Eastside Hockey Manager - Part VII

[Savi]

Yeah, I noticed that too in my current save. Even #1 overall drafted players don't seem ready at all. Looking back (I'm in 2034 atm) the first six #1 overall players (Jack Hughes, Alexis Lafreniere, Peter Reynolds, Juraj Slafkovsky - who were already in the game, plus two regens in '23 and '24) became stars, after that I saw a lot of busts including some guys who never even played a single NHL game.

Most of the top, let's say under-26, young stars (and especially Europeans) seem to be drafted in rounds 2 through 4-5. And a lot of them look mediocre at 19 but then get a huge attributes boost when they're 22-23.

 

[BKarchitect]

So latest testing on the latest version of NHL32X is going great. I've re-done an entire WHAII second division that reaches into some more smaller hockey markets to serve as farm clubs for the main WHA teams. What is really cool is the variety that the new leagues are creating in the NHL Draft. And I'm not talking about 50 years down the road, I'm seeing the influx immediately. The database goes up to the 2023 draft with real prospects (well plus Aron Kiviharju for 2024) so starting with 2024, here is the nationality breakdown of the first all-CPU generated classes:

Spoiler

2024
Austria: 1 (4th Round)
Belgium: 3 (2nd Round, 3rd Round, 5th Round)
Belarus: 5 (1st Round, 2nd Round, 5th Round, two 7th Round)
Canada: 90
China: 2 (1st Round, 5th Round)
Czech: 8
Denmark: 3 (3rd Round, 5th Round, 7th Round)
Finland: 14
France: 1 (2nd Round)
Germany: 5 (3rd Round, two 4th Round, 6th Round, 7th Round)
Great Britain: 2 (2nd Round, 3rd Round)
Hungary: 1 (2nd Round)
Italy: 2 (4th Round, 6th Round)
Japan: 1 (4th Round)
Kazakhstan: 4 (2nd Round, 3rd Round, 4th Round, 5th Round)
Latvia: 2 (2nd Round, 5th Round)
Netherlands: 2 (1st Round, 2nd Round)
Norway: 2 (2nd Round, 7th Round)
Poland: None
Russa: 31
Slovenia: None
Switzerland: 9
Slovakia: 4
Sweden: 13
Ukraine: 1
United States: 17

2025
Austria: 2 (1st Round, 3rd Round)
Belgium: 3 (1st Round, 3rd Round, 4th Round)
Belarus: 4 (Two 1st round, two 2nd Round)
Canada: 102
China: 3 (1st Round, 2nd Round, 6th Round)
Czech: 4
Denmark: 1 (4th Round)
Finland: 16
France: 3 (1st Round, two 4th Round)
Germany: 3 (1st Round, 2nd Round, 3rd Round)
Great Britain: 1 (1st Round)
Hungary: 4 (Two 2nd Round, two 3rd Round)
Italy: 1 (2nd Round)
Japan: None
Kazakhstan: 3 (3rd Round, two 5th Round)
Latvia: 5 (Two 1st Round, three 3rd Round)
Netherlands: 3 (2nd Round, 3rd Round, 5th Round)
Norway: None
Poland: 1 (4th Round)
Russa: 21
Slovenia: 1 (1st Round)
Switzerland: 2
Slovakia: 5
Sweden: 13
Ukraine: None
United States: 23

2026
Austria: 2 (2nd Round, 4th Round)
Belarus: 2 (2nd Round, 7th Round)
Belgium: None
Canada: 78
China: 4 (Two 1st Round, 2nd Round, 4th Round)
Czech: 7
Denmark: 2 (Two 2nd Round)
Finland: 15
France: 2 (3rd & 4th Round)
Germany: 2 (3rd & 7th Round)
Great Britain: None
Hungary: 4 (Two 1st Round, 2nd Round, 3rd Round)
Italy: 5 (1st Round, 3rd Round, 4th Round, 5th Round, 7th Round)
Japan: 1 (5th Round)
Kazakhstan: 3 (2nd Round, 4th Round, 5th Round)
Latvia: 4 (4th Round, two 5th Round, 6th Round)
Netherlands: 7 (Three 1st Round, 3rd Round, two 4th Round, 5th Round)
Norway: None
Poland: None
Russia: 32
Slovenia: 4 (1st Round, 2nd Round, two 3rd Round)
Switzerland: 5
Slovakia: 3
Sweden: 14
Ukraine: None
United States: 29

Lots more variety in the talent pool! And not just late round picks, the influence of the WHA is seen in lots of highly drafted players from unique countries. I've also made it a point to make sure China becomes a rising power in the future and you can see that starting to happen. Countries like Hungary, the Netherlands and Italy all producing some big talents due to the WHA presence. It'll be interesting in this test to see if these players pan out or not and if their national teams start to make an impact in the World Cup and Olympics.

