How the Lockout Has Hurt Some of the Best Players of This Era

[devilsrule33]

With the lockout wiping out a full year and a half of many players careers, I was thinking lately about which players careers will be affected from a historical standpoint. Where they could have been ranked and ultimately where they end up being ranked. That's a lot of games to miss. A lot of points that players should have been putting up in their primes of their career. You have older players too who just might not come back at the same level or even come back at all. Will the voters take that into account when looking at their final numbers and asking what could have been?

HOF Players if there weren't any lockouts (and maybe still)

These are guys that could still make it, but it's up for debate when it probably shouldn't.

Martin St Louis: 931 games, 323 goals, 529 assists, 852 points

Playoff Stats: 63 games, 33 go­­als, 35 assists, 68 points

Key Stats and Awards: Hart Trophy, Art Ross Trophy, Ted Lindsay Award, ­­1st Team All-Star, 3-time 2nd Team All-Star

St Louis is a weird weird case. A true late bloomer in that he didn't have his first season over 40 points until he was 27. He still probably gets over 1000 points but who knows how much great hockey he has left. He went from 99 points in 2011 to 74 points last year. Decline or off year? Missing the 2004-2005 season really hurt. St Louis just won the Hart and the Art Ross. The Lightning just won the Stanley Cup. I imagine he lost a gigantic season where he'd be a top 5 player. I'm of the belief St Louis should be in the HOF regardless if his stats right now don't even look close to the crazy point totals of others. For close to a decade he was around a top 10 player in this league. That has to be worth something. But add another Hart Trophy candidate season in 2005 and a year playing with Stamkos now, and the case would be much easier.

Daniel Alfredsson: 1131 games, 361 goals, 666 assists, 1072 points

Playoff Stats: 111 games, 47 goals, 43 assists, 90 points

Key Stats and Awards: 6-time All-Star, 2nd Team All-Star, Olympic Gold Medal

There is a great chance Alfredsson's career is done if there is no season. Pretty certain on that. And we discussed his Hall chances last year, and it's an interesting case. The lockout in 05 cost him a year of his prime on a stacked team with Spezza, Hossa, Havlat, Chara, Redden, etc that would have favoured to make the finals out of the East. Take away the 120 or so games missed and Alfredsson has 1200 career points. A very impressive accomplishment given the era. That's a milestone number that would get him in.

Potential Hall of Famers Without the Lockout

Patrik Elias 1042 games, 361 goals, 533 assists, 894 points

Playoff Stats: 162 games, 45 goals, 80 assists, 125 points

Key Stats and Awards: 1st Team All-Star, 2x Stanley Cup winner

We all are a little biased here, and I am sure we all might think of Patty as a guy who is a hall of famer, but the reality is he is probably an example of a great player who falls short. The lockout in 2005 hurt Elias in a number of ways. He missed a full year playing on a great line with Gionta and Gomez and got sick in Europe costing him half of the 2005-2006 season. All together the lockouts have directly and indirectly cost him 2 full NHL seasons. You add those years, and he is a 36-year-old with just over 1000 points and a few years of solid hockey left. Add his incredible defensive play and being a key part of a dominant team for 15 years, it be a really really interesting decision.

Vincent Lecavalier 998 games, 373 goals, 469 assists, 842 points

Playoff Stats: 63 games, 24 goals, 28 assists, 52 points

Key Stats and Awards: Maurice Richard winner, 2nd Team All-Star, Stanley Cup winner

Vinny is an example of a guy who started his career so early, that he is just going to have the ability to put up a lot more points than guys who didn't have the luxury of starting their career at 18. He is 4 years younger than Elias and 8 years younger than Alfredsson and has barely played less games. Like St Louis, missing the 2004 season was a really tough break. He was just beginning to break out and the Lightning were a very talented team. Add the missing time and he'd be closing in on 1000 points by the end of this season at just 33 years old. He hasn't looked all that great the last few years and might always be remembered as one of the most overpaid players in the game and a guy who just only quite lived up to the hype for a few seasons. Having said that, if it wasn't for the work stoppages, you'd prob be looking at a player that could have reached 1300 points, which is an outstanding accomplishment given the scoring output in his time in the league. Now the point totals won't wow anyone, and his individual seasons might leave people wanting more, especially on the defensive end.

Roberto Luongo: 727 games, 339 wins, 283 losses, 83 ties/OTSL 67 shutouts

Playoff Stats: 61 games, 32 wins, 29 losses, 5 shutouts

Key Stats and Awards: 1 Jennings Trophy, 2x 2nd Team All-Star, Olympic Gold Medal

I don't think Luongo's resume at this point warrants being in the Hall of Fame, but he has amassed a lot of wins at a young age. Take away the miss time and he probably would have hit 400 wins near the end of this season. Depending on where his career goes from here, his win totals might slow down. Or maybe he goes to Toronto and helps turn the Leafs around (where he'll be cemented as the greatest goalie in NHL history). In the end, he probably would have finished 3rd all-time in wins if there was no missed time. Now, we might be looking at a career similar to Curtis Joseph, and no one is screaming for him to get in the Hall

Also receiving votes: Brad Richards

Hall of Famers With or Without the Lockout

Some quick hitters here. Ilya Kovalchuk is 29 and has 406 goals. There is a chance he'd be closing in on 500 goals before his 30th birthday. Shame when a great goal scorer has about 75 goals wiped At this point it might take him until he is 32 or 33 to reach that goal.

I was thinking Marian Hossa would be a lock lockout or not, but you never know. He'd be enjoying 500 career goals by the start of next season at 34.

Teemu Selanne is one of the great players of all-time and a 1st ballot hall-of-famer. What he has done over the last two seasons is simply ridiuculous. But the two lockouts hurt his chance of becoming a member of the elite 700-700 club (He currently has 663 goals and 743 assists). The only members are Gretzky, Howe, Dionne, and Esposito. Edit: Selanne is one of a few players that have been part of 3 lockouts. That is 2 seasons off his career with room for more.

Jarome Iginla has had one of the most underrated careers of all-time. He should have been closing in on 600 goals at 35 by the end of the season with an outside shot at 700 goals before he retires. Simply insane when you think about the offensive talent or lack of during his entire career (Sorry Conroy, McAmmond, Langkow, Lombardi, Jokinen, Huselius, etc).

Edited December 21, 2012 by devilsrule33

['7']

Elias would be at 400 goals and 1000+ points by now if not for the lockouts

[Triumph]

Nice writeup. I still think St. Louis gets in. It's sort of disgusting that Lecavalier might get in and Elias might not, Elias has been a way better player over his career. But still, there's a gap in HOFers to some degree - among 35+ players right now, Selanne, Jagr, Brodeur and Lidstrom are locks. Regardless, there's not many of these types left - there's a pretty wide gap between 1994 draft picks and 2000 draft picks - Joe Thornton is a lock HOFer from these classes, but not many others are. There'll be room for people to sneak in when these are the classes being elected.

[NJDevs4978]

The second lockout probably saved Selanne's career, ironically enough.

['7']

Yea. Allowed him to heal up and gave him the space and powerplay time to regain his edge.