Statistical Snubs
Eligible players outside the Hockey Hall of Fame whose on-field record looks like an inductee's: a model trained on every eligible career gives them at least a 50% chance. 22 players clear that line. Probabilities are out-of-fold: each player was scored by a model that never saw his own outcome.
Rankings as of 2026-10-03, as declared by the corpus that produced them.
| # | Player | Career VAL | Peak | Top-1% / led | Classes | Model |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jaromir JagrR · 1991–2018 · 24 seasons | 416.9 | 24.6 | 7 / 5 | 6 | >99% |
| 2 | John LeClairL · 1992–2007 · 15 seasons | 198 | 22.4 | 3 / 1 | 17 | 93% |
| 3 | Nicklas BackstromC · 2008–2023 · 16 seasons | 237.4 | 20.8 | 2 / 1 | 1 | 93% |
| 4 | Patrick MarleauC · 1998–2021 · 23 seasons | 305.9 | 18.9 | 0 / 0 | 3 | 92% |
| 5 | Bernie NichollsC · 1982–1998 · 17 seasons | 224.1 | 20.3 | 2 / 1 | 26 | 92% |
| 6 | Patrik EliasC · 1997–2016 · 19 seasons | 256.4 | 21.3 | 2 / 0 | 8 | 84% |
| 7 | Theo FleuryR · 1989–2003 · 15 seasons | 244.1 | 21.8 | 3 / 1 | 21 | 83% |
| 8 | Chris KunitzL · 2004–2019 · 15 seasons | 167.2 | 16.6 | 1 / 1 | 5 | 81% |
| 9 | Claude LemieuxR · 1987–2009 · 18 seasons | 189.8 | 16.2 | 0 / 0 | 15 | 81% |
| 10 | Ed GiacominG · 1966–1978 · 13 seasons | 97.3 | 12.1 | 2 / 2 | 46 | 75% |
| 11 | Ben BishopG · 2012–2020 · 9 seasons | 77.8 | 13.5 | 2 / 2 | 4 | 65% |
| 12 | Dale HunterC · 1981–1999 · 19 seasons | 202.7 | 14.6 | 0 / 0 | 25 | 65% |
| 13 | Jason SpezzaC · 2003–2022 · 18 seasons | 234.5 | 20.4 | 2 / 0 | 2 | 64% |
| 14 | Tim ThomasG · 2006–2014 · 8 seasons | 77.3 | 13.8 | 2 / 2 | 10 | 63% |
| 15 | Ryan GetzlafC · 2006–2022 · 17 seasons | 237.4 | 20.2 | 1 / 0 | 2 | 60% |
| 16 | Henrik ZetterbergC · 2003–2018 · 15 seasons | 234.7 | 20.1 | 1 / 0 | 6 | 59% |
| 17 | Alex KovalevR · 1993–2013 · 19 seasons | 246.7 | 20.5 | 1 / 0 | 11 | 58% |
| 18 | Bobby SmithC · 1979–1993 · 15 seasons | 189 | 16.9 | 0 / 0 | 31 | 57% |
| 19 | Rod Brind'AmourC · 1990–2010 · 20 seasons | 266.1 | 18.3 | 0 / 0 | 14 | 56% |
| 20 | Vincent DamphousseC · 1987–2004 · 18 seasons | 260.2 | 18.7 | 0 / 0 | 20 | 56% |
| 21 | Steve ThomasR · 1985–2004 · 20 seasons | 210.6 | 17.3 | 0 / 0 | 20 | 56% |
| 22 | Milan HejdukR · 1999–2013 · 14 seasons | 201.7 | 21.3 | 1 / 1 | 11 | 53% |
The same model applied to careers still in progress (appeared in 2025 or 2026), on what they have done so far. A trajectory, not a forecast: a young player's number can only rise with the seasons he has not played yet.
| # | Player | Career VAL | Peak | Top-1% / led | Model |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sidney CrosbyC · 2006–2026 · 21 seasons | 380.2 | 22.8 | 9 / 1 | >99% |
| 2 | Alex OvechkinL · 2006–2026 · 21 seasons | 388.3 | 22.9 | 7 / 1 |
Last appeared before 2025 but inside the waiting period, so no class has considered them yet.
| # | Player | Career VAL | Peak | Top-1% / led | Model |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joe PavelskiC · 2007–2024 · 18 seasons | 271.5 | 20 | 2 / 0 | 94% |
| 2 | Zach PariseL · 2006–2024 · 19 seasons | 231.9 | 20.3 | 2 / 0 | 69% |
One logistic regression for the NHL, fitted on 2,846 retired, eligible players of whom 218 are in the Hockey Hall of Fame (base rate 8%). Retired, last season ≤ 2023 (at least one induction class chosen since he became eligible), and ≥ 5 seasons in the VAL corpus. Inductees below the floor are excluded from training. 10 inductees fall below that floor — mostly careers played largely before or outside this league's corpus — and are not trained on. League-best seasons are ranked within VAL group (e.g. batters vs pitchers, skaters vs goalies).
The model reads on-field value only: career and peak VAL, league-best seasons by VAL, playoff VAL and longevity. It cannot see awards voting, championships beyond playoff VAL, pre-league or international careers, eligibility bans, or character clauses. Every training player's probability is out-of-fold (scored by a model that never saw his own label). Active players (appeared in one of the last two seasons — the corpus has no retirement flag) and retired players still inside the waiting period are scored on their career to date by the full-data model — a trajectory, not a forecast. A non-inductee who is still eligible may yet be chosen, and a player still playing outside the league is not eligible however long ago he left it. Black ink is shown for context but is not a model input: its season coverage is shorter than the VAL corpus.
