Will Mogilny Get Long-Deserved HHOF Induction?

The Hockey Hall Of Fame will announce their 2023 class this week and there is some thought that after a 14-year wait, former Buffalo Sabres winger Alexander Mogilny will finally be honored.

Alexander Mogilny scores one of the fastest goals in @NHL history against the @MapleLeafs in 1991. #Sabres50 pic.twitter.com/jj0mP1qDxO

— Buffalo Hockey Moments (@SabresPlays) September 7, 2019

Mogilny defected from the Soviet Union in 1989 after being selected in the 5th round by the Sabres in the 1988 Draft. He played six of his 16 seasons with Buffalo and holds the franchise record for goals in a season with 76 in 1993. He was dealt to Vancouver in 1995 for Mike Peca, Mike Wilson, and a first-round pick (Jay McKee) and went on to play for New Jersey (where he won a Stanley Cup in 2000) and the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The gifted winger played 990 NHL games, averaging more than a point per game (473 goals, 559 assists), and internationally won an Olympic, World Junior, and World Championship gold medal.

The case can be made that Mogilny has been unfairly snubbed based on the induction of comparable forwards like Daniel Alfredsson, Paul Kariya, and Martin St. Louis, who have fewer career goals, career points, or average goals or points per game.

Other Former Sabres With Hall Of Fame Chances

Pierre Turgeon

The Sabres top overall pick in 1987, Turgeon played four-plus seasons in Buffalo before being dealt to the New York Islanders in 1991 for Pat Lafontaine, played nearly 1300 NHL games with Montreal, St. Louis, Dallas, and Colorado, and scored 515 goals and 1327 points, but never won a Stanley Cup and is looked upon as more of a compiler.

Teppo Numminen

A 20-year NHL veteran with Winnipeg/Phoenix, Dallas, and the Sabres, Numminen played the most games of any European-born player in league history (1372) and has 637 points (117 goals, 520 assists).

Tom Barrasso

Barrasso was the Sabres first-round pick in 1983, won the Calder and Vezina Trophies and was named NHL First Team All-Star at 19 years old, and played five-plus seasons in Buffalo before being traded to Pittsburgh in 1989, where he won consecutive Stanley Cups in 1991 and 1992. He played 777 career games for Ottawa, Carolina, Toronto, and St.Louis and finished with 369 victories.

Tom Barrasso grew up playing on an outdoor rink in Stow, Massachusetts eventually jumping from high school hockey straight to the NHL and played in the NHL for 20 seasons and 777 games! #LetsGoBuffalo #LetsGoPens pic.twitter.com/K0BnnipGzv

— The Hockey Samurai 侍 (@hockey_samurai) March 31, 2021