Sedin twins headline first-year eligible players for 2021 HHOF class

With the Hockey Hall of Fame announcing the class of 2020 on Wednesday, TSN.ca takes a look at the players eligible to join hockey’s most prestigious club on their first ballot next year.

The biggest names up for first-year induction are Daniel and Henrik Sedin, Henrik Zetterberg and Rick Nash.

Other players who will be on the Hall of Fame ballot for the first time next year include Brian Gionta, Mike Fisher, Patrick Sharp and Scott Hartnell.

Daniel Sedin and Henrik Sedin

It’s hard to imagine the Sedin brothers not going in as a pair after playing on the same line throughout all 17 of their professional seasons with the Vancouver Canucks.

Drafted Nos. 2 and 3 overall in the 1999 NHL Draft, Daniel and Henrik rank first and second in almost every major category in Canucks history, with the exception of goals, where Daniel ranks first and Henrik ranks sixth.

Daniel, drafted second overall, scored 393 goals and posted 1,041 points in 1,306 career games. Henrik, selected one pick later, had 240 goals and 1,070 career points in 1,330 games. 

The two have almost identical resumes and are both three-time All-Stars. Henrik won the Art Ross Trophy and the Hart Memorial Trophy after posting 29 goals and 112 points in 82 games during the 2009-10 season. Daniel won the Art Ross and the Ted Lindsey Award one year later with 41 goals and 104 points in 82 games. 

Henrik, who served as the Canucks captain from 2010 until the pair retired in 2018, also led the NHL in assists in three straight seasons from 2009 to 2012 and ranks 26th in NHL history. He won the King Clancy Memorial Trophy in 2016 and was named a co-recipient with Daniel in 2018.

The two had their numbers retired by the Canucks earlier this season.

On the international stage, the pair won gold with Team Sweden at Torino 2006 and gold at the 2013 IIHF World Hockey Championship. Daniel also won silver at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, a tournament that Henrik was forced to miss due to injury.

Henrik Zetterberg 

Zetterberg will be eligible to join the Hall of Fame three years after his career came to an end due to a back injury.

Drafted in the seventh round of the 1999 NHL Draft by the Detroit Red Wings, Zetterberg went on to play 15 seasons with the team, serving as captain for six of them.

In 1,082 career games, Zetterberg posted 337 goals and 960 points with the Red Wings, ranking fifth in franchise history in goals, assists and points. 

The Swede won the Conn Smythe Trophy in 2008 after posting 13 goals and 27 points in 22 games en route to winning his lone Stanley Cup with the team. He also won the King Clancy Memorial Trophy in 2015.

Internationally, Zetterberg won gold at Torino 2006 and silver at Sochi 2014. He also won gold, silver and bronze (twice) at the World Hockey Championship during his career. He is one of 25 players in the Triple Gold Club with an Olympic gold medal, gold at the World Hockey Championship and a Stanley Cup.

Rick Nash 

Draft first overall by Columbus in 2002, Nash spent his first nine seasons with the Blue Jackets and is the franchise’s all-time leader in goals (289), assists (258), points (547) and games played (674).

In total, Nash appeared in 1,060 NHL games with the Blue Jackets, New York Rangers and Boston Bruins, posting 437 goals and 805 points. 

A six-time NHL All-Star, Nash was a co-winner of the Rocket Richard Trophy for the 2003-04 season, when he scored career-high 41 goals in just his second professional season at age 19.  

The Brampton, Ont., native won gold twice with Canada on the Olympic stage, at Vancouver 2010 and Sochi 2014. A gold medal winner and two-time silver medallist at the World Hockey Championship, Nash was named to TSN Hockey’s All-Time Men’s Team Canada earlier this year.