Red Kelly was one of the best D of the 1950s and possibly the greatest offensive D to yet play in the NHL. And then he was traded to the Leafs and famously switched to centre. Throughout his career he won more Stanley Cups than any other non-Canadien player. He is one of only 10 players to ever have the three-year Hall of Fame waiting requirement waived.
So where does Red Kelly rank all time?
Listen to us talk about Red Kelly’s Hall of Fame and GOAT case here:
Red Kelly’s Career:
- NHL: 1947-67; 20 seasons, all quality
- Totals:
- 281G (11th All Time at his retirement) ,
- 542A (4th All Time at his retirement – Howe, Bathgate, Beliveau) for
- 823P (7th All Time at his retirement),
- +50* in
- 1316 Games (2nd All Time at his retirement – Howe);
- 146.3 Point Shares (2nd All Time at his retirement – Howe);
- At his retirement, Kelly was
- 8th All time in Offensive Point Shares
- 3rd All Time in Defensive Point Shares (Harvey, Pronovost);
- At his trade from Detroit to Toronto, when he switched to centre, among D, Kelly was approximately:
- 3rd/1st All Time in Goals (Clapper, Schmidt)
- 4th/3rd All Time in Assists (Schmidt, Harvey, Gadsby)
- 2nd/1st All Time in Points (Schmidt)
- 2nd/1st All Time in Offensive Point Shares (Clapper)
- 3rd All Time in Defensive Point Shares (Harvey, Bouchard)
- 1st All Time in Point Shares (by over 12 PS)
- 1st All Time in Games
- Per Game: At his retirement, Kelly was
- T-22nd All Time in APG
- At his trade from Detroit to Toronto, when he switched to centre, among D, Kelly was approximately:
- 4th/3rd in APG (Schmidt, Harvey, Gadsby);
- Kelly didn’t yet qualify for Goals and Points but if we lower the qualifiers (to 150G, 450A) so he does, Kelly was
- 4th/1st All Time in GPG (Noble, Schmidt, Clapper)
- 3rd/1st All Time in PPG (Schmidt, Clapper)
- Era:
- Of the 14 D to play in at least 574 games (7 modern seasons) between 1947 and 1960, Kelly is
- 1st in Goals (by 73)
- 1st in GPG
- 2nd in Assists
- 3rd in APG
- 1st in Points (by 75)
- 1st in PPG
- 1st in Offensive Point Shares (by over 17)
- 2nd in Defensive Point Shares
- 1st in Point Shares (by nearly 19)
- 1st in Games
- Of the 49 skaters to play at least 410 games (5 modern seasons) between 1959 and 1967, Kelly is
- T-21st in Goals
- T-26th in GPG
- 13th in Assists
- 13th in APG
- 15th in Points
- T-16th in PPG
- 23rd in Plus/Minus
- 17th in Offensive Point Shares
- 14th (1st or 2nd Forward) in Defensive Point Shares
- 24th in Point Shares
- Of the 14 D to play in at least 574 games (7 modern seasons) between 1947 and 1960, Kelly is
- 82-game average: 17G, 34A for 52P, +3*; 9.1 PS
- 3-year peak:
- As D (1950-53): 70-game average of 18G, 32A for 50P; 12.2 PS
- As C (1960-63): 70-game average of 23G, 43A for 63P; +24
- Playoffs:
- 33G (9th All Time at his retirement)
- 59A (t-5th All Time at his retirement – Howe, Beliveau, Delvecchio, Harvey) for
- 92P (8th All Time at his retirement),
- -6* in
- 164 playoff Games (1st All Time at his retirement, held record until 1973);
- At his trade from Detroit to Toronto, when he switched to centre, among D, Kelly was approximately:
- 2nd/1st in playoff Goals (Schmidt)
- 2nd in playoff Assists (Harvey)
- 3rd/2nd in playoff Points (Harvey, Schmidt)
- Per Game: At his retirement, Kelly was
- 21st All Time in playoff APG
- 23rd All Time in playoff PPG
- Before he became a centre, Kelly didn’t qualify for the playoff PG leaderboards. However, if we lower the qualifiers (to 15G, 20A, 35P), at his trade from Detroit to Toronto, among D, Kelly was approximately:
- 2nd/1st All Time in playoff GPG (Schmidt)
