struggles with his consistency on his bad nights he wasn't even the best defenseman on his own team.

Talking about consistency and bringing up MAF.

Yeah this is not a good argument.