NHL 26 WISHLIST

So I throw this out there every year, and sometimes maybe someone reads it and an update gets made (I suggested the Cup handoff-selection option years ago, and while I know they didn’t add it because of me, it felt like a win. And P.S., showing the names etched on the Stanley Cup at the end of the season might be my single favorite update ever!).

Player Editing: We should be able to edit CPU-created players in Franchise Mode. Especially now that they've blocked being able to change Player Roles or Position (which we used to be able to edit). You luck out with a draft pick who's a Medium-Elite at 18, but his potential is an Elite Grinder? What even is that? And too often they have these goofy hairdos, or are 19 and grey already, or you can wind up with three draft prospects that have the same default face. We should at least have the same edit access that we do at the Main Menu level (add a Second Position, change a Playmaker to a Two-Way as they age). 

The Draft: I still don’t get why we can’t just see players’ ratings like you can in the Main Menu’s Rosters section. So before you start a Mode, you can see that a Junior player is a 62 Medium-Top 6, but on Draft Day it’s a bunch of question marks and “Possible” Top 6? You can see exact ratings in Free Agency, why not on draft day? I auto draft every time because it doesn’t matter what criteria I try and go by, they never work out. I turn off Fog of War for this reason, it should extend to draft picks.

With the new option of Head Coach Hiring/Firing, and adding in actual HC likenesses, the game has sadly gone the way that Madden used to be: showing the Coach on the sideline going through the same animated responses, during Grudge Matches and Playoff Games. We should be able to click through this, like we can with goal celebrations. As it is, I have to pause to get past it, and have had the game crash when I return to play (despite having been forced to upgrade from an Xbox One, just for the NHL 25 release). 

Can we get AHL Career Totals? I know the game keeps track of them, as they show when the player hits a milestone, so why not display a running total under Career Stats? I'll get 10 years into Franchise Mode and some career AHLers will retire and nothing. You play 1,000 AHL Games…that’s something. 

Ability to decide awards: Too often, in Franchise Mode, if you’re playing your best players to pad stats, you’ll win the Hart or Norris every year, even though another player would be the obvious choice. It would be great to decide winners so that the highest scoring defenseman doesn’t win the Norris every year, or the Hart going hand-in-hand with the Art Ross more often than not, or Connor McDavid winning the Selke based on whatever algorithm they’re using.

Choose retirements/unretire: I play Franchise Mode with Auto Save off so I can choose to accept who's retiring. I’ve had the game try and retire 26-year-old minor leaguers who had no injury history (something Madden actually takes into consideration), and I’ve had the game retire Ovechkin with 996 Goals and an Overall 86 Rating. It would be great to be able to deselect (or reactivate) from the proposed list shown on View Retired Players.

It would also be fun to elect retiring players to the HHOF, and Retire Jersey Numbers for your team with Franchise Mode. Pipe dreams, I know, but still…this is a wishlist. And while we’re at it, a banner raising ceremony at the start of the season following a Cup win?

Franchise (Owner) Mode used to have a screen that displayed your team’s seasons, so you could see your history: 103 Points, Third Round; 98 Points, Lost Final; etc. I’d like to see that back.

Winter Classic: I miss the Winter Classic venue they created a few years back. You could only play a single game, but wouldn't it be awesome if the team you select in Franchise Mode got to play the Winter Classic every year? Just make it the first game you play in January and you get that outdoor setting with weather selections like they have in Madden, or just default cloudy skies with flurries. They used to have the All-Star Game jammed in there, so can't they just use that same approach for the Classic?

Anyway, maybe the CEO will read this and realize all my genius suggestions, but most likely we’ll just get NHL 26 with different Main Menu colors.