Held-out Brier
0.0421
base-rate guess 0.0707
Brier skill
41%
better than the base rate
AUC
0.907
ranks an inductee above a non-inductee
Folds
5
stratified, deterministic
| 3 | Connor McDavidC · 2016–2026 · 11 seasons | 226.8 | 24.1 | 6 / 4 | >99% |
| 4 | Nathan MacKinnonC · 2014–2026 · 13 seasons | 245.9 | 24.6 | 6 / 3 | >99% |
| 5 | Evgeni MalkinC · 2007–2026 · 20 seasons | 313.5 | 23 | 4 / 2 | >99% |
| 6 | Patrick KaneR · 2008–2026 · 19 seasons | 322.6 | 23.2 | 5 / 1 | >99% |
| 7 | Nikita KucherovR · 2014–2026 · 12 seasons | 231.4 | 23.4 | 7 / 0 | >99% |
| 8 | Leon DraisaitlC · 2015–2026 · 12 seasons | 217.7 | 22.9 | 7 / 0 | 99% |
| 9 | Steven StamkosC · 2009–2026 · 18 seasons | 291.7 | 22.7 | 6 / 0 | 99% |
| 10 | David PastrnakR · 2015–2026 · 12 seasons | 214.6 | 23.6 | 4 / 2 | 98% |
| 11 | Brad MarchandL · 2010–2026 · 17 seasons | 254.9 | 21.1 | 3 / 0 | 96% |
| 12 | Connor HellebuyckG · 2016–2026 · 11 seasons | 113.8 | 15.7 | 3 / 3 | 95% |
| 13 | Corey PerryR · 2006–2026 · 21 seasons | 249.9 | 20.5 | 2 / 0 | 95% |
| 14 | Claude GirouxR · 2009–2026 · 18 seasons | 273.1 | 21.3 | 3 / 0 | 85% |
| 15 | Anze KopitarC · 2007–2026 · 20 seasons | 312.3 | 20.3 | 2 / 0 | 81% |
| 16 | Mikko RantanenR · 2017–2026 · 10 seasons | 177.1 | 22.4 | 4 / 0 | 80% |
| 17 | Jamie BennL · 2010–2026 · 17 seasons | 246.1 | 21 | 3 / 0 | 79% |
| 18 | Brent BurnsD · 2004–2026 · 22 seasons | 245.8 | 19.5 | 1 / 0 | 66% |
| 19 | John TavaresC · 2010–2026 · 17 seasons | 282.7 | 21 | 1 / 1 | 65% |
| 20 | Jordan StaalC · 2007–2026 · 20 seasons | 200.2 | 13.3 | 0 / 0 | 62% |
| 21 | Marc-Andre FleuryG · 2004–2025 · 21 seasons | 167.6 | 12 | 0 / 0 | 57% |
| 22 | Jonathan ToewsC · 2008–2026 · 16 seasons | 229.3 | 18.9 | 1 / 0 | 52% |
| 23 | Sergei BobrovskyG · 2011–2026 · 16 seasons | 135.1 | 14.4 | 1 / 1 | 50% |
| 24 | Kris LetangD · 2008–2026 · 19 seasons | 201.2 | 15.6 | 0 / 0 | 43% |
| 25 | Andrei VasilevskiyG · 2015–2026 · 12 seasons | 119.3 | 14.4 | 1 / 1 | 41% |
| 3 |
| Jeff CarterC · 2006–2024 · 19 seasons |
| 226 |
| 18.6 |
| 1 / 0 |
51% |
| 4 | Johnny GaudreauL · 2015–2024 · 10 seasons | 169.3 | 22.4 | 2 / 1 | 19% |
| 5 | Andrew CoglianoC · 2008–2024 · 17 seasons | 137.6 | 11.6 | 0 / 0 | 19% |
| 6 | T.J. OshieR · 2009–2024 · 16 seasons | 178.4 | 15.3 | 0 / 0 | 16% |
| 7 | Blake WheelerR · 2009–2024 · 16 seasons | 230 | 20 | 1 / 0 | 16% |
| 8 | Marc StaalD · 2008–2024 · 17 seasons | 83.9 | 8 | 0 / 0 | 12% |
| 9 | Evgeny KuznetsovC · 2014–2024 · 11 seasons | 138.9 | 18.9 | 1 / 0 | 9% |
| 10 | Cal ClutterbuckR · 2009–2024 · 16 seasons | 96.1 | 8.8 | 0 / 0 | 9% |
| Predicted | Players | Mean predicted | Actually inducted |
|---|
| 0–10% | 2437 | 3% | 2% (57) |
| 10–20% | 169 | 14% | 16% (27) |
| 20–30% | 67 | 24% | 22% (15) |
| 30–40% | 38 | 35% | 34% (13) |
| 40–50% | 21 | 44% | 67% (14) |
| 50–60% | 18 | 55% | 61% (11) |
| 60–70% | 14 | 64% | 64% (9) |
| 70–80% | 14 | 76% | 93% (13) |
| 80–90% | 17 | 83% | 76% (13) |
| 90–100% | 51 | 97% | 90% (46) |
| Input | Pool mean | Coefficient |
|---|---|---|
| Career VAL | 70.873 | +0.6405 |
| Best 3-season VAL average | 9.125 | -0.8116 |
| Seasons in the top 1% of the league by VAL | 0.117 | +0.6025 |
| Seasons as the league's VAL leader | 0.056 | +0.5343 |
| Career playoff VAL | 28.936 | +0.8564 |
| Seasons played | 10.171 | +0.4273 |
| Intercept | -3.361 |