Would Ilya Kovalchuk have made the Hall of Fame if he didn't go to Russia?

[toothlessgoon]

Would he have been a HOFer had he spent his entire career in the NHL?

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[GMR]

Yes. He’d certainly have over 500 goals, most likely over 600.

 

[Devs3cups]

Yes. I’ve watched Kovy play a lot as a Devils fan and he was an absolute beast. A force on the ice really. He could score from anywhere on the ice, arguably had a top 3 shot in the league and was intimidating and pretty physical. Great, forceful skater too. After Lemaire’s passage in NJ in the early 2010’s, he could be counted on defensively too. In my view, he was an Ovechkin-lite (obviously surely not as talented, but a similar type of player I mean). He was that good imo.

 

[David Suzuki]

He still should

 

[robsenz]

Kovy was OV before OV was OV.

 

[Connor McConnor]

13 year career almost 900 games played and 900 points? I thought he might still get in. He should. Easily a top 5-10 player for almost 8 years

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

easily

 

[KingsHockey24]

Kovalchuk is a Stanley Cup Champion if he chose LA over NJ to sign with.

 

[bland]

Kovalchuk is a Stanley Cup Champion if he chose LA over NJ to sign with.

You mean if Lombardi didn't sabotage the deal that Tim Lieweke wanted?

Just cursory knowledge of the game would tell you that there are no two more opposite players than Kopitar and Kovalchuk. Never, ever would have worked. Lombardi knew that and pulled out the stops to win that power struggle.

No insult to the pre-LHL version of Kovalchuk, he just would not have been the same player with the boardwork, backchecking and transitional positioning the Kings required. There just were no quick strike attacking options under Terry Murray, it was as regimented a system as you would ever see: dump in, grind and recover, back to the point, head to the crease. Over and over and over again.

But it is fair to insult the version that signed for Blake. He had no attention to detail, little willingness to get to the dirty areas, no desire to be a willing teammate and flat out refusal to play defense. It got so bad that they made him practice by himself, stay home on road trips and led to them hiring a dead duck interim in Desjardins instead of a real coach just so they could have a new guy come in with a clean slate and not inherit that mess.

 

[Habano]

Absolutely!

 

[Zuluss]

Fun fact: Kovalchuk has 8 top10 finishes in goals despite leaving NHL at 30 years old
That's on par with Jagr, Dionne, Brett Hull, all of whom had very long careers and a lot of longevity
Even better goalscorers like Esposito, Bossy, Gretzky, Lemieux all have just 1 top10 finish in goals more than Kovalchuk
Kovalchuk should in the HOF even despite his short NHL career, just as Bure and Kariya are

 

[MrazeksVengeance]

I Hope effing not.

 

[Bowski]

Fun fact: Kovalchuk has 8 top10 finishes in goals despite leaving NHL at 30 years old

The "Even better goalscorers..." part is not even worth touching. All 4 of them wipe it with Ilya's "accomplishments," or lack thereof. Pathetic attempt at stat dumpster diving.

But realistically, if he wasn't a selfish moody constantly benched douchenozzle that didn't quit, most likely HoF worthy.

 

[hypereconomist]

Kovalchuk can still make it into the hall and no one should bat an eye if he does. His 8-eight year peak is HHOF worthy.

AST Voting: 1, 2, 3, 3, 3, 5, 9, 9
5x Top 10 point finishes
8x Top 10 goal finishes, including a Richard
A great playoff run in 2011-12 where he would have likely won the Conn Smythe if the Devils won

The only reason that Kovalchuk would stay out of the HHOF is because of the same dumb grudges that are keeping Barrasso and Fleury out of the hall.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Yeah, I really think he would have.

When he left the league he was a 30-40 goal machine. He was away for five years and came back as more of a 20 goal guy. If we split the difference and say he averages something like 28 goals for those five years, that's 140 goals. Meaning he's pushing 600 for his career, and easily clear of the 1000 point mark. Those are HHOF numbers, easily.

 

[MessierII]

With the standards today he still could

 

[BenchBrawl]

Kovalchuk has a certain prestige about him, as a former 1st overall pick and magical talent that everyone remembers. Also, he scored some big goals in international play.

In the NHL, he had six straight 40 goals seasons. He had a good playoff run in 2012, the only time he really had a chance.

I think he could make the HOF as it is.

 

[Video Nasty]

Of course.

Even conservative projections of 30 goals/60 points like his first season with the Devils for 5 years would put him at about 547 goals and 1,116 points through his age 34 season.

Who knows what he does in that alternate reality where he plays those 5 seasons and also continues into that timelines age 35 season.

Anything better than that and he is flirting with being among the 20 other goal scorers with 600 career goals and a top 50 point scorer all time.

Even as his career stands now, he has a better case than some recent additions, to me at least. He was a top goal scorer for a sustained level of time, had some really terrific seasons, and was “Fame” worthy.

 

[MasterofGrond]

It’s the hockey hall of fame not the nhl Hall of fame

876 nhl points and over 300 more in the KHL as a PPG ish player in both in an era where scoring wasn’t particularly easy.

He should absolutely get in regardless.

 

[KoozNetsOff 92]

He's already a HoFer.