2026 made history as the first Hungarian player ever was taken first overall in the NHL Draft. Ádám Süveges was selected by Ottawa from the Hungarian Junioir league. The 18 year-old is known in his homeland as "Puskas on Ice" and will spend his first post-draft season with the WHA's Budapest Bears, where he signed a 3-year entry level deal but Ottawa will have the chance to sign him next off-season as his contract has an NHL-out clause.

 

[filip85]

Yeah, I noticed that too in my current save. Even #1 overall drafted players don't seem ready at all. Looking back (I'm in 2034 atm) the first six #1 overall players (Jack Hughes, Alexis Lafreniere, Peter Reynolds, Juraj Slafkovsky - who were already in the game, plus two regens in '23 and '24) became stars, after that I saw a lot of busts including some guys who never even played a single NHL game.

Most of the top, let's say under-26, young stars (and especially Europeans) seem to be drafted in rounds 2 through 4-5. And a lot of them look mediocre at 19 but then get a huge attributes boost when they're 22-23.

I am in 2030. and similiar in my save. Maybe it has to do with turning on "add youth players" before you start the save. I didn't turn it on.

 

[Savi]

Belgium: 3 (1st Round, 3rd Round, 4th Round)

Can you post a screenshot of the 1st rounder?

 

[BKarchitect]

Can you post a screenshot of the 1st rounder?

Ief Peeters - he actually went #2 overall in 2025 to...guess who...the same Sens who picked the Hungarian #1 in 2026. That's some outside the box thinking!

He developed with Mechelen in the BeNe League and has spent the last couple seasons with Brussels in the WHA (as the flagship Belgian club in the game). It's summer of 2026 and the Sens are trying to sign him to bring him to North America.

He's a fast, mobile defensive defender but he's really raw and doesn't show much offensive upside yet.

EDIT: Peeters decided to stay in Belgium another year...here's his scouting report...not very good for a #2 overall pick...

Sueveges aka Ice Puskas is gonna be a stud though:

 

[xECK29x]

Very big release for my DB coming today, thousands of updates and changes all across the globe.

 

[xECK29x]

v3.17 Update:

Download:

Steam: Steam Workshop :: [2018-19] xECK29x's Premier Pivot Rosters (v3.17)
Non-Steam: Dropbox - xECK29x-Rosters-v3.17.zip

Logo Pack:
Steam: Steam Workshop :: Logo Pack (v1.11) for xECK29x's Premier Pivot Rosters (by Dani9 + BKArchitect)
Non-Steam: http://bit.ly/2Gh3wUb

General Updates:
- Re-added "DEBUG_MODE" to extra_config, this was inadvertently removed during troubleshooting, this should re-enable some small details back into the game, thanks The Feckless Puck and Archi!

NHL/AHL/ECHL Updates:
- Latest notable trades, waiver claims and contract extensions
- Added several potential future top picks for later NHL Entry Drafts (up to 2023) - thanks MasterMatt25!
- Retired Wayne Gretzky's #99 across the entire NHL

- Detroit Red Wings (player & club records, retired numbers, players & staff)
-- Grand Rapids Griffins (player & club records, retired numbers, players & staff)
-- Toledo Walleye (colors, arena, player & club records, players & staff)

- Edmonton Oilers (colors, rivals, arena, player & club records, players & staff)
-- Bakersfield Condors (club history, player & club records, players & staff)
-- Wichita Thunder (colors, rivals, player & club records, retired numbers, players & staff)

- Florida Panthers (player & club records, players & staff)
-- Springfield Thunderbirds (club records, players & staff)

- Los Angeles Kings (attendance, retired numbers, player & club records, players & staff)
-- Ontario Reign (colors, club history, player & club records, players & staff)
-- Manchester Monarchs (colors, rivals, player & club records, players & staff)