- 6th/3rd All Time in playoff AGP (Harvey, Mohns, Colville, Hollett, Schmidt)
- 3rd/2nd All Time in playoff PPG (Schmidt, Harvey)
- Era:
- Of the 17 D to play in at least 41 playoff games between 1947 and 1959, Kelly is
- 1st in playoff Goals (by 8)
- T-1st in playoff GPG
- 2nd in playoff Assists
- 6th in playoff APG
- 2nd in playoff Points
- 2nd in playoff PPG
- 2nd in playoff Games
- Of the 40 skaters to play in at least 41 playoff games between 1960 and 1967, Kelly is
- 11th in playoff Goals
- 13th in playoff GPG
- 6th in playoff Assists
- 6th in playoff APG
- 6th in playoff Points
- 9th in playoff PPG
- 35th in playoff Plus/Minus
- T-4th in playoff Games
- Of the 17 D to play in at least 41 playoff games between 1947 and 1959, Kelly is
- Adjustment for Era:
- Hockey-Reference:
- 327G
- 676A for
- 1003P
- Adjusted 82-game average: 20G, 42A for 62P (+10P per 82 games)
- Per Game: Kelly is not in the Top 25 on any adjusted PG leaderboards unless we cheat and count his games at Forward towards his totals at D
- VsX:
- 436G
- 916A
- 1127P
- Per Game: Kelly isn’t in the Top 25 for any VsX PG leaderboard; however, if the qualifier is set to 1230 games (15 modern seasons), Kelly is
- 20th All Time in VsX APG
- Hockey-Reference:
- Trades:
- Traded at 32 to Toronto for Marc Reaume (26)
- Traded at nearly 39 to LA for Ken Block (23)
Red Kelly’s Accomplishments:
- Top 5 in Hart voting three times
- Norris (‘54)
- Top 5 in Norris voting a further three times
- Lady Byng (‘51, ‘53, ‘54, ‘61)
- All Star:
- 1st Team All Star six times (5th most by a D ever – Bourque, Lidstrom, Harvey, Orr)
- 2nd Team All Star twice
- 12 All Star Game appearances
- Top Player:
- Top 5 Player (by PS) six times (‘50, ‘51, ‘53, ‘54, ‘55, ‘56)
- Top 10 eight times (‘52, ‘57)
- Best Defensive Player (by DPS) once (‘53)
- Top 5 Defensive Player eight times (‘48, ‘50, ‘51, ‘52, ‘55, ‘56, ‘57) – t-4th most ever (Bourque, Robinson, Georges Boucher)
- Top 10 ten times (‘49, ‘54) – t-10th most ever
- Goals:
- 20 goals three times
- 15 goals (as a D) seven times (t-14th D All Time, only D ever at his switch to C)
- Assists:
- Leaderboards:
- Top 5 in Assists twice
- Top 10 seven times
- APG leaderboards:
- Top 5 in APG twice
- Top 10 seven times
- Single-season totals:
- 50 assists once
- 40 assists twice
- Leaderboards:
- Points:
- Leaderboards:
- Top 10 four times
- PPG leaderboards:
- Top 5 in PPG once
- Top 10 four times
- Single-season leaderboards:
- 70 points once
- 60 points twice
- 50 points four times (at his switch to C in 1960, he was of only 2 D ever to have 50 points twice – Gadsby)
- Leaderboards:
- VsX:
- Best 7 Seasons:
- Goals: doesn’t qualify
- 63rd All Time in Assists
- 137th All Time in Points
- Best 10 Seasons:
- Goals: 225th All Time in Goals
- Assists: 54th All Time in Assists
- Points: 123rd All Time in Points
- Best 7 Seasons:
Red Kelly’s Great Teams:
- NHL:
- Best Player? (by points) on one Runner Up (‘60 Maple Leafs) and one Final Four (‘65 Maple Leafs)
- Best D (by points) on two Champions (‘54, ‘55 Red Wings), three Runners Up (‘48, ‘49, ‘56 Red Wings) and one Final Four (‘57 Red Wings)
- Top 2 D (by points) on one Champion (‘50 Red Wings) and two Final Fours (‘53, ‘58 Red Wings)
- Top 4 D (by points) on one Final Four (‘51 Red Wings)
- Top 3 Forward (by points) on two Champions (‘63, ‘64 Maple Leafs) and one Final Four (‘66 Maple Leafs)
- Top 6 Forward on one Champion (‘62 Maple Leafs)
- Top 9 Forward (by points) on one Champion (‘67 Maple Leafs)
- Injured (missed 38% of the games) on one Champion (‘52 Red Wings)
- Injured (missed 40% of the games) on one Final Four (‘61 Red Wings)