So Marleau scoring over 500 NHL goals (528 as of right now) and over 1100 points and counting, is still not Hall of Fame material?
That's correct. He should
not be a Hall of Famer (nor should Andreychuk or Housley, but past is past).
Marleau has exactly nothing over Kovalchuk:
1st/2nd Team All Star
2 Kovalchuk
0 Marleau
PPG-scoring seasons
7 times in 11 seasons - Kovalchuk
3 times in 19 seasons - Marleau
Best season in goals
52 Kovalchuk
44 Marleau
Best season in points
98 Kovalchuk
86 Marleau
(beaten by Kovalchuk 4 times)
Top-10 in goals
8 Kovalchuk
2 Marleau
Top-10 in points
5 Kovalchuk
0 Marleau
Times leading NHL team in goals
7 times in 10 seasons - Kovalchuk
(would be 8 in 11 but for mid-season trade)
5 times in 19 seasons - Marleau
Times leading NHL team in points
7 times in 10 seasons - Kovalchuk
(would be 8 in 11 but for mid-season trade)
3 times in 19 seasons - Marleau
Rookie season
2nd Calder -Kovalchuk
6th Calder - Marleau
World Championships
76 points in 74 games - Kovalchuk
16 points in 32 games - Marleau
Their overall Olympic numbers are similar, but even here Marleau has a measly 2 goals in 13 games.
Other than NHL longevity, about the only thing you could argue Marleau has over Kovalchuk is playoff numbers... but even there, Kovalchuk's measly 32 playoff games saw him score 8 goals in 2012 -- he thus led the NHL playoffs in goals, something Marleau has never done (only once in 17 tries has Marleau scored more than Kovalchuk's 8 that season... and he hit 9).
They're completely different levels of players.
And yes, Kovalchuk should most definitely make the Hall of Fame.