Canadian Junior Updates:
- Kitchener Rangers (attendance, retired numbers, player & club records, players & staff)
- Updated player histories for Mississauga Steelheads, Niagara IceDogs, North Bay Battalion, Oshawa Generals, Ottawa 67's, Owen Sound Attack, Peterborough Petes, Rimouski Oceanics, Rouyn-Noranda, Saginaw Spirit, Saint John Sea Dogs, Sarnia Sting, Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, Shawinigan Cataractes, Sherbrooke Phoenix, Sudbury Wolves, Victoriaville Tigres and Windsor Spitfires - thanks Trajan!
- Also added many younger players (mostly 16, 17 year olds to the above teams)
- Added several trades, still have to review trade deadline media notes for all three Major Junior leagues.
- Changed Canadian U Sports clubs from Amateur to Junior to align with US Colleges
- Changed LHPS club classifications to Domestic High School
- Added transfer/fixture rules to Canadian Domestic College competitions

Czech Republic Updates:
- All clubs in Tipsport, Chance, 2.Liga, Czeske Krajske and DHL Junior league fully updated - HUGE thanks to Matee!
- Over 3,200 updates!!
- Updated arenas for several clubs
- Associated EUHL with Czech Republic and made it a domestic College league, added appropriate transfer/fixture rules

Finnish Updates:
- All clubs in Liiga updated - thanks ArZka!
- Updated several Liiga-Mestis/Suomi-Sarja affiliations - thanks tomppa169!

Germany Updates:
- Updated all players/staff in DEL2 - thanks ppaalloo!

Misc Europe/APAC Updates:
- Thanks to Matee for all the following:
- Updated all players/staff of APAC, Belarusian, Bulgarian, Estonian, Georgian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Luxembourg, Serbian, Slovenian and various South American nationalities [mostly retirements]
- Updated/folded several Lithuanian and Estonian clubs
- Updated all Icelandic clubs and players/staff, folded Vikingar and UMFK Esja
- Updated Belarusian competition names and clubs, added U17/U18 divisions
- Added/updated signing deadline dates for all Slovakian/Swedish human-playable clubs - thanks ppaalloo!

Australian Updates:
- Added Australian Ice Hockey Victoria Premier League and Western Australian Super League

United States Junior Updates:
- Updated Western States Hockey League clubs and reputations
- Updated several lower-tier US College clubs from Amateur to Junior, they should now be functioning as intended
- Added transfer/fixture rules to United States Domestic College competitions

 

[Savi]

Some of these trade proposals I get are really puzzling sometimes. Like, here's a club that's been after my goalie for the entire offseason, they offer me two first round picks (I reject) and then two weeks later they offer a 4th round pick Come on man.

 

[dellzor]

Does anyone know for the NHL32x, is there a way to do the expansion draft (in excel I'm kinda lost and new at it) so that they protect Turris? Since irl they'll most likely go the 7 forwards, 3 defenseman route which means they'll protect (forwards wise)

Johansen, Forsberg, Arvidsson, Turris, Jarnkrok, then 2 more which they probably protect Fiala / Tolvanen

But the real part is the defense part since they'll have to re-sign Josi (most likely) and they only get to protect 3 of Subban, Ellis, Josi, Ekholm, but which means Ekholm is the most likely to get exposed and drafted by Seattle. This is the scenario I would like to try since it's the most likely that'll occur IRL rather than the Turris exposed route. I'm just really bad at excel so I have no idea at how I'd do this.

 

[BKarchitect]

Does anyone know for the NHL32x, is there a way to do the expansion draft (in excel I'm kinda lost and new at it) so that they protect Turris? Since irl they'll most likely go the 7 forwards, 3 defenseman route which means they'll protect (forwards wise)

Johansen, Forsberg, Arvidsson, Turris, Jarnkrok, then 2 more which they probably protect Fiala / Tolvanen

But the real part is the defense part since they'll have to re-sign Josi (most likely) and they only get to protect 3 of Subban, Ellis, Josi, Ekholm, but which means Ekholm is the most likely to get exposed and drafted by Seattle. This is the scenario I would like to try since it's the most likely that'll occur IRL rather than the Turris exposed route. I'm just really bad at excel so I have no idea at how I'd do this.

