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Is this the year Patrick Marleau gets elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame? Hockey Hall of Fame will announce its Class of 2026 on Monday; former San Jose Sharks captain Patrick Marleau is in his third year of eligibility Retired National Hockey League player Patrick Marleau, a 2023 San Jose Sports Hall of Fame inductee, attends a gathering with his fellow inductees, Wednesday, Sept.
13, 2023, at SAP Center in San Jose, Calif.
in regular-season games played, has a better chance of being elected now than he did in either of the two previous years.on Monday, and there does not appear to be as many former NHL players who are sure things for election as there were in 2025.and defenseman Shea Weber were inducted.
While Marleau had a standout career, he perhaps didnt have the credentials to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer.Other first-year eligible candidates include forwards Eric Staal, who is 80th all-time with 1,063 points, and Phil Kessel, the NHLs all-time leader in consecutive regular season games played with 1,064.
Potential candidates who have been eligible for more than one year include forwards Henrik Zetterberg, Keith Tkachuk, Rod BrindAmour, Patrik Elias, Theo Fleury, Jason Spezza, Justin Williams, Ryan Getzlaf, and former Sharks Bernie Nicholls and Vincent Damphousse.Others potentially up for consideration include defenseman Sergei Gonchar, and goalies Curtis Joseph, Tuukka Rask, Tim Thomas, Pekka Rinne, and Ryan Miller, a goalie scout and goaltending development coach with the Sharks.
Committee members can nominate no more than one individual in the Player Category, the Builder Category, and the Referee or Linesman Category.
Nominees needed to be submitted by April 15.From that pool of nominees, the committee can select a maximum of four male players, two female players, two builders, or one builder and one referee or linesman.
All nominated candidates needed to receive at least 14 votes to be elected.
Marleau might not be the committees first or second choice on this years list of eligible players, but could he be the third or fourth?Marleau played an NHL-record 1,779 games over a 23-year career that began in 1997, when he was the Sharks second-overall draft pick.
He played 21 seasons in San Jose, two with the Toronto Maple Leafs, and a brief stint with the Pittsburgh Penguins at the end of the pandemic-affected 2019-2020 season.
Marleau passed Gordie Howe for the games played record during the 2020-2021 season.
He also ranks 25th all-time in regular-season goals, scoring 566, and is 55th with 1,197 points.Marleau did not win the Stanley Cup or a major individual award as a player, but did capture two Olympic gold medals with Canada in 2010 and 2014, and was a two-time finalist for the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy for sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability.
Marleau had his number 12 retired by the Sharks in 2023 and is now a player development coach and hockey operations advisor with the team.Every retired player who scored more NHL regular-season goals than Marleau is already in the Hall.
All but two players who had more points than Marleau Nicholls and Damphousse have also been inducted.