Is Ryan Getzlaf a first-ballot Hall of Famer?

Getzlaf’s 731 assists place him 51^st in NHL history, and he’s one of 56 players in the 700-assist club. Of the other 55 in the club, 40 are already Hall of Famers, while five others – Jaromir Jagr, Joe Thornton, Sidney Crosby, Henrik Sedin and Patrick Kane – can be confidently penciled in as Hall of Famers despite not yet being eligible. That means 82 percent of the players in the 700-assist club are Hall-worthy.

Getzlaf’s 1,013 points rank 88^th all time, and he’s one of 93 players in the 1,000-point club, which boasts 60 Hall of Famers so far. Add the shoo-ins – Jagr, Thornton, Alex Ovechkin, Crosby, Kane, Evgeni Malkin, Henrik Sedin, Daniel Sedin, Anze Kopitar ­ – and that’s 69 out of the other 92 1,000-point getters, or 75 percent.

Among NHLers with 1,000 or more career games, Getzlaf sits 30^th all time with 0.64 assists per game. Every other member of the top 30 is a Hall of Famer or shoo-in Hall of Famer aside from Bernie Nicholls (and Nicklas Backstrom, though I’d argue he deserves shoo-in love).

Getzlaf vs. the Hall of Fame snub club

Can we call Getzlaf a Hall of Famer yet when certain other forwards with similar resumes haven’t gotten their nods?

We can probably all rhyme off the list at this point. The debate typically starts with Daniel Alfredsson. Then the purists counterpunch with Alexander Mogilny. The discussion stretches into Patrik Elias and Jeremy Roenick. Once Guy Carbonneau and his three Selke Trophies made the cut, the Rod Brind’Amour support swelled.

Here’s how Getzlaf measures up to some other perceived snubs in a few key categories:

Getzlaf clearly holds his own against the snub tier. That puts him, at worst, on the Hall bubble. He’s tied for first in top-10 scoring finishes and is the only player among the group with two Olympic gold medals, albeit he had opportunities most of the others didn’t. That said, Getzlaf doesn’t lord above this group. If he makes the Hall on the first ballot, Mogilny had better be there with him.

Still, it’s difficult to compare players from different eras. The best way to judge a player’s Hall candidacy is based on how he fares relative to his peers.

Getzlaf vs. his contemporaries

Since 2005-06, Getzlaf’s debut NHL season, he’s one of 38 forwards to top 1,000 games. Among that group, he ranks fifth in assists, trailing only Crosby, Thornton and Backstrom; and seventh in points, trailing only Ovechkin, Crosby, Kane, Malkin, Thornton and Kopitar. Only Crosby, Kane, Thornton, Sedin and Backstrom average more primary assists per game.

If we drill down deeper and look at Getzlaf’s playmaking on a per-60 basis at 5-on-5, which the NHL has only tracked since 2009-10, he’s third in assists per 60 and eighth in primary assists per 60 over that span. Any way we sort the data, it seems, Getzlaf grades out among the elite playmakers of his generation, surrounded on the leaderboard by surefire Hall of Famers.

THE VERDICT

Getzlaf checks the right boxes to be a Hall of Famer. His accomplishments and numbers are consistent with those of many other players already inducted and measure up well with those of other players perceived to be on the bubble. When judged by his impact relative to his peers during his career, he shows up even better as one of the pre-eminent playmaking forwards of his era. Factor in his winning pedigree, leadership and above-average defensive contributions, and you have a safe bet.

But does Getzlaf make it on the first ballot? Let’s see if the likes of Mogilny, Alfredsson and Brind’Amour are in yet when Getzlaf’s time comes.