Just replace Turris or whomever with a different player in the Import file (in the format it shows with First Name, Last Name and DOB (DD.MM.YYYY), save it, and import it via the Editor.

 

[dellzor]

I think I may have the outdated spreadsheet, mind posting it here again? Love playing on your database, thanks!

 

[BKarchitect]

It's in the last database download

 

[dellzor]

This is the roster I managed after doing trades here and there in year 1 for the Sea Lions on the NHL32x database

Traded for Spurgeon (was getting flamed by fans), Kadri (was on the block due to Leafs' financial situation).

Currently 2nd in the Pacific after 55 games

This is quite a solid first year expansion roster imo

Edit:

Looks like we managed to pull a Vegas in the first year, but actually finished it off. (Thanks to Kadri scoring the GWG OT goal and dropping 27 points in the playoffs.) Surprisingly, Jarry won the Conn Smythe over Kadri despite Kadri having 11 points higher than the next highest scorer on the team (Girgensons)

 

[Smirnov2Chistov]

Yeah, I noticed that too in my current save. Even #1 overall drafted players don't seem ready at all. Looking back (I'm in 2034 atm) the first six #1 overall players (Jack Hughes, Alexis Lafreniere, Peter Reynolds, Juraj Slafkovsky - who were already in the game, plus two regens in '23 and '24) became stars, after that I saw a lot of busts including some guys who never even played a single NHL game.

Most of the top, let's say under-26, young stars (and especially Europeans) seem to be drafted in rounds 2 through 4-5. And a lot of them look mediocre at 19 but then get a huge attributes boost when they're 22-23.

I forgot to respond to this, but there is a draft lull some years, and then in other years there are bonafide stars that come through.

I haven't played in a couple weeks, but I'll have to take a look at my save and see where some prospects are. I think there were some that jumped right in and played right away and became a star but i'll double check. I think I'm in the 2030s-2040s.

 

[Treb]

To avoid getting too many picks from older players getting replaced by younger ones or prospects disappointing with time remaining on their contract, I started doing what I call RFA liberation. CPU always keeps a ton of 25yo+ RFA in their system for no reason, so I trade for them and then release their right. Makes the fan/board happier than picks and I still get enough picks when I need them.

 

[BKarchitect]

So here's a pretty big teaser post for the upcoming release of NHL32X v3.0. Along with the usual updates and tweaks, the big news is the total make-over of the second tier WHA feeder league. It is now re-branded as the WHAII and the goal is to continue to grow and develop the game of hockey in new areas of the globe. It is fully playable as well! The WHA brands are thus:

WHA

WHA All-Star Game

WHAII

Like the WHA, the WHAII is a 2 conference, 4 division, 24 team league which follows the same schedule structure. League reputation is somewhere between the ECHL and SPHL to start or somewhere equivalent to the top flight leagues in countries like Denmark or Belarus; all teams are professional. It's not the highest level of play of course but remember this is A) a feeder league and B) bringing the game to under-served or brand new locations. Affiliations between WHA and WHAII teams are across division lines below:

WHA Division : WHAII Division
WHA United States : WHAII Mexico
WHA Canada : WHAII Canada
WHA Western Europe: WHAII Western Europe
WHA Central Europe: WHAII Central Europe

WHAII Mexico swallows up the existing Mexican domestic league and adds a couple teams to become the premier hockey league of Mexico and create a sharing of the game with the United States and vice versa.

WHAII Canada is of course more Canadian teams but in provinces and territories that are lacking in high-level professional hockey with a goal of generating new Canadian players from more far-flung and unique locations.

The WHAII European clubs are of course divided geographically but again, the locations are in countries that either have hockey but lack high-level professional leagues or in totally new locations to develop generations of players from new places.

Logo Credits: With 24 brand new clubs, it was fun creating identities for these teams. Please note however that the majority of artwork is not mine and please read the credit file in the spoiler below and with every NHL32X download for full info. As always, all my databases are strictly free and for fun and please do not distribute any of it without the credits file nor attempt to sell or profit off the work in any way.

