NHL 19 Franchise Mode Thread

[Panthaz89]

I wish they would tweak the scouting so you could mass select players and then select report type instead of having to do it on each player. It's incredibly mind-numbing. Also, the indicator for how confident the scout is just doesn't differentiate it enough. It's the same symbol except brighter. It should be more readily identifiable of a level. Add a colour. Do something.

they should be color coded...not sure why they use gray shades and bars. I just wish I could also see the skill evaluations without going into the player report so I can see who's attributes are high.

 

[umwoz]

Sim engine is still absolute garbage. McDavid will get 88 points one season and 60 the next. Teams labelled "Champion" will miss the playoffs.

 

[ottawa]

New York Rangers Franchise Mode

2018-2019 NHL Season

Preview

~ Salary Cap is on.
~ No trading into Top 3 of NHL Draft unless I have a pick from 4-6.*
~ No trading up more than 5 spots at any other time during 1st Round of Draft
~ May trade into 1st round but only from 15-31. *
~ No signing Free Agents if they require ELC, unless of American Descent citing college hockey holdout.
* - Unless using player of overall 88+.

Spoiler: RANGERS ANNOUNCE BRANT KING AS NEW GM

After Jeff Gorton stepped down, the Rangers introduced rookie GM Brant King as the guy they've pegged to carry out their re-entrance into contending. Here is what he had to say:

Spoiler: RANGERS LEADERSHIP GROUP

The Rangers announced that Mats Zuccarello, Marc Staal and Chris Kreider will all wears "A's" for the upcoming season. The Rangers traded captain Ryan McDonagh at last years Trade Deadline, and with yet another year of uncertainty coming, they felt it was best to not name a captain.

Spoiler: FREE AGENT SIGNINGS

The Rangers inked veteran sniper Michael Cammalleri to a 1-year deal prior to the season. The forward split last season between the LA Kings and Edmonton Oilers.

The Rangers also signed former NYR Benoit Pouliot to a 1-year contract. The LW played last season with the Buffalo Sabres. He last played with the Rangers in 2013-2014 during their Stanley Cup Final run.

New York also agreed to a 1-year pact with much maligned goaltender Kari Lehtonen. Lehtonen, a veteran of 12 NHL seasons, has played for the Thrashers and Stars previously.

​

Spoiler: FREE AGENT SIGNINGS

Player	OVR	Age	Potential	Position	Player Type	Stats	Years/AAV
Michael Cammalleri	79	36	N/A	C/LW	Sniper	66 GP 7G-22A-29P -3 ... 18 PIM (17-18)	1/$1.450M
Benoit Pouliot	78	31	N/A	LW	2 way F	74 GP 13G-6A-19P -8 ... 22 PIM (17-18)	1/$1.150M
Kari Lehtonen	82	34	N/A	G	Hybrid	37 GP 15-14-3 .912 SV% 2.56 GAA 1 SO (17-18)	1/$1.250M

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Spoiler: ROSTER DECISIONS

King on Chytil: We, after having talked to the coaching staff, feel that Filip can really step in this season into our Top-9 and make some major contributions. We have the depth to surround him with some really good players, and we have the veterans to give him an example of what it's like to play in the NHL.

Spoiler: ROSTER DECISIONS

King on Lias: This was a tough decision. There wasn't really any room left in our Top-9 group and we feel that it's better Lias gets top line minutes in the AHL than 10 minutes a night in the NHL. Lias will be with our team at some point this season.

LW	C	RW
Kreider 83	Zibanejad 85	Buchnevich 83
Vesey 79	Hayes 83	Zuccarello 85
Spooner 82	Chytil 77	Namestnikov 83
Pouliot 78	Cammalleri 79	Fast 81
Holland 77

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

LD	RD
Skjei 84	Shattenkirk 84
Staal 78	Pionk 79
Claesson 77	DeAngelo 77
Smith 76

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Starter	Backup
Lundqvist 90	Lehtonen 82

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

First Half of Season

Spoiler: UPDATE

Nov. 17th, 2018
After 20 games, the Rangers sit 2nd in the Metropolitan Division with a record of 12-6-2. The team has been surprisingly competitive even with their young roster.

