Following long wait, trailblazing Sabres legend Alexander Mogilny elected to Hall of Fame

Alexander Mogilny, a trailblazer who defected from the Soviet Union in 1989 to join the Buffalo Sabres and later developed into one of the most electrifying talents in NHL history, has been elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in his 17th year of eligibility.

Mogilny, 56, is one of eight members of the class of 2025 the Hall of Fame announced Tuesday. They will be inducted Nov. 10 in Toronto.

“I am happy to be part of a great organization like the Hockey Hall of Fame,” Mogilny said in a statement to the Hall of Fame. “I want to thank both my Russian and NHL teammates for helping me achieve this honor.”

Mogilny, an intensely private person, learned of his honor when a call from the Hall of Fame woke him up in the middle of the night in Russia.

“He actually answered the phone,” said Lanny McDonald, the Hall of Fame’s outgoing chairman. “Talk about a Hall of Famer. That’s a Hall of Famer answering the phone at 3 o’clock in the morning.”

Why now? Why didn’t Mogilny receive the necessary 14 votes from the 18-member Hall of Fame committee earlier? His annual snub mystified many in the hockey world who followed his impactful career.

In addition to scoring 473 goals over 16 seasons, including a franchise-record 76 for the Sabres in 1992-93, Mogilny, who won the Stanley Cup with the New Jersey Devils in 2000, forever changed hockey.

At just 20, he became the first Soviet player to defect to North America, bolting from the national team at the World Championship in Stockholm, Sweden, with the help of Sabres general manager Gerry Meehan and Don Luce, who worked in player development.

Mogilny’s risky decision opened the door for others. In 1990-91, the last season before the fall of the Soviet Union, 12 Russians played in the NHL, according to Quant Hockey.

While Mogilny possessed dynamic talent, he needed to adjust to a new culture and the world’s best hockey league. Despite scoring on his first shot on goal 20 seconds into his NHL debut on Oct. 5, 1989, the speedy winger finished his rookie season with 15 goals.

But he quickly morphed into a star, scoring 30 goals in 1990-91 and 39 times in 1991-92 before enjoying one of the most prolific offensive campaigns in NHL history.

His 76 goals in 77 games in 1992-93 stand as the fifth-highest single-season total in NHL history. His 127 points rank second in franchise history, trailing only the 148 points Pat LaFontaine, his center, recorded that year.

Mogilny and LaFontaine, a 2003 Hall of Fame inductee, formed one of the highest-scoring duos ever that season, combining for a stunning 129 goals and 275 points.

“As far as highlight-(reel) goals and as far as speed and doing things at a high level, high speed, we’d shake our heads on the bench most nights,” LaFontaine said in 2020 of Mogilny’s exploits that memorable season. “Actually, I had a front-row seat. It was some of the most fun I’ve ever had playing.”

While Mogilny never duplicated his monster season, he remained highly productive. After the Sabres traded him to Vancouver in 1995, he scored 55 goals for the Canucks in 1995-96 and 43 times for the Devils in 2000-01.

He registered his 1,000th NHL point as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs on March 15, 2004 in Buffalo.

He ranks 59th on the all-time goals list. The 1,032 points he registered in 990 career games rank 88th.

Mogilny also won a gold medal for the Soviet Union at the Olympics and World Championship.

He will be inducted with Zdeno Chara, Joe Thornton, Duncan Keith, Jennifer Botterill, Brianna Decker, Jack Parker and Daniele Sauvageau.