I know the thread title is NHL 20, but I 21 is similar enough that maybe someone can help me.
I'm playing a Franchise Mode as the Florida Panthers (there one of my favorite NHL teams after the Rangers and have very limited playoff success, so I was hoping to change that).
I like to keep track of things, so if anyone is interested, here's the Google Sheet I've been using:
So for background: Morale is off, owner mode is off, I almost always set the lines and change the goalie myself, and I turn injures off after the trade deadline. I play a handful of regular season games each year (maybe 4-8), and sim all the rest (including all the playoff games)
Here's the problem: I just finished my 4th year as GM. We have ONE single playoff series win.
| Season | Record | Div. Rank | NHL Rank | Leading Point Scorer | Playoff Results |
| 2020-21 | 49-24-9 | 2 | 4 | Barkov (97) | R1 L vs. BUF (4-1) |
| 2021-22 | 54-23-5 | 1 | 1 | Huberdeau (117) | R1 L vs. BUF (4-0) |
| 2022-23 | 53-24-5 | 1 | 2 | Barkov (94) | R2 L vs. TOR (4-3) |
| 2023-24 | 42-30-10 | 4 | 11 | Huberdeau (111) | R1 L vs. CBJ (4-3) |
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Now I don't expect to win the Stanley Cup every season obviously. But I've ended up pissed off after every single playoffs. 2021 we only won a single game and our stars completely s**t the bed. Barkov, Huberdeau, and Hoffman COMBINED for 3 points in the entire series. 2022 we win the President's Trophy and then get SWEPT in round 1. Seriously? 2023 we finally win a series, take Toronto to game 7 in round 2. I did a CPUv.CPU game and watched, rather then sim. We were down 4-1 with 15:00 to go in the 3rd period. Hayton scores to make it 4-2, Neal scores with under 4 minutes to go to make it 4-3, and then Neal scores again with 25 seconds left to tie the game. I kid you not, the coach puts out our top line of Huberdeau-Barkov-Drouin, and it was the absolute worst defensive positioning I have every seen in my entire life. A complete breakdown with Barkov losing the draw (as is typical of him) and then Huberdeau and Drouin losing their guys and ending up in no-man's land. Toronto scores SIX SECONDS LATER with 19 seconds left in the game to win the series. Last but not least is 2024, in which we were up THREE GAMES TO NOTHING over Columbus and proceeded to blow 4 straight chances to close the series out.
After the 2023 playoffs, I made some major changes. I got rid of Drouin, who could just never seem to perform in the playoffs, and (because I started researching franchise mode tips, and saw that Poise is a key playoff stat) I signed a few depth players with high Poise ratings (Craig Smith, Jeff Carter, Duncan Keith, Evgeni Malkin, etc.). At the 2024 trade deadline, we were not even in a playoff spot. I knew we needed a boost, so I went out and got Crosby. Could've gotten him cheaper, but I needed Pittsburgh to retain salary. He was great down the stretch and was our leading playoff point scorer. But it still wasn't enough.
I'm about ready to fire the coach (this is my 2nd coach in 4 seasons. I fired the first one after we got swept by Buffalo) and blow up this team. But then I'm going to have to sit through 3-4 years of rebuilding before we're competitive again.
So my question is, is there any way to salvage this team? I'll post my lineup below:
| LW | C | RW |
| Huberdeau (30, 93) | Barkov (28, 92) | Svechnikov (24, 88) |
| Crosby (36, 83) | Patrick (25, 88) | Strome (30, 84) |
| Smith (34, 80) | Hayton (23, 82) | Neal (36, 84) |
| Carter (39, 78) | Lundell (22, 81) | Malkin (37, 78) |
| Scratches: | Rasmussen (25, 79) | Okposo (36, 79) |
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| D | D |
| Jones (29, 91) | Byram (22, 84) |
| Ekblad (28, 88) | Powe (21, 83) |
| Giordano (40, 81) | Drysdale (22, 79) |
| Scratches: | Keith (40, 80) |
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| G |
| Binnington (30, 86) |
| DeSmith (32, 82) |
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EDIT: After simming the rest of the playoffs, a few players have had overall changes. Barkov 92 -> 93, Svechnikov 88 -> 90, Jones 91 -> 89, Crosby 83 -> 88, Strome 84 -> 87, and Smith 80 -> 81. Those will probably change again before the start of next season, but those are good for the most part (though I'm suprised Crosby's increased at his age), except for Seth Jones which concerns me a bit.
EDIT #2: James Neal and Jeff Carter retired. Only unsigned pending FAs are Ivan Barbashev and Duncan Keith. I will probably end up trading both, as I don't really have the cap space to keep Barbashev and Keith was not all that valuable for me.
I have some decent prospects in the pipeline. I've seen some people here say that superstar/allstar teams do not perform well and depth matters more. So should I really trade Huberdeau/Barkov/Svechnikov and build out my bottom lines more? I mean, they all had 90+ points this season. Is it a good idea to trade them all for depth? Should I keep one and trade the others?
Like I said, I'm not expecting to win the cup every season. But I do expect us to win more than one playoff series in 4 years. I don't think that's a wildly high expectation. How do I make this into a team that can:
A. Make the playoffs
B. Succeed in the playoffs
Any tips would be much appreciated.