Spoiler: TRADE ALERT

Dec. 1st, 2018
The Rangers, amidst a 3-game losing streak, shipped Ryan Spooner to the Maple Leafs for Andreas Johnsson and a 3rd round pick ('19). The Rangers also sent a 6th round pick ('19).

Spoiler: TRADE ALERT

Player	OVR	Age	Potential	Position	Player Type	Stats	Years/AAV
Andreas Johnsson	78	24	Med Top 6F	LW	Sniper	27 GP 5G-2A-7P +7 ... 2 PIM​	1/$0.790M

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Spoiler: ZUCC SIGNS EXTENSION

Dec. 5th
The Norweigan star agreed to a 4-year deal worth a total of $22.0M. He is the teams leading scorer through 28 games.

Spoiler: ZUCC SIGNS EXTENSION

Player	OVR	Age	Potential	Position	Player Type	Stats	Ext. Years/AAV
Mats Zuccarello	85	31	N/A	RW	Playmaker	28 GP 13G-12A-25P +7 ... 6 PIM​	4/$5.500M

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

The Rangers also claimed 23-year old defenseman Steve Santini off waivers from divisional rivals the New Jersey Devils. He will join the Hartford Wolf Pack in the AHL.

Player	OVR	Age	Potential	Position	Player Type	Stats	Years/AAV
Steve Santini	76	23	Med Top 6D	D	Defensive D	2 GP 0G-0A-0P -2 ... 0 PIM (18-19 NHL)​	3/$1.415M

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Spoiler: TRADE ALERT

Dec. 8th, 2018
The New York Rangers have moved yet another piece amidst what is now a 4-game losing streak. Vladislav Namestnikov, acquired at last years deadline, has been shipped to Boston for prospect Zachary Senyshyn and a 2nd round pick ('19).

Spoiler: TRADE ALERT

Player	OVR	Age	Potential	Position	Player Type	Stats	Years/AAV
Zachary Senyshyn	72	21	Low Top 6F	RW	Sniper	23 GP 3G-7A-10P -3 ... 0 PIM (AHL)​	2/$0.925M

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Lias Andersson has been called up to the NHL.

Player	OVR	Age	Potential	Position	Player Type	Stats	Years/AAV
Lias Andersson	76	20	Med Top 6F	C	2 way F	24 GP 8G-11A-19P +3 ... 2 PIM (AHL)​	3/$0.895M

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

LW	C	RW
Kreider 83	Zibanejad 85	Buchnevich 83
Johnsson 78	Chytil 77	Zuccarello 85
Vesey 79	Andersson 76	Hayes 83
Pouliot 78	Cammalleri 79	Fast 81
Holland 77

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

LD	RD
Skjei 84	DeAngelo 77
Claesson 77	Shattenkirk 84
Staal 78	Pionk 79
Smith 76

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Starter	Backup
Lundqvist 90	Lehtonen 82

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Spoiler: LUNDQVIST INJURED

Jan. 6th, 2019
Henrik Lundqvist pulled his hamstring and will be out 2-3 weeks.

Aleksandar Georgiev has been called up in his absence.

Spoiler: LUNDQVIST INJURED

Player	OVR	Age	Potential	Position	Player Type	Stats	Years/AAV
Aleksandar Georgiev	78	22	Med Fringe Starter	G	Hybrid	21 GP 16-3-2 .923 SV% 2.00 GAA 2 SO (AHL)​	2/$0.790M

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Record	Home	Away	GFPG	GAPG	PP%	PK%	Division	Conference	League	Playoffs?
19-17-5	10-7-4	9-10-1	2.61 (T-14th)	2.41 (T-7th)	14.8% (T-26th)	90.2% (1st)	6th	10th	20th	No.

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

​

Goalie	Record	SV%	GAA	SO
Henrik Lundqvist	16-15-3	.918	2.41	3
Kari Lehtonen	3-2-2	.940	1.84	1

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Quick Hits
~ Henrik Lundqvist is performing admirably, but Kari Lehtonen is superb in his limited action. With Lundqvist injury, Lehtonen will likely rasie trade value.

