John Tavares one day will get the call welcoming him to the Hall.
That’s not yet a fact, but it’s our opinion as the Maple Leafs centre continues to make a substantial impact in his 17th season in the National Hockey League.
There shouldn’t be much debate whether Tavares will be in the Hockey Hall of Fame when his career is done.
As the HHOF class of 2025 gets prepared to be officially inducted on Monday night, Tavares continues to put the passage of time in its place as he remains a key player with the Leafs.
At 35, Tavares is in the thick of what the Leafs, who had a full day off on Thursday, do.
Before games in the National Hockey League on Thursday, Tavares was tied with teammate William Nylander for the league lead in five-on-five points with 13 and, with 18 total points in 14 games, would be on pace for 105 points in a full 82-game season.
Is that sustainable? Well, Tavares’ career-high in points for one season is 88, done in 2018-19, his first year in Toronto after signing in free agency.
It’s unlikely, but there’s little reason to doubt Tavares right now.
The 500-goal club
The Hall has been kind to players who finished their respective NHL careers with more than 500 goals. Tavares has 501 and sits 48th on the NHL career list.
Barring injury, Tavares will move nicely up that list this season. With seven goals in 14 games, he’s on pace for 41 and, even if he falls off a bit and finishes in the range of 30-35 goals, he’s going to move into the top 40 in NHL history.
Just four retired players who hit the 500-goal milestone — Patrick Marleau (566), Keith Tkachuk (538), Pat Verbeek (522) and Peter Bondra (503) — are not in the Hall of Fame. Marleau, the NHL career leader in games played with 1,779, has been eligible for just two years and probably has the best shot of that group at being inducted.
Jaromir Jagr hasn’t played in the NHL since 2017-18 with the Calgary Flames, but he has continued his pro career in Czechia and is not yet eligible. When he is, he will be a shoo-in.
Verbeek has one distinction: He’s the only player who scored 500 goals and has a Stanley Cup ring who is not in the Hall.
A knock on Tavares would be his lack of team success, as he has played in 75 playoff games in his career with the Leafs and New York Islanders, and has not advanced past the second round. With three years remaining on his contract beyond 2025-26, there remains time for him to rectify that and we should mention that the group of players who are in the Hall who didn’t win a Cup includes Darryl Sittler, Gilbert Perreault, Marcel Dionne, Peter Stastny and Jarome Iginla, among others.
Though Tavares hasn’t won an individual NHL award, there are others who have gone into the Hall that didn’t fill their personal trophy cases.
Tavares’ haul, however, on the international stage includes five gold medals with Canada, including the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, two world junior championships and the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.
As he will do in the goals category, Tavares will continue to make an ascension in other important criteria — games played, points and assists. He’s 62nd in career points with 1,132 and has played in 1,198 games. A total of 200 more points before he retires — a conservative number considering his current production — would send him into the top 40 in NHL history.
Tavares a ‘pro’s pro’
On top of everything else, Tavares — and this is a term that gets thrown around more than it should, but it definitely applies to him — is the consummate professional.
Teammate Steven Lorentz recently referred to Tavares as a “pro’s pro,” which is among the highest compliments that one can get from someone who shares the same dressing room. Tavares’ off-ice work is exemplary.
When the Leafs decided to make the change in captaincy in the summer of 2024, taking the C from Tavares and giving it to Auston Matthews, they were fully confident that it wouldn’t cause any ruffle on the part of Tavares.
The team’s suspicion was proven correct — Tavares still carries himself as a captain would, while at the same time respecting the responsibility that rests with Matthews.
We recently delved into our archives to read our coverage when Tavares was given exceptional player status to be drafted into the Ontario Hockey League.
At the age of 15, Tavares had 77 points in 65 games as an OHL rookie in 2005-06 after he was drafted first overall by the Oshawa Generals and was well on his way.
During a news conference in Oshawa the day after he was granted exceptional status in May 2005, this is what Tavares had to say: “I am not Sidney Crosby, I am not Bobby Orr, I am John Tavares. I don’t really look at myself (as an exceptional player). Maybe you could say I am a unique player.”
Some 20 years later, Tavares has set himself apart from the majority of his peers in the NHL. And he’s not yet close to being done.
At some point in retirement, whenever that might be, a call one day from the Hall surely will pop up on his phone.
X: @koshtorontosun