# Is this the year Patrick Marleau gets elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame? > Source: > Published: 2026-06-21 17:48:39+00:00 **Getting your** [Trinity Audio](//trinityaudio.ai)player ready...SAN JOSE – This is the third year that San Jose Sharks legend [Patrick Marleau](https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/i-was-living-my-dream-every-day-sharks-retire-patrick-marleaus-no-12/) has been eligible for election to [the Hockey Hall of Fame](https://www.hhof.com/induction/induction2026/inductioneligible.html). In that time, he didn’t score any more goals or win any more NHL awards. But perhaps Marleau, [the NHL’s all-time leader](https://www.nhl.com/news/sharks-marleau-nhl-record-most-games-played-323816560) in regular-season games played, has a better chance of being elected now than he did in either of the two previous years. The Hockey Hall of Fame will announce[ its Class of 2026](https://www.nhl.com/news/class-of-2026-hockey-hall-of-fame-candidates) on Monday, and there does not appear to be as many former NHL players who are sure things for election as there were in 2025. Two years ago, in Marleau’s first year of eligibility, forwards Pavel Datsyuk and[ ex-Shark Jeremy Roenick](https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/11/11/jeremy-roenick-says-ex-san-jose-sharks-gm-doug-wilson-might-have-saved-his-life/) and defenseman Shea Weber were inducted. While Marleau had a standout career, he perhaps didn’t have the credentials to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer. Last year, ex-Sharks captain Joe Thornton led a[ loaded class of inductees](https://www.mercurynews.com/2025/11/09/make-no-mistake-joe-thorntons-playmaking-made-him-a-hall-of-famer/) that also included forward Alexander Mogilny and defensemen Zdeno Chara and Duncan Keith. This year, the strongest candidates appear to be former Boston Bruins captain [Patrice Bergeron](https://www.hockey-reference.com/players/b/bergepa01.html), a six-time Selke Trophy winner who is eligible for the first time, and ex-Montreal Canadiens goalie [Carey Price](https://www.hockey-reference.com/players/p/priceca01.html), who won the Hart and Vezina trophies in 2014-15. Other first-year eligible candidates include forwards Eric Staal, who is 80th all-time with 1,063 points, and Phil Kessel, the NHL’s all-time leader in consecutive regular season games played with 1,064. Potential candidates who have been eligible for more than one year include forwards Henrik Zetterberg, Keith Tkachuk, Rod Brind’Amour, Patrik Elias, Theo Fleury, Jason Spezza, Justin Williams, Ryan Getzlaf, and former Sharks Bernie Nicholls and Vincent Damphousse. Others potentially up for consideration include defenseman Sergei Gonchar, and goalies Curtis Joseph, Tuukka Rask, Tim Thomas, Pekka Rinne, and Ryan Miller, a goalie scout and goaltending development coach with the Sharks. An [18-member committee](https://www.hhof.com/induction/selectioncommittee.html) of executives, media members, former players, and coaches considers potential inductees under [a formal selection process.](https://www.hhof.com/induction/electionprocedures.html) Committee members can nominate no more than one individual in the Player Category, the Builder Category, and the Referee or Linesman Category. Nominees needed to be submitted by April 15. From that pool of nominees, the committee can select a maximum of four male players, two female players, two builders, or one builder and one referee or linesman. All nominated candidates needed to receive at least 14 votes (75%) to be elected. Marleau might not be the committee’s first or second choice on this year’s list of eligible players, but could he be the third or fourth? Marleau played an NHL-record 1,779 games over a 23-year career that began in 1997, when he was the Sharks’ second-overall draft pick. He played 21 seasons in San Jose, two with the Toronto Maple Leafs, and a brief stint with the Pittsburgh Penguins at the end of the pandemic-affected 2019-2020 season. Marleau passed Gordie Howe for the games played record during the 2020-2021 season. He also ranks 25th all-time in regular-season goals, scoring 566, and is 55th with 1,197 points. Marleau did not win the Stanley Cup or a major individual award as a player, but did capture two Olympic gold medals with Canada in 2010 and 2014, and was a two-time finalist for the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy for “sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability.” Marleau had his number 12 retired by the Sharks in 2023 and is now a player development coach and hockey operations advisor with the team. Every retired player who scored more NHL regular-season goals than Marleau is already in the Hall. All but two players who had more points than Marleau – Nicholls (1,209) and Damphousse (1,205) – have also been inducted. This year’s induction ceremony is on Nov. 9 in Toronto.