Player	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM
Kevin Shattenkirk	41	5	20	25	+9	8
Brady Skjei	40	1	13	14	-1	16
Tony DeAngelo	41	3	5	8	-2	2
Marc Staal	41	2	3	5	-2	22
Neal Pionk	41	1	3	4	-8	4
Frederik Claesson	41	1	1	2	+1	20
Brendan Smith	1	0	0	0	-1	2

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Quick Hits
~ Kevin Shattenkirk is performing great in his first full season without injury.
~ Brady Skjei's offensvie production is worrisome.

Player	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM
Mats Zuccarello	41	19	16	35	+5	6
Mika Zibanejad	41	10	18	28	+1	28
Chris Kreider	41	7	20	27	+5	28
Kevin Hayes	41	8	16	24	+5	16
Pavel Buchnevich	41	7	16	23	+1	8
Andreas Johnsson	41 (14)	6 (1)	10 (8)	16 (9)	+5 (-2)	4 (2)
Filip Chytil	41	7	8	15	+3	2
Jimmy Vesey	41	9	4	13	+6	6
Michael Cammalleri	41	5	8	13	-15	6
Jesper Fast	41	6	3	9	-16	2
Lias Andersson	13	2	6	8	+1	2
Benoit Pouliot	29	2	3	5	-11	6
Peter Holland	12	1	0	1	-5	0

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Quick Hits
~ Mats Zuccarello is a forced to be reckoned with this season.
~ Filip Chytil has taken longer than expected to adjust to NHL
~ Mid-season additions Lias Andersson and Andreas Johnsson have been surprising contibutors.

Spoiler: WOLF PACK UPDATE

The Hartford Wolf Pack own a record of 23-11-3 and sit 3rd in the AHL. It remains to be seen how they will perform without their All-Star goaltender Aleksandar Georgiev, but if the offense, led by Ville Meskanen and his 27 points (30 games), can piCK up the slack they should be able to survive the month.

Second Half of Season

LW	C	RW
Johnsson 78	Zibanejad 85	Buchnevich 83
Kreider 83	Chytil 78	Zuccarello 85
Vesey 79	Andersson 76	Hayes 83
Pouliot 78	Cammalleri 79	Fast 81
Holland 77

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

LD	RD
Skjei 84	Shattenkirk 84
Staal 78	Pionk 79
Claesson 77	DeAngelo 77
Smith 76

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Starter	Backup
Lehtonen 82	Georgiev 78 Lundqvist*​

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Spoiler: TRADE ALERT

Jan. 22nd, 2019
The Rangers shipped out yet another key player in their realization that this season was not going to be a playoff year. Kevin Hayes was sent to the Nashville Predators in exchange for their 2019 1st round pick and prospect Yakov Trenin. Trenin, 22, will join the Rangers AHL affiliate.

Spoiler: TRADE ALERT

Player	OVR	Age	Potential	Position	Player Type	Stats	Years/AAV
Yakov Trenin	70	22	Low Top 9F	F	2 way F	43 GP ^g-15A-21P +5 ... 8 PIM (AHL)​	2/$0.795M

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Matt Beleskey has been called up from the AHL.

Player	OVR	Age	Potential	Position	Player Type	Stats	Years/AAV
Matt Beleskey	76	30	N/A	W	Grinder	42 GP 8G-19A-27P +1 ... 41 PIM (AHL)​	2/$3.800M

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

LW	C	RW
Kreider 83	Zibanejad 85	Zuccarello 85
Vesey 79	Chytil 78	Buchnevich 83
Johnsson 78	Andersson 76	Fast 81
Pouliot 78	Cammalleri 79	Beleskey 76
Holland 77

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

LD	RD
Skjei 84	Shattenkirk 84
Staal 78	Pionk 79
Claesson 77	DeAngelo 78
Smith 76

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Starter	Backup
Lundqvist 90	Lehtonen 82

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Trade Deadline

The TRADECENTRE broadcast team:
Host: James Duthie
Trade Breaker Desk: Bob McKenzie, Darren Dreger, Pierre LeBrun, and Gord Miller
Instant Analysis Panel: Ray Ferraro, Jeff O’Neill, Dave Poulin, Martin Biron, Pierre McGuire
Trade Bait: Craig Button
Deadline Panel: Jamie McLennan, Aaron Ward

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Duthie: We here at TSN would like to welcome everyone to yet another edition of our Trade Deadline show. We've already got a move to announce so were going to get right into it.

