The EA Sports’ NHL Alumni Teams have always felt like a work in progress, and for the first time since the series added an alumni roster section a handful of years ago, there were actually quite a few notable additions to the game for NHL 24. Dominik Hasek, Patrik Elias, Phil Esposito and Roberto Luongo highlight the nearly 40 new additions to the alumni section. NHL 24 really addressed the goaltending this season, which was, per capita, the area with the most big names missing, by adding nine of the top players in history. But there’s still a rather large star-studded group of legends from across the league and spanning generations that a patiently waiting for their induction into video game glory.
Forwards
Patrick Marleau- The NHL games played leader officially announced his retirement in May of 2022, and is nowhere to be found in NHL24. The Sharks have a fairly decent alumni team, but Marleau’s absence is arguably the most notable when it comes to franchise icons per team.
Mike Bossy- The Islanders haven’t had many good things in their history, but Mike Bossy is one of them and he’s MIA from the game. Even though his career ended prematurely to back issues, he was still a key member of the Isles Cup teams from 1980 to 1983. Bossy still holds the goalscoring record for the Isles with 573 and is second in points with 1,126. Considering his recent passing in April 2022, giving his legacy a rebirth among a new generations of fans in video game form may be a great way to keep his memory alive.
Bobby Hull- His son Brett is in the game, so let’s add the OG Hull to the series as well. His career spanned 16 seasons in the NHL, as well as seven years in the WHA. “The Golden Jet” was ahead of his time with his speed and shooting ability which helped him secure three Art Ross Trophies, two Hart Trophies, and a Stanley Cup.
Kevin Dineen- If you’re gonna put a Hartford Whalers alumni team into the game, missing Kevin Dineen is a pretty big blunder. He’s second all-time behind Ron Francis (who made his debut on the alumni rosters this year) in games played (587), goals (235), and points (503). Not to mention his 480 other NHL games split between Philadelphia, Columbus and Ottawa.
Vinny Lecavalier- The Lightning have a fairly impressive Alumni team, but the biggest missing piece may be their biggest star. Lecavalier has been or is about to be passed in most offensive categories by Steven Stamkos, but that doesn’t take away from the accomplishments he led the Lightning through during their original glory days. Lecavalier’s partner in crime Martin St. Louis is on the Tampa alumni roster for the fourth straight year, so it’s finally time to virtually reunite one of the hottest scoring duos of all time.
Paul Kariya- In terms of star power ratio per team, the Ducks may be one of the best equipped alumni squads, but there’s somehow still one big name missing. Paul Kariya was one of the OG superstars in the Mighty Ducks franchise. He racked up 300 goals and 669 points in 606 games over nine years in Anaheim.
Ryan Getzlaf- Speaking of Ducks legends, the 17-year veteran Ryan Getzlaf called it a career at the end of the 2021-22 season. As noted, the Ducks have a relatively stacked alumni team, but with Getzlaf still missing from the game, he shoots to the top of the absent alumni in Anaheim.
Peter Bondra- Before there was Alex Ovechkin in Washington, there was Peter Bondra. He was the man holding the scoring titles before the Great 8 showed up. With 472 goals, 353 assists, and 825 points, that’s good enough for second, ninth, and third in Caps history.
Duncan Keith- Four-time all-star and three-time Stanley Cup-winning defenseman officially retired after 17 years and became a member of the Oilers front office. He was one of the biggest pillars of the Blackhawks’ dynasty and should be added back to the series.
Alexander Mogilny- He can’t make it into the Hockey Hall of Fame or the EA Sports NHL series. Considering he’s held many high-ranking roles in the KHL since his retirement, it could have something to do with his absence from the game.
Sergei Fedorov- Fedorov may be one of the biggest names missing from the game. The six-time all-star has one Hart Trophy, two Selke Trophy, Three Stanley Cups and 1,179 points to his name. He’s currently the coach of CSKA Moscow in the KHL, which probably explains his absence from the series as Russian non-NHL players remain banished from the game as punishment for the ongoing assault on Ukraine.
Pavel Datsyuk- Much like the previous two, Datsyuk is Russian and his most recent gig in hockey was playing in the KHL. Even though he’s named as one of the NHL’s 100 greatest players, he’s probably not going to return to the series anytime soon.
Henrik Zetterberg- Datsyuk’s partner in crime during the heyday of their 2000’s Cup team Henrik Zetterberg is also noticeably absent from the game. The 17-year NHL vet has been retired for four seasons now due to back injuries. During his last season in the NHL, he passed Fedorov for fifth place in points in Red Wings history.
Jason Spezza- Even though we’re many years removed from the peak of Spezza’s career, he is a 19-year NHL veteran and once upon a time a key member of the Ottawa Senators organization. Especially with the return of Daniel Alfredsson to the franchise, it’s be great to re-add Spezza as well. Do you think anybody has Dany Heatley’s number these days?
David Legwand- Be honest, when you think about Nashville Predators alumni, does anybody else but David Legwand come to your mind? The Preds alumni roster is still pretty thin, and Legwand’s absence is a big reason for that. He currently holds or previously held pretty much every record there is to hold in Nashville.
