Hockey Hall of Fame weekend buzz: Class of 2025, expansion, more

There’s something special about Hockey Hall of Fame Induction weekend.

It happens every year right when the weather turns fully into fall mode, when the leaves are changing, the clocks have gone back and a chill in the air signals the new NHL season is in full swing.

That stretch of days is firstly about celebrating another incoming class — this year, it was players Natalie Darwitz, Pavel Datsyuk, Jeremy Roenick, Shea Weber and Krissy Wendell-Pohl, along with Colin Campbell and David Poile in the Builders category.

The festivities also allow individuals from around the hockey world to congregate and discuss greater topics pertaining to the NHL at large, and what’s on their radar for their coming months.

And, of course, there’s theories about who will be on the Hall of Fame list a year from now.

We’re diving into just a few of the subjects swirling over the past several days in this latest Overheard edition.

Predictions for the HHOF Class of 2025

NHL GMs are used to seeing their decisions dissected, and often find disagreements. So it’s an exercise in fun to play pretend voter on the Hall’s selection committee and share who they would add to its hallowed ground.

“Joe Thornton would be top of my list for next year’s group,” one GM said. “Duncan Keith, too.”

“I would love to see [Carey] Price get the call right away,” an assistant GM said. “Also [Alexander] Mogilny has waited long enough.”

The first three names — Thornton, Keith and Price — are all first-year eligible for the Hall in 2025. Mogilny hasn’t gotten a call since his NHL career ended in 2006.

It’s always a fine line balancing which players — male and female — deserve the handful of spots available in each cycle. Consider Mogilny, who played over 1,000 games in the league, won a Stanley Cup and is a member of the Triple Gold Club (Olympic Gold, World Championship Gold, and a Stanley Cup) that has only 30 members. Even that hasn’t enticed the selectors to put Mogilny in — yet.

He’ll have stiff competition in 2025 given who can qualify.

• Thornton officially retired in October 2023 after last playing for the Florida Panthers in 2021-22. He ranks 14th all-time in NHL points (1,539), making him one of just 15 players to crack the 1,500-point mark and one of just 14 to gather 1,000 assists. Thornton’s longevity in the league — 24 seasons — is also impressive. He has a Hart Trophy to his name, and is a one-time league scoring champion, as well as an Olympic gold medalist, World Cup champion and World Junior champ.

• Keith hung up his skates in July 2022 as a three-time Cup champ with the Chicago Blackhawks, having earned one Conn Smythe and two Norris Trophies. He’s also a two-time Olympic gold medalist with Canada.

• Price won’t technically be retired until his contract with the Montreal Canadiens expires in 2026, but he hasn’t played a game since 2022 due to lingering injury. Price spent 15 seasons in Montreal before the injury set in, is the winningest goaltender in the franchise’s history, won a Hart Trophy (as one of just seven goaltenders to ever earn that award), a Vezina Trophy, a William M. Jennings Trophy, one Lester B. Pearson Award and one Bill Masterson Trophy. Price never did hoist a Cup, but he did earn goal medals with Canada at the World Juniors, World Cup and Olympics.

Other first-timers with potential to receive votes are Boston Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask, six-time Norris Trophy finalist Zdeno Chara and long-time Anaheim Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf, each of them with a list of accomplishments worthy of consideration.

Mogilny isn’t the only one who’s been biding their time for the Hall call. Jennifer Botterill (a three-time Olympic gold medalist and five-time world champion), Cassie Campbell-Pascall (two-time Olympic gold medalist and six-time world champion), Meghan Duggan (Olympic gold medalist and seven-time world champion) and Pekka Rinne (a four-time Vezina finalist and one-time winner) all have the necessary accolades to make it in.

And all were mentioned by agents, former players and executives as ones to watch out for when next year’s class is eventually revealed.

NHL expansion buzz

The league’s official party line is that expansion is not top of mind, and there is no pressing need to enter new markets.

However, it’s no secret the NHL intends to keep adding, in time, to its numbers with at least another team or two over the next several years. And why not? According to the latest report from Sportico, NHL clubs have never been more valuable, and that allows the NHL to ask for an even greater expansion fee (perhaps well surpassing the $650 million Seattle doled out in 2021). The league also has receipts for now strong their expansion teams are out of the gate: Vegas won a Stanley Cup in its sixth season; the Kraken were a playoff team by season two; and Utah — a relocation club, but playing in a new market — is off to a fine start in its new surroundings.

Now, where might the NHL explore new digs? The league isn’t going to expand for the mere sake of it just to get burned in the long term by something lucrative in the short. It would seem the NHL almost certainly is eyeing locations in the United States as opposed to Canada, though.

There’s no doubt the league would want to re-establish a team in the Phoenix area at some point to continue hockey’s growth in the southern states. A few other cities mentioned by the people we spoke to were also the usual suspects — namely Houston and Atlanta.

