The GM Mode Prospect Thread

[WheelSnipeCelly]

Are there any official guides on how to draft/develop from EA?

There scouting is really difficult to get the hang of. In fact, I usually will trade my top picks to the following year's draft, then trade high up to get a really good prospect. Because if I go any later than like the 8th pick, I end up getting a really mediocre player.

I've seen a lot of you complain about some players developing really slow. Which I can agree with. It can be really frustrating. Like on my SJ Sharks team. I have Mirco Mueller who was something like 65 with 4.5 green when drafted. He's almost 27, and only at 71. Still with the green stars. I sent him back to JR when I could, and give him as much ice time as possible with a really good defensive partner. At this rate, he'll be an average NHLr when he's 30.

 

[izzy]

Are there any official guides on how to draft/develop from EA?

There scouting is really difficult to get the hang of. In fact, I usually will trade my top picks to the following year's draft, then trade high up to get a really good prospect. Because if I go any later than like the 8th pick, I end up getting a really mediocre player.

I've seen a lot of you complain about some players developing really slow. Which I can agree with. It can be really frustrating. Like on my SJ Sharks team. I have Mirco Mueller who was something like 65 with 4.5 green when drafted. He's almost 27, and only at 71. Still with the green stars. I sent him back to JR when I could, and give him as much ice time as possible with a really good defensive partner. At this rate, he'll be an average NHLr when he's 30.

Well lucky for you, once he turns 27 you can stop trying to develop him because he's basically done.

 

[Engebretson]

Julius Honka is an excellent pickup in the 2nd/3rd round of the 2014 draft.

I waited the full two years to develop him in Juniors, but by the time I signed him in year 3 and the AHL regular season started, he was already 77 OVR and the next season, he was 81 OVR. He's currently on my third pairing with a DFD and he had 41 pts in the regular season (though he does see quite a bit of PP time). Not sure what he's going to jump to during the current offseason, but he'll probably be on my 2nd pairing for sure.

 

[glxss]

What are your thoughts on statistical growth ? Its pretty and pointless IMO

 

[The Rage Kage]

What are your thoughts on statistical growth ? Its pretty and pointless IMO

Yah, if it isn't actually going to change them permanently then why bother

 

[Engebretson]

Does Nick Ritchie progress very high for anyone? I'm at the start of year 4 and he's at 74 OVR.

Also, Adam Erne is quite the steal if you trade for him in the first couple years. I basically got him for an AHL defensemen in 2014-15. He then promptly shot up from 74 to 82 and led my NHL team in assists his rookie season.

 

[A Calgary Flames Fan]

As many have said, Adam Erne is a total steal. Also, in the 2013 Draft, try to snag Maxim Petgrave. He's usually available in the late 6th round or early 7th round. He can become a decent 3rd pair d-man, despite a low overall.

Also, while playing as Detroit, Adam Erne made a huge impact in his rookie year, he was a 73, posted 51 points, won the Calder, only got bumped up to 74 the next year, never reached 30 points again.

Drouin can become very good very fast if you place him with Stamkos. Kucherov also gets good really fast.

On Buffalo, Goalie Andrei Makarov can get to the 80 overalls in just a couple seasons, but he has a high trade value.

Goalies like Riku Helenius, Eddie Lack, Jhonas Enroth and Jack Campbell have low trade values and can get fairly good in just a couple seasons.

During free agency, sign high-60's mid-70's guys who have 3.5 or better potential ratings, even if only Red Stars.

Also, there is a small chance Oskar Dansk is a UFA in the 2014 free agency. Try to sign him if he is, he is one of the best goalie prospects when you start the game.

In the 2014 Draft, you can snag Willie Nylander in either the last 1st round or early 2nd round. If you can, draft him. I usually have great success with him and he can get to the 80's in just a couple years if you play him in the AHL.

Also, whenever a goalie is projected to go Top 5, draft him. High chance that goalie becomes insanely good, high 80's in just a couple years.

Try to get Filip Forsberg from Nashville. His trade value isn't that high and he can make a decent impact right away.

And finally, any prospect with high potential and high trade value but with an overall in the 50's, high chance that player is a bust.

 

[The Rage Kage]

Jacob markstrom is also a quite the steal, trade for him in 2014 when his trade value is low and play him as the starter and he can get to 86/87 with good trade value

 

[Eggberto]

Jacob markstrom is also a quite the steal, trade for him in 2014 when his trade value is low and play him as the starter and he can get to 86/87 with good trade value

In my game with Vancouver he's at 88 overall with about half a bar of trade value. I'm shopping him soon because I have to 4.5 yellow star goalies that are at about 85 overall and getting ready for a starting role.

Anyway markstrom has been on the all star team for the past 3 seasons

 

[Engebretson]

I had an interesting situation with Jake Gardiner last night, who isn't really a prospect, but for the purposes of this thread is a pretty decent lesson in player development.

Around a week before the pre-season, I traded Gardiner (87 OVR) back to the Leafs for JVR (89) and had to add an underperforming Brandon Saad (80) and my 2017 1st rounder. I simulated up through pre-season and Gardiner's OVR had jumped from 87 -> 89 (he started the offseason at 86 OVR). Had I waited to trade him until after the pre-season, I would have pretty much gotten JVR for Gardiner straight up. So, now I know that offseason progression can happen up through the pre-season instead of August or early September.