Spoiler

Without further adieu, here are the teams of the WHAII. I've used spoiler tags to try and conserve space and not destroy the forum with my posts - hope you enjoy revealing the clubs! (Click on the image to get full resolution, sometimes they can be fuzzy when re-sized for the forum)

WHAII Mexico

Spoiler

WHAII Canada

Spoiler

WHAII Western Europe

Spoiler

WHAII Central Europe

Spoiler

 

[BKarchitect]

Well this guy is the first real non-traditional market superstar I've seen developed in my NH32X testing. Nobuhiro Sato from Japan. Just won the 2032-33 Norris Trophy with the Sharks. Was drafted in the 2nd round (#37 overall) from Japanese High School by San Jose. Was nurtured in the AHL for a while before making his full season rookie debut in 2027 as a 22 year-old. Didn't show a ton of offensive promise at first but just exploded into a star the last few years with crazy amazing skating and skills.

Here's his attribute profile:

Spoiler

And his stats history:

Spoiler

 

[dellzor]

Well this guy is the first real non-traditional market superstar I've seen developed in my NH32X testing. Nobuhiro Sato from Japan. Just won the 2032-33 Norris Trophy with the Sharks. Was drafted in the 2nd round (#37 overall) from Japanese High School by San Jose. Was nurtured in the AHL for a while before making his full season rookie debut in 2027 as a 22 year-old. Didn't show a ton of offensive promise at first but just exploded into a star the last few years with crazy amazing skating and skills.

Here's his attribute profile:

Spoiler

And his stats history:

Spoiler

Release it NOW >

 

[Smirnov2Chistov]

So here's a pretty big teaser post for the upcoming release of NHL32X v3.0. Along with the usual updates and tweaks, the big news is the total make-over of the second tier WHA feeder league. It is now re-branded as the WHAII and the goal is to continue to grow and develop the game of hockey in new areas of the globe. It is fully playable as well! The WHA brands are thus:

WHA

WHA All-Star Game

WHAII

Like the WHA, the WHAII is a 2 conference, 4 division, 24 team league which follows the same schedule structure. League reputation is somewhere between the ECHL and SPHL to start or somewhere equivalent to the top flight leagues in countries like Denmark or Belarus; all teams are professional. It's not the highest level of play of course but remember this is A) a feeder league and B) bringing the game to under-served or brand new locations. Affiliations between WHA and WHAII teams are across division lines below:

WHA Division : WHAII Division
WHA United States : WHAII Mexico
WHA Canada : WHAII Canada
WHA Western Europe: WHAII Western Europe
WHA Central Europe: WHAII Central Europe

WHAII Mexico swallows up the existing Mexican domestic league and adds a couple teams to become the premier hockey league of Mexico and create a sharing of the game with the United States and vice versa.

WHAII Canada is of course more Canadian teams but in provinces and territories that are lacking in high-level professional hockey with a goal of generating new Canadian players from more far-flung and unique locations.

The WHAII European clubs are of course divided geographically but again, the locations are in countries that either have hockey but lack high-level professional leagues or in totally new locations to develop generations of players from new places.

Logo Credits: With 24 brand new clubs, it was fun creating identities for these teams. Please note however that the majority of artwork is not mine and please read the credit file in the spoiler below and with every NHL32X download for full info. As always, all my databases are strictly free and for fun and please do not distribute any of it without the credits file nor attempt to sell or profit off the work in any way.

Spoiler

Without further adieu, here are the teams of the WHAII. I've used spoiler tags to try and conserve space and not destroy the forum with my posts - hope you enjoy revealing the clubs! (Click on the image to get full resolution, sometimes they can be fuzzy when re-sized for the forum)

WHAII Mexico

Spoiler

WHAII Canada

Spoiler

WHAII Western Europe

Spoiler

WHAII Central Europe

Spoiler

I've always wanted a way to have a Portuguese Team implemented in or a Portuguese League! Thanks for this attempt BK! I would love to actually implement it in a save, but I'm not tech saavy. Can't wait to try this out.

