The question of which current players around the NHL are going to be enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame when their career is over, gets asked often. But when numbers get added to the equation and someone looks at the data, the potential candidates become clear -- and it just so happens that three current members of the Toronto Maple Leafs are in the conversation when that happens.
Paul Pidutti over at Daily Faceoff is known for his statistical model to try and determine which players are worthy of the call to the Hall of Fame. There are no guarantees but there are certain levels to it. In his most recent article, Pidutti goes over the tiers of players who are in and around the Hall of Fame and three Maple Leafs are named.
Hockey Hall of Fame tiers:
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Pidutti has created his own scoring system to determine which players should be involved and it makes sense.
"PPS scores a player using six factors: Career (production); Pace (efficiency); Peak (best seven seasons); Playoffs (postseason games and Cup count); International (best-on-best events); and Award Shares (voting share of major awards)," Pidduti writes. "By having a score for each player in history, we can benchmark anyone against a Hall of Fame standard that evolves based on the number of players presently inducted."
So, instead of just looking at points and deciding that should be the benchmark, it takes multiple factors even outside of the NHL, into consideration. And that leaves us with three current Maple Leafs grading out as players who should be in the conversation
Auston Matthews, John Tavares, and William Nylander in Hall of Fame conversation
According to Pidutti's article, the three Maple Leafs who are at least included when mentioning this potential accolade when they hang up their skates are Auston Matthews, John Tavares, and William Nylander.
Matthews and Tavares feels automatic and the scoring system reflects that. While he's not in the "Inner Circle" tier (that only includes Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid, Alex Ovechkin, and Evgeni Malkin), Matthews and Tavares are the "Qualfiied" part just below it with the likes of Leon Draisaitl, Nathan MacKinnon, David Pastrnak, Anze Kopitar, and all the rest of the very best in the NHL.
Given the accolades internationally and just the consistency that both of those players have had (albeit Matthews's latest slumps last season), it makes perfect sense. Nylander on the other hand is in the very last category that Pidutti includes labeled as "Under Age-30".
Alongside Kyle Connor, Sam Reinhart, Jason Robertson, and Nikolaj Ehlers, Nylander is in a somewhat "wait and see" with how he could potentially enter more of the conversation. If he has a couple more 40-goal seasons and the Leafs are able to actually do something in the playoffs, or Sweden wins Olympic gold in Milan, then maybe that scoring will rise into the next category no matter his age.
Despite the Maple Leafs not playing as well right now, we have to admit that there are still very, very talented players with esteemed histories and that could be enshrined at Front and Bay in several years.