NEWARK, NJ – MARCH 02: Dan Boyle #22 of the San Jose Sharks in action against the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center on March 2, 2014 in Newark, New Jersey. The Sharks defeated the Devils 4-2. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

Dan Boyle retired Wednesday at the age of 40, wrapping up one of the more fascinating careers of any modern defenseman.

Boyle was undrafted and got a fairly late start to his career after four years at Miami University. The guy started college in 1995. That’s how long Dan Boyle has been around. He didn’t become a full-time NHLer until 2000-01, when he got 69 games with Florida. He was 24 years old at that point.

The next year he was traded to Tampa for a fifth-round pick (oops!), where he played until 2007-08, winning a Stanley Cup in 2004 along the way. When he missed the bulk of the ’07-08 season with an injury, Tampa’s ownership forced him to waive a no-trade (by threatening to put him on waivers so he could be claimed by a rotten team) before a brand-new six-year deal he’d just signed kicked in. So he went to San Jose and was awesome into his late 30s.

Then he played the past two seasons for the New York Rangers and was still pretty good, but also very clearly a guy who had lost it a bit due to his being 38 and 39 years old.

It’s a twisty-turny road, but in the end Boyle played almost 1,100 games despite his late start, and racked up more than 160 goals and 600 points. Which isn’t bad for an undersized defenseman who played the bulk of his career in two separate Dead Puck eras. And that’s without getting into his always-great possession numbers.

Six seasons with at least 50 points is a hell of a lot. And there was another where he registered 48. Seven seasons with a double-digit goal total, and four more in which he registered nine. Weird that he only finished in the top-six in the Norris voting three times, but then again he played alongside some of the best defensemen to ever put on skates for pretty much the entirety of his career.

What kind of class does that put Boyle in? Well, it’s a really damn good one. I’m of the opinion that my man should end up in the Hockey Hall of Fame, not only because he piled up the points, but also because he was very Veteran-y pretty much forever, and won both Olympic gold and a Stanley Cup. Like a lot of guys his age, the NHL’s owners robbed him of about 130 games in his career through two lockouts.

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But really, very few defensemen in recent decades can match what Boyle did. Even leaving championships out of it, just 13 defensemen in the entire NHL put up as many goals and points as he did since the 1990-91 season. Eight of them are already in the Hall of Fame: Names like Lidstrom, Leetch, Blake, MacInnis, Niedermayer, Bourque, Pronger, and Housley. Real cream-of-the-crop stuff.

Boyle’s in that other five, most of whom really ought to be enshrined in the Hall of Fame at some point. They are:

4. Roman Hamrlik

Tough to see a case for Hamrlik, realistically. He’s got the production — 155 goals, 638 points — but he also got an extra 300 games to get there. Hamrlik also won Olympic gold (in 1998) but no one would ever have said he was one of the best defensemen in the world.

One season north of 60 points, sure, but that was in 1995. Everyone scored 60 points back then. No big deal. Hamrlik never cleared 40 points after 2003. Pass on his HOF cred, but I’d let in each of the next three guys.

3. Mathieu Schneider

Schneider retired in 2010, and man if you look back, he was really damn good. Also six seasons of 50 points or more, and 13 with at least 10 goals. He cleared 20 twice! Schneider ended up scoring more than 220 goals and almost 750 points. Like Hamrlik, he had an extra 200 games or so to pad his stats over Boyle’s.

He won a World Cup (’96, baby!) and a Stanley Cup (with the Montreal Canadiens). Weirdly, he never got much Norris Trophy consideration until his mid- to late-30s. That’s what playing for the mid-2000s Detroit Red Wings will do for you, I guess.

View photos LOS ANGELES, CA – NOVEMBER 10: Sergei Zubov #56 of the Dallas Stars lines up in position at the point prior to an offensive zone faceoff against the Los Angeles Kings during their NHL game on November 10, 2007 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. The Kings defeated the Stars 6-5 in overtime. (Photo by Victor Decolongon/Getty Images) More

2. Sergei Zubov

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