“We know those cities can support multiple major sports teams,” one executive explained. “There’s a foundation of interest in both locations in bringing [the NHL] there too, and that wouldn’t exist unless [potential owners] believed the fan base would get behind an NHL team. So you’ll keep hearing the same places again and again.”

One agent’s impassioned soliloquy about putting a team back in Quebec City was undeniably stimulating — “the history, from the team itself to the fans there; you do [expansion] the right way and how could they go wrong?” — but of course that city’s past financial issues (the Nordiques were eventually moved to Denver) and the relatively small population (500,000 versus over six million in the Greater Atlanta area, and 2.3 million in the Houston area) does hinder Quebec City’s opportunity (its proximity to clubs in Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto doesn’t help, either).

And despite two former Atlanta teams — the Flames in 1980 and Thrashers in 2011 — having relocated, NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly has expressed optimism as recently as last year that previous problems with that market could be “overcome” in a second go-around.

There’s not a set figure in mind for how many teams the NHL will eventually get to, but the league won’t keep expanding forever. Beyond just location considerations, execs caution against “diluting” the sport in any way with teams lacking enough talent to compete at the highest level. The league itself doesn’t seem concerned about that possibility, though, and is convinced there is plenty of depth out there to keep the game evolving.

Who will win the 4 Nations Face-off?

This upcoming tournament is up for grabs.

That’s the prevailing wisdom around the forthcoming 4 Nations Face-off event, where the USA, Canada, Sweden and Finland will battle it out in the first international hockey affair of its kind since the 2016 World Cup.

And despite the popular notion that a winner will come down to Canada or the USA, don’t sleep on Finland or Sweden to emerge as champions.

“Everyone might want it to be USA-Canada in the end,” one exec said, “but just look at who the Swedes and Fins have in their lineups. You’re not just jogging through those teams. It’s going to be fun watching how each roster actually matches up.”

Beyond just pondering who could emerge victorious, there were a few conversations that repeatedly cropped up. For example, would Canada make room for Connor Bedard? He’ll be part of that country’s plans on the ice for at least another decade to come — including at the 2026 Olympics — so could Bedard get the nod over, say, an established Nick Suzuki or fellow upstart in Dallas Stars center Wyatt Johnston? Opinions were split on whether Bedard would ultimately make the final cut, but suffice to say his importance to Canada in the long term is under zero debate.

What is being deliberated is whether Canada’s goaltending will be an Achilles heel, just as netminding appears to be one of the USA’s greatest strengths. In fact, there weren’t many holes anyone could punch in what the U.S. is working with from top to bottom. Given how hot Connor Hellebuyck has been to start this season, the way Jake Oettinger has come into his own, the potential of Jeremy Swayman and the possibility even of Thatcher Demko — that group could be the real difference-maker.

One point of debate for the U.S. was whether Tage Thompson or Cole Caufield would find their way into the offensive plans. Both have been projected as the team’s potential extra skater, and each brings a unique skill set that would complement the country’s attack — but the verdict likely depends on who else the U.S. taps to line up ahead of that 13th forward.

One Hockey Hall of Famer — chiming in anonymously — is positive that no matter who the U.S. puts on the ice, they will be the team to beat in the tournament.

“There is no huge weakness there,” he said. “Show me where the USA doesn’t have undeniable depth.”

Sweden could have it’s own concerns about how to fill out the third and fourth lines. Do they prioritize veterans or youth, not just in who makes the roster but where they line up? One exec was particularly bullish on seeing Leo Carlsson — Anaheim’s second overall pick in 2023 — take a significant role for the Swedes.

“Carlsson’s an exciting player that’s not talked about enough as it is,” he said. “Highlighting him now and for what he means for Sweden [going forward] is a big thing.”

There’s also the question of whether Gabriel Landeskog — who’s been sidelined the last two seasons following knee surgery — will be available to Sweden for the tournament. Colorado’s captain suffered a “setback” recently in the recovery process that Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said wasn’t “unexpected” and the team was still “hopeful” Landeskog would return at some point this season. Even if he could play by February, it may not be in Landeskog’s best interest anyway to jump into something like the 4 Nations tournament.

For Finland, there’s enviable center depth available, but their defense being short on star power (outside of Miro Heiskanen) could make corralling high-flying offenses a challenge. The key though is how short the tournament is. One good — or bad — day at the office can make or break the journey for any of these four countries. That’s why excitement for what’s to come does feel genuine, and not only because there hasn’t been a best-on-best showcase like this in years.

“Every country has a lot of great options,” one player noted. “That’s what’s cool about it. I don’t know who will end up going, but you know it’ll be the sort of hockey we have been missing for the last, like, 10 years.”