Does Adam Oates Belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame?

Adam Oates doesn’t have a Cup or the award recognition some of Hall of Famers have. Should he have been inducted?

We talk about Oates’ case here:

Career:

• NHL: 1985-2004; 19 seasons, 17 quality
• 341G, 1079A (7th All Time) for 1420P (18th All Time), +33 in 1337 games; 20:05 ATOI (since 1998-99); 117 PS
• Oates is 7th All Time in APG
• Oates was undrafted so: Of the 23 undrafted skaters to play in at least 1000 games since expansion (1967-68), Oates is
  • 11th in Goals
  • 12th in GPG
  • 2nd in Assists, APG, and Points
  • 4th in PPG
  • 14th in Plus/Minus
  • 3rd in Offensive Point Shares and Point Shares
• Era: Of the 18 skaters to play in at least 1,250 games between 1985 and 2004, Oates is
  • 11th in Goals, Plus/Minus and Point Shares
  • 13th in GPG
  • 1st in Assists and APG
  • 4th in Points and PPG
  • 8th in Offensive Point Shares
• 82-game average: 21G, 66A for 87P, +2
• 3-year peak (1990-93): 82-game average of 33G, 99A for 132P, +8
• No possession stats
• Playoffs:
  • 42G, 114A (16th All Time) for 146P, -12 in 163 games
  • Oates is 16th All Time in Playoff APG
• Adjusted: 331G, 1065A (7th All Time) for 1396P (20th All Time)
• Adjusted 82-game Average: 20G, 65A for 86P
• Oates is 10th All Time in Adjusted APG
• Traded three times in his prime and once after
  • Traded at age 26 with Paul MacLean (31) for Bernie Federko (33) and Tony McKegney (31) – oof
  • Traded at age 29 near the Deadline for Craig Janney and Stephane Quintal
  • Traded at age 34 at the Deadline with Bill Ranford (30) and Rick Tocchet (nearly 33) for Jim Carey (23), Anson Carter (22), Jason Allison (21) a 3rd round pick (Lee Goren)
  • Traded at age 39 the Deadline as a pending UFA for Maxime Ouellet (20), a 1st (Martin Vagner), a 2nd (Maxime Daigneault) and a 3rd (Derek Krestanovich) – oof.

Accomplishments:

• Top 5 in Hart voting once
• Top 10 Offensive Player (by OPS) three times (‘91, ‘93, ‘94)
• Scored 45 Goals once, 30 goals twice, 25 goals four times, 20 goals seven times
• Tallied 90 assists twice (1 of only 5 players ever), 80 assists three times (1 of only 6 players), 70 assists five times (1 of only 8 players), 60 assists ten times (1 of only 4 players ever), 50 assists twelve times (1 of only 8 players), 40 assists fifteen times (1 of only 13 players)
• Scored 140 points once (1 of only 9 players ever), 100 points three times  (1 of only 15 players), 100 points four times (1 of only 25 players), 90 points six times (1 of only 23 players), 80 points eight times, 70 points twelve times (1 of only 21 players), 50 points fifteen times
• Led the league in Assists three times, Top 5 ten times, Top 10 twelve times
• Led the league in APG once, Top 5 seven times, Top 10 twelve times
• Top 5 in Points three times, Top 10 seven times
• Top in PPG three times
• 2nd Team All Star once
• 5 All Star Game appearances.

Great Teams:

• NHL:
  • Best Forward (by points) on one Runner Up (‘98 Capitals) and one Final Four (‘92 Bruins),
  • Top 3 Forward (by points) on one Final Four (‘88 Red Wings), Top 6 Forward on one Runner Up (‘03 Ducks),
  • Top 6 Forward (by points) on one Final Four (‘87 Red Wings)