The Inner Circle

There are 319 individuals elected in the Player category of the Hockey Hall of Fame. Of these players, 220 have been elected primarily for their NHL careers. The Inner Circle tier of the PPS system represents the greatest among the greatest — initially set to create a ring of the 40 most HHOF-worthy players in NHL history.

The Inner Circle thresholds in PPS were selected at the start of the project to ensure the 40 players offered a reasonable split of eras and positions:

  • Founding Total (40): 20 forwards, 13 defencemen, 7 goaltenders
    • PRE-Expansion (15): top 7 forwards, 5 defencemen, 3 goaltenders in PPS
    • POST-Expansion (25): top 13 forwards, 8 defencemen, 4 goaltenders in PPS
    • Post-Expansion has a larger slice, given the period’s approximate 3:1 ratio of NHL players, representing a growing world population and global NHL talent pool.

How it Works:

  • Membership in the Inner Circle tier is exclusively driven by PPS score based on the above slots. Off-ice impact (example: Ted Lindsay) is not considered.
  • Retired players cannot fall out of the Inner Circle — it can only grow when active players reach the Post-Expansion positional thresholds in PPS.

Forwards (23)

  • PRE-Expansion (7):
    • Gordie Howe, 413
    • Howie Morenz, 360
    • Jean Beliveau, 341
    • Maurice Richard, 330
    • Bobby Hull, 309
    • Nels Stewart, 306
    • Stan Mikita, 288
  • POST-Expansion (16):
    • Wayne Gretzky, 549
    • Mario Lemieux, 460
    • Sidney Crosby, 418
    • Jaromir Jagr, 401
    • Alex Ovechkin, 380
    • Connor McDavid, 372
    • Phil Esposito, 355
    • Joe Sakic, 340
    • Brett Hull, 333
    • Steve Yzerman, 333
    • Teemu Selanne, 328
    • Evgeni Malkin, 327
    • Nikita Kucherov, 325
    • Guy Lafleur, 322
    • Nathan MacKinnon, 319
    • Mark Messier, 319

Defencemen (13)

  • PRE-Expansion (5):
    • Eddie Shore, 366
    • Red Kelly, 348
    • Doug Harvey, 346
    • King Clancy, 309
    • Georges Boucher, 276
  • POST-Expansion (8):
    • Bobby Orr, 502
    • Ray Bourque, 477
    • Nicklas Lidstrom, 425
    • Paul Coffey, 406
    • Al MacInnis, 391
    • Denis Potvin, 387
    • Larry Robinson, 366
    • Chris Chelios, 339

Goaltenders (7)

  • PRE-Expansion (3):
    • Jacques Plante, 396
    • Glenn Hall, 390
    • Clint Benedict, 389
  • POST-Expansion (4):
    • Patrick Roy, 409
    • Dominik Hasek, 398
    • Tony Esposito, 394
    • Martin Brodeur, 369
  • Honourable Mentions
    (PPS score <10 below the Inner Circle cutoff)
    • Forwards:
      • PRE: Dit Clapper (-3); Bernie Geoffrion (-9); Bill Cook (-10)
      • POST: Mike Bossy (-2)
    • Defencemen: None
    • Goaltenders:
      • PRE: Terry Sawchuk (-6); Bill Durnan (-8)
  • Closest Active Player by Position
    • Forwards: Patrick Kane, 300 (-19)
    • Defencemen: Cale Makar, 313 (-26)
    • Goaltenders: Connor Hellebuyck, 304 (-65)

PPS scores through 2026 Offseason

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