Does Pavel Datsyuk Belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame?

Pavel Datsyuk was arguably the best two-way forward of his era, able to dominate other teams defensively without taking many penalties, while scoring enough to sometimes rank in the Top 10 in league scoring. He was the NHL’s first “Corsi God,” a player who drove possession so well that, once the NHL started tracking possession numbers, Datsyuk was simply the best player in the league by those metrics.

However, Datsyuk does not have the gaudy offensive numbers of other NHL Hall of Famers, and he was often played as the second best forward on his own team.

So where does Datsyuk rank all time? Listen to us talk about Pavel Datsyuk here:

Pavel Datsyuk’s Career:

• NHL:
  • 2001-2016; 14 seasons, all quality
  • Totals:
    • 314G,
    • 604A (3rd Russian All Time) for
    • 918P,
    • +249 in
    • 953 games;
    • 18:52 ATOI; 111.2 PS
  • Per Game: Among Russian NHL players, Datsyuk is
    • 2nd All Time in APG
  • Draft: In his draft class (1998), Datsyuk, taken 171st overall, is
    • 2nd in Goals and Assists
    • 3rd in Points
    • 1st in Plus/Minus
  • Era: Of the 145 players to play in at least 750 games between 2001 and 2016, Datsyuk is
    • 17th in Goals
    • 25th in GPG
    • 3rd in Assists
    • 4th in APG
    • 7th in Points, Offensive Point Shares and Point Shares
    • 6th in PPG
    • 2nd in Plus/Minus
  • 82-game average: 27G, 52A for 79P, +21
  • 3-year peak (2006-09): 82-game average of 31G, 65A for 95P, +38
  • Possession (since 2007-08):
    • 59% Corsi For (1st, minimum 500 games)
    • 5.9% Relative Corsi For (4th, min 500 games)
    • 58.2% Fenwick For (1st, min 500 games)
    • 5.6% Relative Fenwick For (4th, min 500 games)
  • Playoffs:
    • 42G,
    • 71A for
    • 113P,
    • +34 in
    • 157 games
    • Era: Of the 98 skaters to play in at least 82 playoff games between 2001 and 2016, Datsyuk is
      • 8th in playoff Goals
      • 19th in playoff GPG
      • 3rd in playoff Assists
      • 21st in playoff APG
      • 6th in playoff Points
      • 20th in playoff PPG
      • 8th in playoff Plus/Minus
      • 2nd in playoff Games
  • Adjusted:
    • Hockey-Reference:
      • 356G,
      • 670A for
      • 1026P
      • Adjusted 82-game average: 31G, 58A for 88P (+9P per 82 games)
      • Per Game:
        • 23rd All Time in Adjusted APG;
        • If the qualifier is raised to 820 games, Datsyuk is
          • 16th All Time in Adjusted APG and
          • 21st All Time in Adjusted PPG
    • VsX:
      • 354G
      • 712A
      • 956P
      • Per Game: Not in the Top 25
  • Trades:
    • Traded at 37 (after he returned to Russia) with a 2016 1st Rounder (Jakob Chychrun) to Arizona for Joe Vitale (28), a 2016 1st Rounder (Dennis Cholowski) and a 2016 2nd Rounder (Flip Hronek)
• KHL:
  • 2012-13; 2016-present; 6 seasons, all quality
  • Totals:
    • 60G,
    • 144A for
    • 204P in
    • 260 Games
  • 62-game average: 14G, 34A for 47P
• RSL:
  • 1996-01; 2004-05; 5 seasons, 2 quality
  • Totals:
    • 30G,
    • 45A for
    • 75P in
    • 146 Games

Pavel Datsyuk’s Accomplishments:

• NHL:
  • Top 5 in Hart voting once
  • Selke (‘08, ‘09, ‘10) – tied 2nd most ever
  • Top 5 in Selke voting a further four times
  • Top 5 in Calder voting
  • Byng (‘08, ‘09)
  • Top Player:
    • Top 10 Offensive Player (by OPS) once (‘09)
  • Goals:
    • 30 goals three times,
    • 25 goals seven times,
    • 20 goals eight times
  • Assists:
    • Leader-boards:
      • Top 5 in Assists twice,
      • Top 10 five times
    • APG leader-boards:
      • Top 5 in APG twice,
      • Top 10 five times
    • Single-season totals:
      • 60 assists three times,
      • 50 assists four times,
      • 40 assists six times
• Points:
  • Leader-boards:
    • Top 5 in Points twice,
    • Top 10 three times
  • PPG leader-boards:
    • Top 5 in PPG once,
    • Top 10 three times
  • Single-season totals:
    • 90 points twice,
    • 80 points four times,
    • 70 points five times,
    • 60 points eight times,
    • 50 points ten times
  • Plus/Minus:
    • Led the league in Plus/Minus once,
    • Top 5 twice,
    • Top 10 four times
  • All Star:
    • 2nd Team All Star once
    • 3 All Star Game appearances
  • VsX Peak:
    • Best 7 Seasons:
      • Goals: 240th All Time
      • Assists: 60th All Time
      • Points: 85th All Time
    • Best 10 Seasons:
      • Goals: 191st All Time
      • Assists: 60th All Time
      • Points: 80th All Time
• Playoffs:
  • Led 5 playoff series in Points (t-22nd All Time)
• KHL:
  • KHL All-Star twice

Pavel Datsyuk’s Great Teams:

• NHL:
  • Top 3 Forward on one Champion (‘08 Red Wings) and one Final Four (‘07 Red Wings),
  • Top 3 Forward but injured (missed 7 games) on one Runner Up (‘09 Red Wings),
  • Role Player on one Champion (‘02 Red Wings)
• Olympics:
  • Top 3 Forward (“Media All Star” but not Top 3 in points) on one Olympic Champion (‘18 Russia),
  • Top 6??? Forward (by points) on one Olympic Bronze (‘02 Russia)
• World Championships:
  • “Best Forward” (tournament award) on one World Championship Runner Up (‘10 Russia),
  • Top 3 Forward (by points) on one World Champion Bronze (‘05 Russia),
  • Top 6??? Forward (by points) on one World Champion (‘12 Russia) and one Bronze (‘16 Russia)
• KHL:
  • Top 9 Forward (by points) on one Gagarin Cup Champion (‘17 SKA Saint Petersburg)