How Drafts Should Work in Future NHL Titles for Franchise Mode

One thing that annoys the heck out of me is just how poorly done the draft system is in this game and this next year looks no different. 

Currently you send our scouts to examine players and they come back with their findings of potential and a few other small things. They tell you where they're positioned in the draft and then those positions are pretty hard set as to where they will be drafted. It makes drafting superstar players ridiculously easy and nothing close to real life.

It's not realistic.

Here's how it should go: 

You have a team of scouts (you could keep it the same way as 24 as well where the salary defines typically how good the scout is alongside their rating) and they go to scout the players. But what should happen instead of getting hard potentials is they come up with more ambiguous details on the players. 

Example: 

Scout #1: Joe Blow has a great shot, maybe not NHL ready but the potential is there. It's a hard release but could be a bit more accurate at times. His skating is average for his class but has a good stride, just lacks a bit of power in his acceleration but in a straight line he's fine. His hands are decent. He's a bit undersized but plays larger than he is. Average hockey IQ. Sometimes is good at finding the open man but other times seems to have tunnel vision. Where he excels is defensively. Has the potential to be a middle six player if everything pans out. I'd try to snag him early second round.

Scout #2: Joe Blow is a two-way sniper through and through. Some of the way he scores his goals maybe isn't NHL ready though. Could be a better skater, overall pretty average stride. He sometimes tries to dangle too much under pressure. The kid definitely has grit, can take the puck to the net. Strong two-way game. I think he will be a top six forward. Likely going towards the end of the first round. 

Based on this scouting you'd deduct that he isn't a star player but has some potential offensively but is very reliable defensively. Probably a top 6 to top 9 player. You expect him to have a decent shot and good defensive metrics but average skating ability. It by no means says he's going at draft spot 21-23. It could be anywhere from pick 20-50 so if you really like him you'll try to snag him near 20 but if you're not interested be might be on your board by pick 70 if he falls. 

Here's another example...

Scout #1 (a good scout): Tom Thompson is definitely a top player of this draft class. He's a big body that uses it to drive to the net and he has a great set of hands to get the puck around the goaltender. For somebody so big his feet are extremely agile and he moves up ice quickly. He's great at punishing players on the forecheck but could use his stick a bit more effectively defensively. His passing is great which helped him tally so many assists this season. He is NHL ready in my eyes. If we can grab him by the third overall pick in the draft we may luck out and potentially grab the best player in the draft. His skills really translate the the NHL game I think he's going to be a top line forward for sure. 

Scout #2 (not a great scout): Tom Thompson is a big body that uses his hands to score goals near the crease effectively. Probably going within the top ten of the draft. Has good vision, skates well and hits like a truck. Might take a couple years to get into an NHL lineup. His shot is decent. Probably going to be a top six forward. 

Based on the level of scouting (whether they're good or bad in rating) will provide more information on the player, quicker information relayed to you the GM, and a stronger indication of where they may potentially go. Only top players should have a more finite guess on where they might project in the draft, and even then, have the draft be a bit more random. Have smaller players have the potential to fall in the draft and larger players potentially get drafted higher than what is expected. Drafts are very very random a lot of times and in the first round in the real life NHL there's usually at least 4 wild selections that are taken that really blows a lot of scouts' minds. Sometimes players that are more certain 3rd line players with little upside but high floors get taken in the middle of the first round, sometimes high potential picks end up falling quite a bit in the draft. Sometimes team interviews move players way up in drafts. There's so many random things that occur so the fact we get such overly detailed analysis of potential is crazy to me in NHL 24/25. 

I propose that you should have your scouts ranking (which gives a recommendation on where they think it's best to draft them) and then like in real life some other scouting agencies that provide draft rankings (and have that be more random too like in real life). 

Example:

Census team scouting position for Tom Thompson: Draft spot #2-#5 overall pick. (Can be broken down into each individual scout on your team). 

----

NHL.com ranking for Tom Thompson: #2

Central Scouting ranking: #4

Sportsnet ranking: #2

TSN ranking: #3

Consolidated Ranking: #3

We need a much better system that doesn't over reward you for having draft picks. Teams sometimes have 4 first round picks and maybe land 1 decent NHL player if they're lucky. There needs to be some more random gems in there too so if you spot a gem due to your scouting then you may want to move up to grab them or you might want to gamble and luck out and wait until the 3rd round to grab them at a steal. 

This is way more true to life and as the 1st round ends there's way more uncertainty and information available on each prospect on where they'll end up in the draft and in general scouting detail given to you. So say let's move on to a player that is going to be selected in the fifth round...

Scout #1 (bad scout): Bill Bremley has a great shot but has a lot to work on. His skating is above average but could use some work on his edges. Very good in a straight line however. Stats show his passing is about average for his age range. Saw only a few games but his defense seemed okay. Didn't blow me away. I'm guessing he will go in the later rounds of the draft. 

Scout #2: Bill Bremley might be a steal in this draft. He's a bit undersized so other teams might sleep on him. Has one of the best shots in the draft and is laser accurate. His one timer is exceptional. His skating holds him back a bit but his technique is there, just needs some time in the gym to get stronger. I saw this kid a lot this year and his passing is above average, his hands are above average but he really has great awareness offensively on the ice. He was stuck behind a great junior team so he didn't get as much ice time but I really think we have a top six forward here. If we can get him before the third round is done we will have a steal here. If he can improve his skating over time I think we really have an NHL player for years to come. 

Obviously the less you scout a player the less detailed a report but if you really dedicate your scouts to watch a player or league they're in it might pay off dividends. Scouts may hint over time the potential of the player and the certainty in that potential. Good scouts will give a better indication on the potential while bad scouts will give their guesses. Good scouts will be more accurate in guessing where they will end up in the draft (still won't always be accurate but at least a much higher percentage guess). 

It'll really make the draft challenging and fun. Give great joy when you land the player you want and also destroy your soul if a team steals your player when you don't want them to. The risk/reward of gambling to move higher up in the draft will add a great sense of realism. 

This overhaul of drafting would create the best drafting in any sports game yet and the funny thing is it's basically a rip off of a hockey simulator created well over a decade ago in Eastside Hockey Manager (a game that originally came out in 2001 and was really really polished in 2015). 

Make drafting fun again in franchise mode.