Marian Gaborik- Gaborik’s playing career actually came to an end in 2018 after a back injury, but he was under contract until 2021, so he was still available in the game on whichever team owned his rights at the time. Now that it’s been a few years since he officially retired, it’s time to put his younger, healthier self back into the franchise. The Wild could use the former third overall pick on their alumni roster.
Mikael Renberg- Is Mikael Renberg the greatest player that ever lived? No. Does he represent one-third of one of the most feared lines of all time? Yes. With Eric Lindros and John LeClair already in the game, it’s time to add Renberg and let the Legion of Doom ride again!
Mike Richards- It’s been long enough, it’s time to add Mike Richards back into the game. Yeah, he didn’t have the most graceful exit from the league, but he did have a short-lived 39-game NHL return with the Caps after his fall from grace with the Kings, but he is still a two-time Stanley Cup champion and one of the bigger stars in recent history for the Philadelphia Flyers, whom he captained to a Stanley Cup Final in 2010. Add him back in before Jeff Carter calls it a career and then they’re both missing from the game.
Defense
Bobby Orr- Where do we even start with Orr? A Calder Trophy winner, an eight-time Norris Trophy winner, two-time Art Ross winner, eight-time all-star, three consecutive Hart Trophies, two-time Conn Smythe winner, two-time Stanley Cup winner, and about two dozen other awards and records to his name. What’s the hold up putting him in the game?
Scott Stevens- Let’s be honest, nobody likes Scott Stevens. But the impact he had during his NHL career, both good and bad, but that doesn’t mean his 22 NHL season and should go unnoticed. He played 1,635 games which is good enough for 10th place in NHL history and scored 908 points. Wouldn’t it be great to play as Eric Lindros and just wreck Stevens at any given opportunity?
Eric Desjardins- The Flyers haven’t exactly had many stars on the backend over the last few decades, and their best is still no where to be found. Desjardins patrolled the blue line for a decade and is top-three in most stats for a defenseman in team history. He’s second in goals, assists, points, behind only Mark Howe (who is in the game) and third in game played by a Flyers defenseman.
Kimmo Timonen- Another notable Flyers defenseman missing from the game is Kimmo Timonen. He may not have the illustrious career or mile-long trophy case as other players on this list, but few players’ careers can be as consistent for as long as Timonen’s. He was a pillar defenseman for two different organizations in his career and should finally be enshrined in NHL video game lore.
Sam Morin- The third missing Flyers’ defenseman, who happens to be the greatest defenseman of all time, was forced to call it a career thanks to multiple knee injuries last summer. Adding Morin back to the game would be nice, and make me personally happy, which is what really matters.
Niklas Kronwall- Kronwall has been retired since 2019, and remains possibly the biggest defenseman still missing from the Red Wings alumni team. His career spanned 15 years, all the with Red Wings, where he played just shy of 1,000 games and recorded a whopping 1,081 hits. I mean, show of hands, who hasn’t been itching to “kronwall” an opponent in a video game for years now?
Andrei Markov- When you can etch your name into the Canadien’s history books, you know you’re a special player. Markov sits second in game played for a defenseman, and sixth overall in Habs’ history. He’s tied for second in points for a defenseman with 572, numbers that another defenseman may never hit, as on P.K. Subban recently came close with 278. Much like the Russian forwards on this list, Markov did spend some time in the KHL before he retired, so that could be the holdup on his return to the NHL series.
Sandis Ozolinsh- Ozolinsh was a top defenseman in the NHL for 875 games with six different clubs. He won a Stanley Cup with the Avalanche and was a Norris Trophy finalist in 1997. Today, Ozolinsh holds the goals, assists, points, and games played leader for a Latvian-born NHLer. He held the Avalanche record for goals and points by a defenseman until being supplanted by Tyson Barrie.
Dion Phaneuf- It’s been a handful of years now since Phaneuf’s last NHL game and is certainly one of the biggest names of the recently retired defensemen missing from NHL24. He’s a veteran of 1,039 NHL contests, captained the Toronto Maple Leafs for six years, and was a three-time all-star in the process. Phaneuf was even on the cover of NHL09, so it’s only right he gets put back into the game.
Goaltenders
Miikka Kiprusoff- The list of all-time great Calgary Flames goaltenders is pretty slim, so the fact that Kiprusoff is still missing from the game is a bit baffling. He holds essentially every single record as the Flames’ goaltender including games played, wins, losses, save percentage, goals against average, shutouts, and minutes played. It was announced that the Flames are going to retire his number 34 this season, so it would’ve only made sense that he got put back in the game to mark the special occasion.
Pekka Rinne- Now that we’re over two years removed from Pekka Rinne’s last NHL game and retirement, it’s time to start wondering where he is. As discussed in the Legwand entry, the Predators’ alumni team is rather shallow, and arguably the franchise’s biggest star still being M.I.A. isn’t great. His first game in Nashville was 2005, and played 683 games for the club over the following 15 years.
Jose Theodore- One of the more underrated goaltenders missing from the alumni teams is longtime Canadiens’ netminder Jose Theodore. He has Vezina and Hart Trophies on his resumé and is still top five in most goaltending records in Montreal history, which is no easy feat.
Nikolai Khabibulin- The Bulin Wall was the first Russian goaltender to win the Stanley Cup and sits 25th all-time in games played and 17th in games played.
By: Dan Esche (@DanTheFlyeraFan)
photo credit: ea.com
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