Hossa is one of those players for whom his actual career accomplishments were perennially unnoticed or under-appreciated when he was a player, but for whom history will be highly complimentary.
Eight 30 goal seasons (and three seasons of 29 goals), the aforementioned 565 adjusted goals, 1207 career adjusted points (placing him 38th all-time), 27th all-time in offensive point shares, 53rd all-time in total point shares, and he has been a model of consistency.
His peak performances weren't quite as high as some of the other offensive stars of this era, but like Sundin he made up for it with sustained excellence and consistency on a yearly basis.
4th, 5th, 5th, and 6th place finishes in goals, a 9th place finish in assists, and a 5th and 6th place finish in points demonstrates that consistency. Never too high or too low. But Hossa was also a terrific defensive player: he's a career +238 (42nd all-time), and while that's not a perfect statistic, he still managed to always be on the positive side of the ledger even on a consistently awful team in Atlanta (a combined +35 in his first two full seasons with the Thrashers) and posted a 55.7% Corsi rating and a 55.6% Fenwick in the first seven years that the statistic was recorded, during the downside of his career nonetheless.
Hossa was also a really terrific player and a tremendous international performer when called upon for his native Slovakia at the highest level (25 points in 15 career Olympic games). Add in the three Stanley Cup championships, 5 Finals appearances, and over 200 playoff games and nearly 150 playoff points and he's a first-ballot guy no question (or should be). He's one of the most underrated forwards ever IMO. He's very similar to a comparable guy in Patrik Elias, although I think Hossa is better, and Elias has a lot of Hall support online.
