NHL 23 Franchise Wishlist!
So I throw this out there every year, and sometimes maybe someone reads it and an update gets made (I was throwing Create a Team out there for years back in the early 2000s, and they finally added it...
Forum Discussion
As someone who plays a lot of franchise mode, there are many things I want to see done in NHL 23 Franchise. Firstly, the biggest thing is that devs at EA actually pay attention to the problems that exist within the mode. If that happens, this game mode might not become mind numbingly boring quite quickly.
1- The ability to edit NHL team jerseys in franchise, or even in the main menu. Whether it's the colour scheme or the jersey template, it would be cool to change some of them to have some variety in the game. This could also (potentially) help with some of the errors that we find every year.
2- Faster simulation and menus. It's been a problem for a while and needs to be fixed (I'm on PS4 so this could have been rectified on old gen but I don't know).
3- Bring in the NCAA/NTDP/KHL leagues. I understand that there is a rights issue, but it would be great to have these leagues in the game. Not only would it bring in actual prospects (Owen Power, Kent Johnson, Matvei Michkov, etc.), but it could also bring in Undrafted Free Agents from those leagues (Panarin, Shipachyov, etc.).
4- Better custom logos, or the ability to create logos or have a created logo vault from the community.
5- No-Trade and No-Move Clauses, and the modified versions of them
6- Have players request trades in-season. I know that morale has an impact on this, but the morale system has been so broken that I don't trust it to even try it. Either way, if players requesting trades is added, I feel that their trade value should be lowered the longer you hold onto the player, or even have the effort the player puts into their play get lower the longer they stay on the team (see Dubois).
7- Having the ability to edit draft classes, and having custom draft class vaults.
8- Real NHL coaches. We have the players and teams, why don't we have the coaches?
9- HHOF inductees at the end of each season would be cool
10- Ability to retire numbers, get it done.
11- Some form of advanced analytics would be a great addition, and would add another element to franchise and what kind of GM you want to be and what team you want to build. These analytics don't need to be anything huge, "simple" ones like Corsi, xGF, xSV% would be cool
12- Free Agency needs a revamp. Simple as that. If it's similar to the trade deadline, that's fine, but it needs to be different. Most contracts are signed on the first day of FA, yet in Franchise mode, most players don't start signing until July 5/6/7
13- Conditional picks in trades would be a great addition, especially since they're becoming more common in real trades
14- Make adjustments to the trade value. It was a good idea to revamp it, but there are a few criticisms I have for it: young players don't have enough value being the main one
15- bring back elite forward and defenceman player types
Other things I want to see added to NHL 23 include the following;
-player tendencies: Claude Giroux should not be hitting 300 shots on goal in a season with Sean Couturier not even hitting 200. Created players also have their shot tendency jacked, so if you want a college/international prospect, they are going to hit 300 shots every year regardless of position.
-dual archetypes: X-Factor is cool, but I would really like to have the ability to have more than the standard sniper/playmaker/2-way forward, some of my suggestions,
- Pure Playmaker/Sniper
- Playmaking Sniper/Sniping Playmaker
- Offensive/Defensive Two-Way Forward/Grinder
- Pure OFD/DFD
- Offensive/Defensive Two-Way Defender
- more face scans, simple
- winter classic/WJC/Olympics/World Championship (again rights issue with IIHF, but would be a cool element in the game)
- Custom Goalie masks
- Larger spread of overalls, and a minor revamp of how overalls are constructed. Have McDavid as a 99 and work your way down.
- maybe consider having players be able to have individual statistics above 99, ex: giving McDavid 103 speed, Alex Ovechkin 105 shot accuracy, or Patrick Marleau 110 durability. This is not something that should be easily acquired by players, but could help impact gameplay/simulation when combined with X-Factors.
- also, have defenceman and forwards have separate overall builds. Connor Bedard should not be a 69 overall defenceman when he's a 72 overall forward
- Lastly, I'd like to see either new commentators or (my preferred option), multiple broadcast crews, each with their own unique lines. This could be a multi-year plan by adding a crew in every year, or add them all in at once
I would love this idea in the game 🧠
Every Franchise play can be different based on circumstances (draft, trades, development, regression) that arise during play.
1) Customizable NHL/AHL Coaching Staffs at time of Expansion Team creation.
a) Select the exact strategies you want your NHL team to play and have the game generate a Head Coach that matches.
b) Select the type of coaches to fill the staff.Repeat for AHL team.
In addition,
c) choose whether the AHL Coaching staff will focus on Player Development or Winning or a combination of the two.2) Flexible Player Positions
Each player begins with their positions on the default or custom Rosters loaded at the creation of the mode.
The player begins with grayed out positions for Even Strength (5 on 5) C LW RW LD RD, Power Play C LW RW LD RD, Short-Handed C W LD RD, and Special (4 on 4, 3 on 3) C W LD RD.
