Why Alexander Mogilny Still Deserves To Be In The Hockey Hall Of Fame
By Dylan Gremont, The Hockey News intern
The 2025 Hockey Hall of Fame class announcement takes place at 3 p.m. ET on Tuesday, so it's time to make the case for Alexander Mogilny's induction again.
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Mogilny's been eligible for induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame for more than a decade, and there are reasons why he keeps getting mentioned as a candidate every year.
The most crucial reason relates to his goal-scoring prowess and how he compares to his fellow players of his era and Hockey Hall of Fame candidates.
Mogilny currently sits in the top 60 in goals on the all-time list, with 473. Only 44 Hockey Hall of Famers have more.
Mogilny also has one of the five best single-goal scoring seasons ever, with his 76 goals in 77 games on the Buffalo Sabres in the 1992-93 season. A single-season feat like that cements that there should be no question Mogilny gets in, and that's before mentioning his 55 goals in 1995-96, 43 goals in 2000-01 and five other 30-plus-goal seasons.
Alexander Mogilny (Lou Capozzola-Imagn Images)
Mogilny is also part of the Triple Gold Club, having won an Olympic gold medal with the then-Soviet Union in the 1988 Calgary Olympics, a World Championship gold medal in 1989 and a Stanley Cup with the New Jersey Devils during the 1999-2000 season. He also won world junior gold in 1988-89.
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Mogilny is one of 30 members of this exclusive club, home to many Hall of Famers.
The Khabarovsk, Russia, native also won individual accolades during his career. He won the 2002-03 Lady Byng Trophy as the player who best combined results with sportsmanlike conduct. He also shared the NHL's goal-scoring title with Finnish sensation Teemu Selanne in 1992-93, before the 'Rocket' Richard Trophy was introduced.
Beyond all the critical importance of his goal-scoring ability and his championships, he left an everlasting impact on hockey and the NHL. He was the first NHL player to defect from the Soviet Union. He built a landscape for current NHLers Alex Ovechkin, Nikita Kucherov, Kirill Kaprizov and many more to succeed. They have Mogilny to thank.
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