McKenzie: The Rangers have packaged Cammalleri with a 3rd and 5th round picks in 2020 and sent him to San Jose for a 2nd round pick in the upcoming Draft. Michael Cammalleri will now be joining his 7th NHL club.

O'Neill: I really like this trade for the Rangers guys. They turned a Free Agent signing and a couple 50/50 draft picks into a 2nd round choice. Even making that switch from the 3rd to 2nd round gives them that much more of a chance at finding NHL talent there.

Dreger: I've got another move to announce. The Rangers have sent Kari Lehtonen to the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for a 3rd round pick in 2020 and prospect Mitch Stephens. The've called up Marek Mazanec and Cody McLeod from the AHL in a corresponding move.

Ferraro: This is a bit odd. Yes, Lehtonen raised his trade value with a stellar performance so far this season, but Lundqvist has already been injured and the Rangers still are in the Playoff hunt. It's questionable decision making on best on the part of GM Brant King.

McGuire: I have to disagree there Ray, this is asset management. Yes Lehtonen kept them above water while Hank was out, but they've got to get something for as many guys as they can. I would especially when playoffs are only a chance and not a guaranteed thing.

Duthie: Well, that's all the time we have tonight, we will see youguys at the NHL Draft!

Spoiler: NEW PLAYERS

Player	OVR	Age	Potential	Position	Player Type	Stats	Years/AAV
Cody McLeod	75	34	N/A	LW	Grinder	57 GP 15G-21A-36P +12 ... 50 PIM (AHL)​	1/$0.750M
Marek Mazanec	73	27	N/A	G	Hybrid	31 GP 17-13-1 .914 SV% 2.46 GAA 1 SO​	1/$0.650M

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

LW	C	RW
Kreider 83	Zibanejad 85	Zuccarello 85
Vesey 79	Chytil 78	Buchnevich 83
Johnsson 78	Andersson 76	Fast 81
Pouliot 78	Holland 77	Beleskey 76
McLeod 75

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

LD	RD
Skjei 84	Shattenkirk 84
Staal 78	Pionk 79
Claesson 77	DeAngelo 78
Smith 76

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Starter	Backup
Lundqvist 90	Mazanec 73

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Spoiler: 2 NYR D Accept Extensions

March 4th, 2019
Immediately after the Trade Deadline the Rangers have turned their focus to getting players under contract for next season. That started with 2 young defenseman in Tony DeAngelo and Neal Pionk.

Spoiler: 2 NYR D Accept Extensions

Tony DeAngelo	78	23	Low Top 4D	D	Offensive D	65 GP 6G-7A-13P -1 ... 6 PIM​	3/$1.100M
Neal Pionk	79	23	Med Top 6D	D	Offensive D	65 GP 2G-4A-6P -12 ... 4 PIM​	2/$1.650M

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Spoiler: PLAYOFF NEWS

March 23rd, 2019
The New York Rangers have been eliminated from playoff contention. This is the 2nd straight season the Rangers have missed the Playoffs. All eyes now turn to the draft lottery, where the Rangers hold the 10th best odds at the 1st overall pick.

Record	Home	Away	GFPG	GAPG	PP%	PK%	Division	Conference	League	Playoffs?
36-37-9	17-17-7	19-20-2	2.55 (20th)	2.72 (23rd)	18.3% (22nd)	84.0% (6th)	6th	10th	22nd	No.

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Goalie	Record	SV%	GAA	SO
Henrik Lundqvist	23-26-5	.909	2.69	3
Marek Mazanec	3-5-0	.915	2.69	0

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Quick Hits
~ Henrik Lundqvist struggled as the Rangers failed to keep up with the rest of the league.
~ Marek Mazanec was fine after being called up

Player	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM
Kevin Shattenkirk	82	8	35	43	-10	12
Brady Skjei	81	4	29	33	-16	47
Tony DeAngelo	82	8	11	19	-7	6
Marc Staal	82	2	6	8	-11	37
Neal Pionk	82	2	6	8	-16	4
Frederik Claesson	82	2	4	6	-2	34
Brendan Smith	1	0	0	0	-1	2

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Quick Hits
~ Brady Skjei picked up his offensive play considerably.
~ DeAngelo emerged as one of the Rangers better D in the second half.
~ Frederik Claesson was great defensively, while the rest of the corps struggled.