Each position has two scales. A Color-coded position letter and a color-coded ability meter over or under the letter.
a) Position Capable - The player has played the position. Based solely on playing time. Scale from Never to Often.
b) Playing Ability - How well the player plays the position. Based solely on stats. Scale from Poorly to Excellent.A player's position can become Inactive if not played for a certain number of team games (82, 164, 246). Inactive positions lose ability progress.
Differentiate between an Inactive position and a Never Played position
Light Gray - Inactive
Dark Gray - Never PlayedScouting implications
-Who can play multiple positions well?
-Who can play all 3 forwards positions?
-Who plays the Power Play?
-What Forwards can play the point?
-Who plays Short-Handed?
-Who plays all game situations?
-Hidden Gem or Fool's Gold? A Rarely played position having Excellent ability.Main Positions can change over time two ways
1) Based on playing time - When majority playing time becomes a different position.
2) Develop as... - Choose to have a player develop at a specific position. That position immediately becomes the Main Position.
a) After an injury replacement
b) Midseason acquisition - this will impact every franchise play. Acquire C Jack Eichel and move Nicholas Roy to RW or Chandler Stephenson to LW?
c) a yearlong trial between 2 positions
d) after the draft - Draft the Best Player Available and move an established player or the player you just drafted to a new position
e) during Free Agency
f) The Offseason Program3) Flexible Player Types
Changes less often than player positions but can change. A player who plays with a passer and gets a lot of shots develops into a Sniper. A playmaker who plays a defensive role for too long becomes a checker and PKer.
Skilled prospects bust and become role players. Role players who get an opportunity become more competent offensively.4) Flexible Strategies - Emphasizes the different relationships between coaches and players. Greatly affects drafting strategy of scheme fit or best player available.
a) Players Coach-ability - Affects whether a player can change their strategies and by how much. Scale from None to All.
b) Coaches Player-Friendly - Affects whether a coach can change their strategies and by how much to suit their roster. Scale from None to All.5) Discuss Offseason Program with each player and fully customize a plan.
-Change main position?
-Work on specific skills? Skating, Puck Skills, Shot, Faceoffs
-Focus on fitness level? Add Weight, Shed Weight, Endurance, StrengthFocus on One area, Multiple areas, or Overall and what % of the offseason for each?
Gives advantage to a GM that plans well. Gets a head start at developing position specific attributes heading into Training Camp. Player morale changes if prepared for a new main position or on the fly during camp or in-season. Trade uncooperative players. Fire uncooperative coaches.
6) Power Play Positioning - The Center is not necessarily the Net Front Presence.
In the Roster Depth Chart, select who takes the Faceoff and select the Net Front Presence. During Gameplay the Center takes the faceoff and then exchanges position with the Net Front Presence.7) Stats
- Blocked Shots, Extended Stats, and Fights listed with the main, and on the Player's Career Totals
- Season Stats for all players who appeared in at least 1 game during the year8) Franchise Stat Book.
-Similar to all the stats sites of hockey and other sports. Year-by-Year, Record, Playoff Performance, Best Player, Head Coaches. Click on the year and get the stats of every player with at least 1 game played that year.
In addition to a year-by-year listing, have a total Franchise Stats listing for every player who appeared in at least 1 game during the Franchise's 25 year or less history.9) Hall of Fame for League and Team
10) Retired Jerseys
11) Captain Combinations
C, A
C, A, A
C, A, A, A
A, A
A, A, AEach letter broken down to either All Games, Home Games Only, or Away Games Only.
A very great list!! 🙂
Want to have Stanley cup banner celebration. And ability to cut a player during franchise season.
DANG, I just read your list and you have a masterful idea! The only thing that I would like to add to that, is the ability to adjust the attributes of the player and edit positions to make it fully editable from year to year! Especially if a coach retires or you want to move on from a coach, you can edit his schemes to fit your current roster
I’m not a huge NBA fan, but I enjoyed playing NBA2k18-22 because you could add up to 6 teams throughout the franchise mode. In a 25 year franchise there should be at least 4 more teams and we must have that ability to add and create them. I also think we need to be able to toggle back and forth between franchises. If in year one I want to be the of MTL and I feel like trading for Shane Wright in year 3 and offering Seattle a 7th round pick for him, well I should be able to force that trade, or if I want to load up on team with all the 1st round picks then I should be able to control every team and do just that. Not allowing us the consumer to do this just ruins the fun aspect of creating our own versions of what we want our hockey league to look like. I get frustrated with EA SPORTS considering they are allowing Madden players to edit everything in a franchise mode and the hockey is and afterthought.
@EA_Blueberry please please help us out! These aren’t important to everyone, but they are important to a majority of us who faithfully spend our hard earned money on the game only to be disappointed with the gameplay year to year!
