Who is the biggest Hockey Hall of Fame omission?

FRANK SERAVALLI: If you consider first-time eligible Henrik Lundqvist to be a lock for the Class of 2023, then it’s beyond time to induct Curtis Joseph. I’ve been pounding the pavement for CuJo for a while, but after we’ve seen truly quantifiable evidence from Adjusted Hockey’s Paul Pidutti in a story I wrote last week, I think the case is even stronger for him. His career is virtually indistinguishable from Lundqvist’s when adjusted for era. Pidutti ranks him as the 17th best goaltender of all-time when put on a level playing field. If all of the numbers are too much for you, then let me boil Joseph’s case down into the simplest terms possible: Five times he finished in the top five of Vezina voting, including three times as a finalist. He never won the ultimate award. But the guys he consistently finished runner-up to are almost all in the Hall of Fame and some of the best ever: Dominik Hasek, Martin Brodeur, Patrick Roy. Joseph may not be their equal, but he belongs in the same Hall.

STEVEN ELLIS: I know his time in the NHL was short, but few players were as dominant in the late 2000s to early 2010s as Tim Thomas. In an era with Martin Brodeur, Henrik Lundqvist, Miikka Kiprusoff, Roberto Luongo, Marc-Andre Fleury, Ryan Miller and Carey Price, Tim Thomas came in and won two Vezinas, a Conn Smythe, a Stanley Cup, an Olympic silver medal and was named an NHL first-team all-star twice. Lundqvist is viewed as a first-ballot Hall of Famer and deserves to be, but Thomas won more in a shorter period. I’d argue that what Thomas did in the NHL in a short span should give him an extra boost. Heck, he won major awards all throughout Europe, too, and while being a good Finnish League goalie won’t get you in the HHoF, his career spans far beyond NHL dominance. We’ll never see someone come in at 31 and dominate like Thomas did. He was an old-school goalie in an era when the butterfly was standard. He was unique, won everything you’d look for in a Hall of Famer and deserves to be enshrined forever. He didn’t hit the 500-game mark, which most HHoF goalies do, but the results don’t lie.

NICK ALBERGA: Give me Alexander Mogilny. First and foremost, we’re talking about a trailblazer here. He was the first USSR defector to play in the NHL, and indisputably, that has paved the way for many great Russian players – past and present – to do their thing. In addition to that, which again shouldn’t be taken lightly, he was also a pretty damn good player tallying 473 goals and 1,032 points across a solid 16-year career. Furthermore, Mogilny is one of only eight players in NHL history to hit the 70-goal plateau in a season, and six of those eight are currently in the HHOF. As referenced, his greatest personal accomplishment came in the 1992-93 campaign when he tied Teemu Selanne (76) for the league lead in goals. On top of all that, Mogilny won a Stanley Cup in 2000 with New Jersey, the Lady Byng Trophy in 2003 and he was also a Second Team All-Star twice (1993 +1996).

MIKE MCKENNA: Well Frank and Nick, you guys brought up my first two picks. It’s a travesty that Mogilny isn’t in the Hall of Fame. And CuJo has never gotten the respect he deserves. The Hall of Fame is a major sticking point with the goalie union. For what’s considered the most important position in hockey, isn’t it funny how there are so few goaltenders inducted? The worst part is I can’t tell what the litmus test is. Does a goalie need to win a Stanley Cup? A Vezina trophy? How about a Calder Trophy? Or a William Jennings Trophy? Tom Barrasso has all the aforementioned hardware. Yet he’s not a Hall of Famer. But ahead of Barrasso, in my book, is Mike Vernon. He won two Stanley Cups – with different franchises – nearly a decade apart. Vernon won a Jennings trophy. He took home the Conn Smythe in 1997 as the NHL’s best playoff performer. And Vernon appeared in five NHL All-Star games. It’s ridiculous that he’s not in the Hall of Fame.