Player	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM
Mats Zuccarello	82	29	32	61	-5	14
Mika Zibanejad	82	25	35	60	-7	44
Chris Kreider	82	16	39	55	+3	42
Pavel Buchnevich	82	16	28	44	-16	16
Andreas Johnsson	82 (55)	13 (8)	26 (24)	39 (32)	+15 (+8)	10 (8)
Lias Andersson	54	12	26	38	+3	8
Jesper Fast	82	14	16	30	-7	10
Filip Chytil	82	16	13	29	-10	10
Jimmy Vesey	82	11	8	19	-14	26
/////	///	///	///	///	///	///
Benoit Pouliot	70	4	8	12	-29	20
Peter Holland	32	4	6	10	-19	2
Matt Beleskey	34	1	2	3	-13	10

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Quick Hits
~ Mika Zibanejad proved to breakout as the Rangers #1C
~ Mats Zuccarello was dominant all season
~ The 3rd line of Johnsson-Andersson-Fast was dominant after being put together and will get a chance to rekindle that next season
~ Filip Chytil was disappointing in his first NHL season.
~ The 4th line was putrid.
~ Jimmy Vesey struggled and will likely be used as Trade Bait.

Spoiler: AHL UPDATE

Season Recap
The Hartford Wolf Pack finished with a record of 48-24-4, which was enough to win their division.

They were led by goaltender Aleksandar Georgiev, who finished with a record of 27-9-3, paired with a .915 SV% and 4 shutouts.

Leading the way offensively were wingers Ville Meskanen (22-49-71) and Vinni Lettieri (30-40-70).

Next Post: 2019 NHL Offseason and 2019 Preseason!​

I admire your dedication and the time you took to do this...I wouldn't do it even if you paid me, f*** that.

 

[Victorious Secret]

Really? I have seen one almost every other draft (I am about 8 seasons in). I have drafted two of them with late round picks.

The best I've found is a goalie in round 6 with all A's and labeled a NHL Backup

 

[Gardner McKay]

The best I've found is a goalie in round 6 with all A's and labeled a NHL Backup

When you say it was labeled an NHL back up, with what accuracy was that? Is it a scouting issue? Maybe that was a franchise goalie but your scout incorrectly identified it.

 

[Romkey]

I've scouted my ass off in my MIN franchise. The second year I ended up with 3 top 5 picks, I got really lucky with BUF 2019 1st that I got the season before, same sort of thing with MTL. Then I got really lucky with winning the lottery. My picks were:
#1: LW SNP MED Franchise (4 bars) 79 overall (became 89 by the end of the season, scored 35g)
#4: LD TWD MED Elite (4 bars) 77 overall (became 84 by end of season)
#5: RW SNP MED Elite (4 bars) 70 overall (became 80 by end of AHL season, scored 48 goals)
#97: G HYB MED Franchise (3 bars) still have no idea what his overall is

I ended up with a couple other depth guys (some LOW elites, MED Top 6 FWD, MED top 4 D)

The scouting in this game makes it so much more fun to do scorched earth rebuilds. The fact that my depth picks that I got as sweeteners turned into players, including a franchise goalie, makes it so much more immersive.

That being said, there is almost too much depth in the draft. Of the 10 picks I had in the 2019 draft, 2 were Franchise, 5 were Elite and the remaining 2 were top 6/top4. Still way better than the drafting in any other NHL game ever

 

[Shesty31]

Is there any way to increase the scouting budget so I can hire better scouts? I get extra funds every year which I would love to put toward scouting, but it doesn’t give me the option.


Also yes I know I’m the sucker who plays with the owner mode stuff on. No idea why but I always end up keeping it on.

 

[Arthur Morgan]

Is there any way to increase the scouting budget so I can hire better scouts? I get extra funds every year which I would love to put toward scouting, but it doesn’t give me the option.


Also yes I know I’m the sucker who plays with the owner mode stuff on. No idea why but I always end up keeping it on.

go into settings and turn off the auto setting

 

[Arthur Morgan]

I had the fog of war turned off or something and found a Franchise Goalie with max value and traded him + a 3rd for Matthews. I drafted Dahlin 2nd overall. then simmed 1st season got 3rd pick drafted a 82 Overall LWer. signed Duchene + stastny + Tanev. loving my team.

