Top candidates for Hockey Hall of Fame Class of 2020

The 2020 Hockey Hall of Fame class will be announced today at 4:30 p.m. ET.

Here are 15 former players (listed in alphabetical order by last name) hoping to get the call from Hall of Fame chairman of the board and honored member Lanny McDonald.

#

Daniel Alfredsson

Alfredsson scored 1,157 points (444 goals, 713 assists) in 1,246 games during an 18-season NHL career. A forward, he won a gold medal at the 2006 Torino Olympics and a silver medal at the 2014 Sochi Olympics with Sweden. Alfredsson also won the Calder Trophy as the best rookie in the NHL in 1995-96, but never won the Stanley Cup or another major award after that.

Rod Brind'Amour

Brind'Amour won the Stanley Cup with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2006. Now Hurricanes coach, he finished his NHL career with 1,184 points (452 goals, 732 assists) in 1,484 games. Considered one of the best defensive forwards of his generation, he won the Selke Trophy in 2006 and 2007.

Karyn Bye-Dietz

Bye-Dietz was part of the United States women's team that won a gold medal at the 1998 Nagano Olympics and a silver medal at the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics. The forward also helped the United States finish second at six IIHF Women's World Championships (1992, 1994, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001). She is a member of the IIHF Hall of Fame (2011), the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame (2014), and the University of New Hampshire Hall of Fame (1998).

Julie Chu

Chu was the first Asian-American to make the U.S. senior national team in 2000, when she was 18 years old. A forward, she competed in the Olympics in 2002, 2006, 2010 and 2014. Chu won a silver medal in 2002, 2010 and 2014 and a bronze in 2006. She also helped the United States to five titles and four second-place finishes at the IIHF Women's World Hockey Championship.

Patrik Elias

Elias holds New Jersey Devils records for goals (408), assists (617), points (1,025), shots on goal (3,287), power-play goals (113), power-play points (333), shorthanded points (33), game-winning goals (80) and overtime goals (16). The forward also has the most goals (45), assists (80), points (125), power-play goals (21), power-play points (52) and shots on goal (444) in Devils Stanley Cup Playoff history and won the Stanley Cup with New Jersey in 2000 and 2003.

Theo Fleury

Fleury scored 1,088 points (455 goals, 633 assists) in 1,084 NHL games. A forward, he won the Stanley Cup with the Calgary Flames in 1989 and a gold medal with Canada at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics, but never won an individual NHL award. He could look at the Hall of Fame inductions of Pavel Bure (779 points; 437 goals, 342 assists) in 2012 and Paul Kariya (989 points; 402 goals, 587 assists) in 2017 as signs he could get in.

Sergei Gonchar

Fellow Russia-born defenseman Sergei Zubov's induction last year could pave the way for Gonchar, who finished his NHL career in 2015 with 811 points (220 goals, 591 assists) in 1,301 games, an average of 0.62 points per game. He is 17th among NHL defensemen in points, 10th in power-play points (427), and scored at least 50 points nine times. By comparison, Zubov is 20th among defensemen in points with 771 (152 goals, 619 assists) in 1,068 games, an average of 0.72 points per game. Gonchar won the Stanley Cup with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2009.

Marian Hossa

Hossa was a three-time Stanley Cup champion with the Chicago Blackhawks (2010, 2013, 2015) who also reached the Stanley Cup Final with the Penguins in 2008 and Detroit Red Wings in 2009. He is the only player to play in the Cup Final in three straight seasons with three teams. A forward whose NHL career was cut short because of a skin condition, Hossa scored 1,134 points (525 goals, 609 assists) in 1,309 games. He scored at least 30 goals in eight seasons and at least 40 goals three times.

Jarome Iginla

Iginla, the former Flames captain, scored 1,300 points (625 goals, 675 assists) in 1,554 games in his 21-year NHL career. The forward is 14th in NHL games, tied for 16th in goals with Hall of Famer Joe Sakic, 34th in points, and ninth in game-winning goals (101). Iginla won the Art Ross Trophy as the top scorer in the NHL, and the Rocket Richard Trophy as the top goal-scorer in 2001-02, when he scored 96 points (52 goals, 44 assists). He won the Richard Trophy again in 2003-04 with 41 goals, tied for the NHL lead with Rick Nash and Ilya Kovalchuk. He had 12 straight full NHL seasons with at least 30 goals from 2000-14 (excluding the 2012-13 shortened season). Iginla won a gold medal with Canada at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics and 2010 Vancouver Olympics, and helped Canada win the IIHF World Championship in 1997, the IIHF World Junior Championship in 1996, and the World Cup of Hockey in 2004.

Curtis Joseph

Joseph, with 454 wins, has more than Hall of Famers Terry Sawchuk (445), Jacques Plante (437), Tony Esposito (423), Glenn Hall (407), Grant Fuhr (403) and Dominik Hasek (389). They each won the Stanley Cup at least once; Joseph never won the Stanley Cup nor the Vezina Trophy.

Kevin Lowe

Lowe has the backing of former Edmonton Oilers teammates and Hall of Famers Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Glenn Anderson, Paul Coffey and Fuhr. The defenseman is a six-time Stanley Cup champion and played in seven NHL All-Star Games. He scored 431 points (84 goals, 347 assists) in 1,254 regular-season games and 58 points (10 goals, 48 assists) in 214 playoff games. He never won the Norris Trophy but was widely considered one of the best defenseman of his generation and a key member of the Oilers' 1980s dynasty.

Boris Mikhailov

Aleksander Yakushev's induction in 2018 could pave the way for Mikhailov, who is 75 years old and was the right wing on the Soviet national team's top line with Valeri Kharlamov and Vladimir Petrov. The captain of the Soviet national team from 1972-80, he won a gold medal at the 1972 Sapporo Olympics and 1976 Innsbruck Olympics and helped the Soviets win the IIHF World Championship eight times. Mikhailov was inducted in the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2000.

Alexander Mogilny

With Kariya in the Hall of Fame, it stands to reason Mogilny should be too. A forward, Mogilny played 990 NHL games, one more than Kariya, and scored 71 more goals (473-402) and 43 more points (1,032-989). Mogilny won the Stanley Cup with the Devils in 2000; Kariya never won the Cup. They each won a gold medal at the Olympics (Mogilny with the Soviet Union at the 1988 Calgary Olympics, Kariya with Canada in 2002) and won the IIHF World Championship (Mogilny 1989, Kariya 1993).

Pierre Turgeon

Turgeon scored the most points of any eligible player not in the Hall of Fame. The center scored 1,327 points (515 goals, 812 assists) in 1,294 games and 97 points (35 goals, 62 assists) in 109 playoff games. Turgeon never won the Stanley Cup and his only major individual award was the Lady Byng Trophy for skill/sportsmanship in 1992-93.

Doug Wilson

Wilson won the Norris Trophy in 1981-82, when he scored 85 points (39 goals, 46 assists) in 76 games. He is the Chicago Blackhawks leader among defensemen in goals (225), assists (554), points (779), power-play goals (80), power-play points (355), shorthanded goals (nine) and game-winning goals (22). Wilson ranks 15th among NHL defenseman with 827 points (237 goals, 590 assists) in 1,024 games. Now San Jose Sharks general manager, he never won the Stanley Cup.