NHL 25 RATINGS

Wether or not those numbers are final, it sure makes one wonder how they are decided.

I wish it made some sense and could be explained, but it just can't. Well, I think most players are adjusted for their total to be where they want it to be, since the offensive and defensive awareness are the skills that most effect the total. So I get the feeling that the strongest skill might be at the right level, while the other is simply put where it needs to be for the player to be a 90, 91 or whatever.

I always adjust this myself before I start playing (using JFresh player cards). I just can't stand when fast players are not fast, players with confirmed hard shots are just average (because they are average or below average as a player). The game is so much more fun when players have their strengths and weaknesses.

"Ratings reveals" are designed to increase engagement. EA knows that people will argue and dispute them, which drives visits to their socials, the forums, etc. Whether the ratings discussions are negative or not, EA doesn't care - all they care about is you're talking about the game and remaining engaged through this depleted marketing campaign. 

EA has a full team of professional scouts, but ok keep going on 

The full player ratings list won't be available for a few days yet. Tues is D-men, Wed Goalies, Thurs complete list. As for them watching hockey, yeah, betting a lot of these guys don't, likely just watch clips and read a bit about various players to get a feel for what to rate a player. I could be wrong on that one. On that note however, some players seem better than they are due to who they are placed with on lines. Hyman, if not on a line with McD and Draisaitl, likely isn't putting up those points, so he would not be rated as high as others, same with Bouchard, whom I am guessing they will rate high, but if he isn't paired with Ekholm, and given a lot of minutes with the McD line, also likely not as good as he seems. So players ratings are more on individual effort, over how they are when paired with higher skill players. Playing a bit of devil's advocate here, but also being realistic. I can't speak for every aspect of their ratings, and it would actually be interesting for them to break down how they decide on ratings in different areas. I don't see that happening though, as they have provided hardly any info at all into anything.