New Jersey Devils: Patrik Elias Is Comparable To Marian Hossa

Patrik Elias was snubbed from the Hall of Fame yet Marian Hossa made it.

Marian Hossa was elected into the Hockey Hall of Fame on Wednesday afternoon. He deserves it without question. Not many say he isn’t. He was an elite player for so long and helped Chicago win three cups in six years. What is fair to say, is that New Jersey Devils legend Patrik Elias was a similar player to Hossa. If Marian Hossa should be in on his first ballot, then Elias should also be in.

Marian Hossa had 525 goals and 609 assists for 1134 points in 1309 games. Elias had 408 goals and 617 assists for 1025 points in 1240 games played. That is a lot of points between the two gentlemen, but there is a lot to unpack when comparing their two totals and making cases for the Hall of Fame.

Hossa scored more goals, but Elias had more assists with fewer games played. Hossa had .87 points per game and Elias had .83 points per game. Hossa had a bit better of a percentage, but it isn’t by much. Their offensive numbers are very comparable as they both were strong at making everyone around better.

Another trait about both of these players that made their teams better is the fact that their two-way games were incredible. Hossa had a CorsiFor of 54.6% and Elias was at 54.8%. They both impacted their team’s possession numbers. Both Hossa and Elias played strong games in all three zones from the (mostly) wing position. It is rare for wingers to be Selke Trophy good and you can claim that although neither of them ever won it, they were both good enough to be in the conversation.

Another thing people like to point towards in Hall of Fame cases is winning. Well, both Elias and Hossa did a lot of that. Hossa’s came more recently so there might be a bit more recency bias as he won the Cup in 2010, 2013, and 2015 with Chicago. Elias won it in 2000 and 2003 with New Jersey. The winning was plentiful between both of them, regardless of what part of their careers it was mostly in.

This isn’t to diminish Hossa’s accomplishments or legacy in the National Hockey League by any means. He deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. Anyone who watched him play hockey regularly knows exactly how good he was. This is more to say how Elias is also that good and deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. Maybe next year.