Alexander Mogilny Finally Inducted into Hockey Hall of Fame After 16-Year Wait

After 16 years of being overlooked, Alexander Mogilny has been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2025. His election came in his 17th year of eligibility, and it was the end of a prolonged debate about one of the most prolific and groundbreaking players in NHL history. Mogilny, 56, joins fellow inductees Joe Thornton, Zdeno Chara, Duncan Keith, Jennifer Botterill, Brianna Decker, Daniele Sauvageau, and Jack Parker. The official ceremony is scheduled for November 10 in Ontario.

Mogilny finished his NHL career with 1,032 points in 990 games, including 473 goals and 559 assists. He played for the Buffalo Sabres, Vancouver Canucks, New Jersey Devils, and Toronto Maple Leafs. His most explosive season came in 1992–93 with Buffalo when he scored 76 goals and 51 assists for a total of 127 points. His 76 goals that season are the fifth-highest total in NHL history, behind Wayne Gretzky (92 in 1981–82 and 87 in 1983–84), Brett Hull (86 in 1990–91), and Mario Lemieux (85 in 1988–89). He remains the only Sabres player to have scored 70 or more goals in a single season.

In 1989, Mogilny became the first Soviet player to defect to the NHL. He left the Soviet national team during the IIHF World Championships in Stockholm, Sweden, aided by the Buffalo Sabres, who had selected him 89th overall in the fifth round of the 1988 NHL Draft. His defection was carried out via a door at Globen Arena, now Avicii Arena. He debuted with the Sabres on October 5, 1989.

Mogilny later played for the Vancouver Canucks, where he scored 55 goals in the 1995–96 season. He was traded to the New Jersey Devils near the 2000 trade deadline and contributed to their Stanley Cup win that season. In the 2000–01 campaign, Mogilny scored 43 goals and 40 assists in the regular season, then added 16 points in 25 playoff games as the Devils reached the Stanley Cup Final. During his time with New Jersey, he recorded 58 goals and 114 points in 121 games. He also won the Lady Byng Trophy in the 2002–03 season as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Internationally, Mogilny won gold medals at the 1988 Winter Olympics and the 1989 World Championship, achievements that, along with his Stanley Cup, earned him a spot in the IIHF Triple Gold Club.

At the time of his Hall of Fame election, Mogilny was serving as president of Amur Khabarovsk of the Kontinental Hockey League. The Hall of Fame call came at 3 a.m. local time in Russia. The message was delivered by Ron Francis, Chair of the Hockey Hall of Fame Selection Committee, who played with Mogilny for the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2003–04 season.

In response to the call, Mogilny expressed gratitude to his Russian and NHL teammates. He did not participate in the Hall’s media conference call after returning to sleep. Martin Brodeur, Mogilny’s teammate on the 2000 Devils championship team, said he was pleased by the news and described Mogilny as a game-changer who was both a skilled scorer and a great teammate.

Mogilny’s induction comes as the New Jersey Devils enter the 2025–26 NHL season facing new expectations and uncertainties. According to a sports betting analysis published by the New York Post, the Devils are listed as the eighth-favorite team to win the 2025–26 Stanley Cup with odds of 19/1. This places them behind teams like the Colorado Avalanche and Tampa Bay Lightning. The report indicates that the Devils’ odds have cooled slightly due to the absence of star forward Jack Hughes, who is not expected to be available at the start of the season. It also mentions that the team will need additional scoring support beyond Hughes to make a deeper postseason run.

Looking back at last season, the Devils finished with 42 wins, 33 losses, and 7 overtime losses, based on stats from Hockey Reference. That record was good enough for third place in the Metropolitan Division and seventh overall in the Eastern Conference. They scored a total of 242 goals and gave up 222, showing they were strong on both ends of the ice, but still have room to grow, especially when it comes to scoring.