 

[Arthur Morgan]

anyone notice how the seasonal awards section is missing in Franchise Mode?

 

[Hockey Rush]

I had the fog of war turned off or something and found a Franchise Goalie with max value and traded him + a 3rd for Matthews. I drafted Dahlin 2nd overall. then simmed 1st season got 3rd pick drafted a 82 Overall LWer. signed Duchene + stastny + Tanev. loving my team.

I really wish they would offer a "hardcore" draft mode. A way where you either get fewer elites in the later rounds or they find a way to prevent many of them from developing perfectly into elites. There is zero way your team should walk out of a draft with more than "3 elite players" in a draft. It just seems so unrealistic seeing people walk away with so many talents. I personally won't allow myself to trade for all the elites I see. I let myself pick the high ones and gamble on the low ones with my existing picks. I still its really unrealistic to be able to just pick out all the elites.

I wish some maybe had lower ratings but over a season or two they turn "into elites". instead of just being labelled elites. It's really easy to cheese in ea's NHL franchises. Maybe a safety measure like that would work better. Have an elite goalie look like a #7 D but 2 years in he becomes an elite prospect.

Sounds like your franchise is working for you though that is all that matters. I just wish they made it more real so I don't have to "handicap myself so hard" to make it more realistic. Have you guys seen a top 6 D or 7th D man eventually become an elite? or are they destined for their initial grouping?

 

[Shesty31]

go into settings and turn off the auto setting

Duh. Forgot I set it to auto. Thanks lol

 

[Deku]

Just won the cup with my Seattle expansion team for the first time in the 2028-29 season
Winning (healthy) lineup was:

Lafreniere (90 PLY) - Hughes (96 SNP) - Motzko (94 SNP medium franchise)
Chouinard (88 SNP medium elite) - Rylee (85 PLY) - Suave (85 SNP low elite)
Ballard (84 TWF) - Kozhanov (83 PLY medium elite) - Bissonette (84 PWF medium elite)
Lysak (81 PLY medium top 6) - Zibanejad (81 TWF) - Locke (82 TWF)
Nieto (80)

Provorov (90 TWD, acquired at deadline) - Murata (88 DFD... was injured all playoffs til the final)
Markkanen (83 DFD) - Rowe (86 OFD medium elite)
Afanasenkov (83 OFD low elite) - Beaudin (83 OFD)
Higgins (80 TWD)

Komachi (88 medium elite)
Bonvie (80 medium franchise... he's a bust tho, he's 25)


I drafted every single player except for Zibanejad, Provorov, Nieto, and Beaudin (obviously, as they were drafted IRL). Very fun to build up a team from scratch this year with the new scouting.

 

[Arthur Morgan]

I really wish they would offer a "hardcore" draft mode. A way where you either get fewer elites in the later rounds or they find a way to prevent many of them from developing perfectly into elites. There is zero way your team should walk out of a draft with more than "3 elite players" in a draft. It just seems so unrealistic seeing people walk away with so many talents. I personally won't allow myself to trade for all the elites I see. I let myself pick the high ones and gamble on the low ones with my existing picks. I still its really unrealistic to be able to just pick out all the elites.

I wish some maybe had lower ratings but over a season or two they turn "into elites". instead of just being labelled elites. It's really easy to cheese in ea's NHL franchises. Maybe a safety measure like that would work better. Have an elite goalie look like a #7 D but 2 years in he becomes an elite prospect.

Sounds like your franchise is working for you though that is all that matters. I just wish they made it more real so I don't have to "handicap myself so hard" to make it more realistic. Have you guys seen a top 6 D or 7th D man eventually become an elite? or are they destined for their initial grouping?