I also traded for a Polish goalie named Xavier Kearns that was with Columbus. 4.5 Y stars, 22 years old and already 86 OVR. His trade value was fairly low and he's already labeled a "starter" for his role so I took a chance. Columbus had about 6-7 high valued goalies in their prospect pipeline, so they must have only picked goalies in the last several first rounds. Now I understand when others complain about the AI of the computer controlled GM's with drafting, though I'm not really complaining in this situation.

 

[Isles5513]

Does Nick Ritchie progress very high for anyone? I'm at the start of year 4 and he's at 74 OVR.

Also, Adam Erne is quite the steal if you trade for him in the first couple years. I basically got him for an AHL defensemen in 2014-15. He then promptly shot up from 74 to 82 and led my NHL team in assists his rookie season.

I only drafted him once and he got up to an 89 overall

 

[Engebretson]

I only drafted him once and he got up to an 89 overall

Thanks for the feedback. He's now at 80 OVR at the start of year 5 and kind of a tweener between the AHL/NHL where he's probably too good for the AHL but maybe not quite good enough for the NHL. He's also listed as a "depth FWD" so I don't know exactly where to start him off.

 

[hockey17jp]

Adam Erne is super cheap and usually blossoms to around 84-85 Overall, same goes to Kerby Rychel.

Oscar Dansk is another guy that isn't too expensive, he'll get to around 85-86 OV for you.

I've noticed that a lot of prospects with decent overall and 4.5 yellow stars actually don't have that much value the first year out of the draft, so if you can make a move for them you'll be golden.

Last season I signed an 84 overall Chris Kreider as a free agent, only to trade him to Pittsburgh for 80 Overall 19 year old Larry Earl who had 4.5 yellow.

 

[The Nuge]

Jacob markstrom is also a quite the steal, trade for him in 2014 when his trade value is low and play him as the starter and he can get to 86/87 with good trade value

Markstrom stalled out at 81 for me

 

[The Rage Kage]

Markstrom stalled out at 81 for me

Did you give him 50-60 games played the whole time? I'm not in the most recent roster update so that may be why

 

[Engebretson]

I started another season with the Wild and traded Mikko Koivu pretty much straight up ( I had to add a little) for Galchenyuk, who I'm pretty sure is 4.5 green stars. I'm at the start of the 2015-16 season and Galchenyuk is 88 OVR at 22/23 years old and PPG on a line with Parise and JVR. I've seen him get up to 90 within the first 5 seasons or so, but it seems like he's well on his way.

Jack Campbell is always a great pickup for me with goalies. He's 4.5 red stars and seems to progress quickly if he's reached backup status.

 

[kingsboy11]

I did a Vancouver GM mode and I wanted to improve my goaltending because I didn't trust Markstrom and Lack, and drafted a 5 gold star goalie 1st overall. Literally the next season, Markstrom jumped to 88 overall and stayed there.

 

[Eggberto]

I did a Vancouver GM mode and I wanted to improve my goaltending because I didn't trust Markstrom and Lack, and drafted a 5 gold star goalie 1st overall. Literally the next season, Markstrom jumped to 88 overall and stayed there.

Markstrom won the vezina four seasons in a row for me and he's consistently put up .930 save percentages and basically a 2.00 gaa or less. Plus he's been on the all star team for the past five or six seasons

 

[Mike Martin]

How much does giving a player ice time at the NHL level when they are young impact their development?

 

[The Rage Kage]

I'm making it my mission to get a drafted goalie to 1000 games.

Sort if related to that, in one of my GM modes Lundqvist retired with 952 games played and he was 37 and still elite, no goalie would retire that close to 1000 games

 

[KuemperTantrum]

Drafted this player named Jason Henry 1st overall in 2018, he came out of the draft an 82 5 star yellow LW sniper. He's the first 5 star player I've seen in this game, and I've done atleast 6 or 7 GMs the full 25 years. I let him sit in junior for one season, and then he came in to the NHL at 90 overall.

Had a decent rookie season, 27 goals and 70 points playing alongside Crosby, but his second season he destroyed. He scored 56 goals and 107 points, while my team had 4 players with 90+ points. Crosby had 28 goals and 101 points, Nylander had 46 goals and 92 points, and Soper, some 2nd round pick in 2015, scored 30 goals and 91 points. Nylander and Soper were both on my second line.

We also finished the season 63-14-5.

 

[The Nuge]

Did you give him 50-60 games played the whole time? I'm not in the most recent roster update so that may be why

It was my old Florida GM that I started back in like November. I tried to have him as my starter for 2 years, before San Jose let their potential star, 21 year old, 4.5 star goalie go to free agency, and came in as an 87 overall

 

[ShootIt]

Yah, if it isn't actually going to change them permanently then why bother

Never saw any stat growth in any player except for Kulikov. He went from a 84 to a 93...Then dropped to an 82 the following year.

Talk about a buzz kill.

 

[Dagistitsyn]

Never saw any stat growth in any player except for Kulikov. He went from a 84 to a 93...Then dropped to an 82 the following year.

Talk about a buzz kill.

Dropped from a 93 to an 82 in one year? WTF. How old was he at this point? That doesn't make any sense

 

[Engebretson]

I've seen this name brought up a few times before, but Reid Boucher is a pretty amazing pickup. He's currently the 2nd line LW in my 2016-17 season and 85 OVR. Scored 53 goals and 92 points on the second line with Granlund and Coyle. I think I got him the year before for Niederreiter straight up. Highly recommend.