Duncan Keith deserved a real look from Hall of Fame voters

If you want to talk about a former NHL defenseman who more than deserved to have his name mentioned in the same sentence as some of the greatest blueliners in team history, Duncan Keith's your guy. Keith not only won a trio of Stanley Cups with some of the greatest Blackhawks teams ever, but he snagged the 2015 Conn Smythe Trophy, and a pair of Norris Trophies.

And now, it's official. Duncan Keith will be getting inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Yeah, so he's more than just one of the greatest players to put on a Chicago Blackhawks sweater. You can label him as one of the best blueliners to suit up, and his spot on the 100 Greatest Players in NHL History list more than drives that point home.

I mean, Keith was a blueliner who you could've mistaken for a playmaking forward in some seasons, given the way he produced throughout his 1,192 games with the Blackhawks. Oh, and with so much player movement going on in the NHL, Keith played all but just 64 games with the Hawks, spending his final campaign in 2021-22 with the Edmonton Oilers.

Duncan Keith is one of those players when you think about those great Blackhawks teams

Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews may lead the way in some fans' eyes, but Duncan Keith's every bit as up there in the eyes of others. He ended his career in Chicago with 625 points and 105 goals, routinely putting up first-pairing minutes in the process.

While he wasn't the most physical defenseman out there, Keith was never afraid to block shots. And he often found himself in the triple digits in that category. In one season, he got in front of 165 shots, and that was during the latter stages of his career.

Oh, and he was also outstanding at stealing pucks, finishing his career in the Windy City with 559 takeaways before taking on another 36 in Edmonton. Unlike his blocks, though, Keith's milestone came earlier in his career during thee 2010-11 season when he registered 56 of them.

Yep, Keith more than deserved a real look for the Hall in 2025

There's no question about it. When you play all but 64 games for one team and spend some of those seasons producing like a playmaking forward despite being on the blue line with Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews on the team, chances are you're more than doing something right. Especially when it comes with hardware like the Stanley Cup on three different occasions.

So yes, Keith more than deserved a serious look this year, for all of his accolades and a flashback to what was a fine time to be a Blackhawks fan. The ghosts of Kane, Toews, and Keith remain in the Windy City as the Hawks try to dig themselves out of irrelevance. But it was players like Keith that gave these fans so many awesome memories.