 

[dellzor]

I'm going to try to rebuild the Sens when an update from BK comes live since there shall be no Duchene 8)

 

[Treb]

Playing the Habs in BK's database. WHA is active (sim set to later stage)

The year is 2026 (June 5th) and Ovechkin is probably retiring after his last hurrah winning a Cup with the Habs (third straight after a final loss). I got him after his disastrous season in EDM (82-14-29-43). He went up to 82-27-34-61 on the Habs and 1647-938-815-1763 total, becoming the GOAT goalscorer. Habs got lucky rebuilding and got Lafrenière and Lundell in 2020 (1 and 2 overall) by pure chance by trading Weber and some prospects back in 2018-2019 for picks that ended 1st and 2nd overall by lottery luck (teams were not the 31-32). The third wheel of the 1st line Daniel Sprong (after 5 seaons of 77,78,74,88 and 87) was traded mid-season because re-signing him would have led to a 30+ millions first line. He was also in a down year with only 27-8-10-18.

Price retired one year before his contract ended but Eric Comrie took charge easily. Acquired in 2023-2024, he went 26-13-11-2 with 0.889 and 3.00. However, the 2nd year he went 24-18-3-2 with 1.95 and 0.919. This year was his first year as starter and he got 61-40-10-9 with 2.06 and 0.919.

Lafrenière had his first ''down'' PO with only 16 pts in 22 games (he was 81 pts in 76 games before that). Turcotte (drafted 5th overall in 2019) took charge going 22-11-20-21 with his winger Drake Batherson going 22-8-13-21.

Lafrenière currently 470-231-291-522 in the regular season.
Lundell had a slower start going ''only'' 75-18-23-41 in his first season as a 2nd/3rd C. He is 477-183-263-446 right now.

If you are playing BK's database, doing everything possible to get one or both Lundell/Lafrenière, they are beasts.

As usual draft have looked pretty weak for the last 2-3 years.

There are also teams that are very weak. Sens only 48 pts this year (only 19 wins). Mrazek is their 1st goalie and Kevin Mandolese is their backup. They have only 3 decent D in Chabot, Justin Barron (6 OVA 2020) and Ceci. Their best fwd are Quinton Byfield (3rd OVA 2020 ) 53 pts, Wennberg 53 pts, Stone 50 pts and Tkachuk 47 pts. Duchene is still there but was only 66-4-18-22. They aren't going anywhere soon either as their best D prospect is a 4th round pick in 2023 I traded to them for old RFAs taking space in their pool that I released.

Current WHA leaders:
Games Connor Brown 542
Goals Tomas Nosek 174 (left for Czech league highest in league is Connor Brown 139)
Assists Travis Boyd 226
Points Tomas Nosek (highest active Travis Boyd 354)
PIM Scott Mayfield 590 (currently UFA highest active Brayden McNabb 462)
Goalie wins Laurent Brossoit 172 (left for SHL, active Pheonix Copley 164)
Goalie SO Igor Shestyorkin 21 (somehow decided to leave NYR after 2021)

PSG is dominating with 6 out of 8 wins. Atlanta and Amsterdam got one each. To be fair, PSG had Jesperi Kotkaniemi for the last two years (I traded his rights to the Jets (who needed a 3rd C) because I had Lundell/Turcotte/Poehling/Danault up mid and he was asking for too much to be 2nd/3rd C. However they chose to sign FA Malkin instead and let JK stay unsigned). JK is 102-42-72-114 in the WHA currently and is signed for another year by PSG (6.75M).

 

[BKarchitect]

@Treb thanks for the input, always fun to see some results.

I’ve been testing out a concept for the Canadian and American WHA clubs whereby they each get a couple of Major Junior clubs to be sponsored as junior affiliates. They can’t sign NHL draft eligible players but it does allow them to play junior level players in actual games. So I gave Rimouski to Quebec for example and as Nords GM was able to play Lafreniere as my top line center the entire 18-19 season.

But when I let the CPU be GM it never takes advantage of the opportunities it presents even though some of the top junior guys are better than some of the scrubs that WHA teams trot out the first season. Even when I let the CPU control Quebec, they never call up Lafreniere.

I think the concept is really cool and as a hunan GM it gives you some neat and different opportunities which is what I am striving for with the WHA. But since the computer never utilized it, I’m unsure if I will incorporate it into rhe next version or not.

 

[flamesftw]

Hey ECK, when should we expect the TDL roster update? Not trying to rush, just wondering when I should wrap up my current sim and start a new one.

 

[dellzor]

Now just waiting for BK's update with the TDL

 

[xECK29x]

Hey ECK, when should we expect the TDL roster update? Not trying to rush, just wondering when I should wrap up my current sim and start a new one.

Tonight, 100%