I originally turned off few settings after simming through a season + playing half I was bored so I started over again and simmed the 1st year again.
Iv drafted Elite potential players. I hit more often in the 1st but around the 2-7th rounds even though they are listed as elite. Iv been drafting 1 top 6 potential. a 7th dman potential, bottom 6 potential. doesnt always work out. I found that franchise goalie and offered him instantly. didnt even exit draft room. so went from having 2nd overall taking Dahlin, then I made some trade where I got the 10th overall and found the goalie. so it wasnt planned. prob could have gotten him with my 2nd.
I at 1st made the trade for the 2nd 1st because I never saw Brady Tkachuk get drafted. although he wasnt in the draft for some reason. Matthews will help more anyways lmao

 

[Arthur Morgan]

Duh. Forgot I set it to auto. Thanks lol

I had same problem lol

 

[Arthur Morgan]

anyone notice the Seasonal Awards are missing?

 

[Flair Hay]

Well I only have a PS3 so I am stuck doing Legacy. PS4 and a new NHL game is definitely not in my financial cards.

It's all good man I was the same way. Last game I bought was NHL 15 on PS3. Finally bought a PS4 with NHL last Sunday. Game seems even better after the time off. You'll have the cash one of these days.

 

[belair]

anyone notice the Seasonal Awards are missing?

They're in the stats.

They're also mentioned in the news feed.

 

[DXStriker]

How is everyone luck winning the lottery lol

I have probably finished last between 20-30 times between multiple franchises and got the #1 pick once .

The amount of times I fell from 1 to 4 is crazy to lol .

 

[RandomChickenWing]

How is everyone luck winning the lottery lol

I have probably finished last between 20-30 times between multiple franchises and got the #1 pick once .

The amount of times I fell from 1 to 4 is crazy to lol .

Ive won the lottery once (Lafreniere) out of 3 non-playoff years. It was my own pick.

 

[Victorious Secret]

When you say it was labeled an NHL back up, with what accuracy was that? Is it a scouting issue? Maybe that was a franchise goalie but your scout incorrectly identified it.

It had the full bars. And I identified him in the months prior to the draft to ensure he was fully scouted.

 

[MarkusKetterer]

It's all good man I was the same way. Last game I bought was NHL 15 on PS3. Finally bought a PS4 with NHL last Sunday. Game seems even better after the time off. You'll have the cash one of these days.

Hopefully. But I'm fine with what I have. I don't play it very often anyway and it's just a time killer. Unfortunately I have too much of that right now recovering from a torn rotator cuff.

 

[Arthur Morgan]

How is everyone luck winning the lottery lol

I have probably finished last between 20-30 times between multiple franchises and got the #1 pick once .

The amount of times I fell from 1 to 4 is crazy to lol .

iv done it twice so far and Iv gotten 1st and then 3rd. I hate when I save previous season before cup is won and sim and no matter what I get the same picks.

 

[GAMO1992]

iv done it twice so far and Iv gotten 1st and then 3rd. I hate when I save previous season before cup is won and sim and no matter what I get the same picks.

there IS technically a way to 'cheese' that. IIRC they set a 'flag' in-game for when the lottery is kind of 'set'. Don't know if they change it in 19 yet since I don't have the game myself. But I DO remember that if you saved your game manually BEFORE the trade deadline(turn off auto save, it helps for tanking), and then just re-sim the end of season/playoffs it changes who wins the lotto. (i suggest the day before the TDL just to be safe)
kinda dumb that the draft is set immediately once the season finishes. but it's EA lol

 

[Dicdonya]

Sim engine is still absolute garbage. McDavid will get 88 points one season and 60 the next. Teams labelled "Champion" will miss the playoffs.

Yeah I hate this too, really screws up building a team, when guys like McDavid, Crosby etc do jack crap.

On a semi related topic, does anyone know if there is an array of stats that makes a player a passer, or shooter?

I ask this, because I created two players, one what I thought was a pure sniper, and another I thought would be a pure passer. The sniper player worked out, he takes an absolute crap ton of shots, like more then Ovi, and has scored up to 72 goals in a year, while getting like 30 assists because I set his playmaking abilities fairly low.

The playmaker though? Nah he shoots a ton too, but his shooting stats were purposefully poo so he is basically crap. I have had players in the game that seem to only pass, take very little shots, and therefore rack up a ton of assists no matter their Overall.

So at this point, I am not sure if its a certain stat that dictates passers (its not Passing, Off Awareness, Puck control, as this guy has them in spades), or if there is a sort of hidden preference that players have, that cannot be assigned via stats or physical properties of the player.