In BAP form scores are useless.
So I have found the it doesn't matter what your playstyle is for your player the only way to keep your form score up is to score goals and win. I play games where I'm graded a B+ because I didn't score. Form score drops. And why does simulating destroy your form score? Doesn't matter your overall. You don't play your games, your form score is toast. The no sim penalty setting doesn't work for crap either.
Big BAP problems
There seems to be few big issues with BAP this year. When I play as a goalie, my team (Stars) can't score more than max 2 goals a game. Skaters make weak shots, if they even are able to make the shot. Slap shots which they take in stupid situations especially take for ever and the puck is usually picked by opponent. If they can make some weak shot they are hitting the posts in a rate that is ridiculous. Defence makes so many own goals (both ends) that it just kills immersion. After 80% of rebounds they try either move the puck to a goalie who is still recovering from the save. Sometimes they just shoot the puck against goalie and if the puck is free on the crease the own defender is the biggest threat. After one season as a goalie I've yet to see any saved situation by my defenders but dozens of own goals. Pass interceptions by opponents are ridiculous when I play as a skater. It doesn't matter if opponents are facing the puck or not, they will intercept every puck without even seeing the pass. They never miss. They must have some kind of bat radar? Whereas BAP player development was maybe a bit slow grind in previous games, now it is too fast. After one season, I'm already OVR 94 goalie... Sure I took the starter position at the latter half, won Stanley cup and received Conn Smythe but still. Ceiling is coming on very quickly. P.S. Last update 1.2.0 Improved many things. Form Score improvements and play time adjustments in lower lines was great improvement. NHL Goalie Jerseys got a bit better. They a still pretty hideous but a LOT better than they were. So thank you for those EA. Now try to balance the game play in BAP Skater and BAP Golie and I will be a happy camper since the core BAP game (I never play any other mode so I wouldn't know their problems) is a big improvement from last year.
Full Pay to Win
You guys really made a broken overpowered build that has both perks and stats which are unobtainable for free builds and the ONLY WAY to get the build is to PAY MONEY TO EA. DISGUSTING. Ive been a top player each year and I wont be purchasing next year if this structure remains. Game is just being soullessly destroyed.
Goalie Create a Player option request - Vintage and no mask options please!
With the sale of EA Sports, who knows what is in store for this franchise now. Because next year is anyone's guess, is there any way you could add the option to have no goalie mask (like some Alumni goalies within the game) and the option to use one of two vintage goalie masks within the create a player section for goalies? I've inserted pics of the two masks that some of the Alumni goalies wear (that are included with the game). Please add these to the masks available within the create a player section. The community has been asking for this option for many years. I politely ask again to have this added to a future patch. You gave us the no helmet option for players last year so I was sure we'd get this for goalies within NHL 26. I was bummed that these options weren't included. It's frustrating that we can't have the no mask option along with at least two vintage goalie masks when creating other Alumni goalies not included within the game as it was released. Thank you in advance for your consideration! Much appreciated!
HUT champs - what will be the last week? (impact on trophy Best Of The Best)
Hello EA_Aljo, we are currently in week 51 of HUT champs. Will the week 52 be the last one? I am asking because NHL26 includes trophy Best Of The Best (Play a game in HUT Champions) and the trophy could be unobtainable in roughly 10 days if the week 52 will be the last HUT champs week. Thank you in advance
Wishlist from an offline-only hardcore player
Disclaimer: I only play Franchise Mode, Play Now and Be A Pro (a bit) so if things are missing, go ahead and make your own wishlist New Options Mascots on/off X X-Factor on/off X Pressure System on/off X Pressure System board graphics on/off X New Features (General, Franchise Mode & Be A Pro) Make skaters glide more both in user controlled and cpu controlled state. They stop like the ground surface is gravel CONFIRMED Make superstar cpu defenders react harder on opposition forwards cutting into the slot. (Quick flick right stick right to left or vice versa). Right now it's very overpowered to skate fast along the boards and then deke/cut in to the slot to expose defenders and goalie. It result in a goal about 50% of the times, even with goalie sliders set to 100/100 X In older games some players like Patrick Kane was really fun and reactive to manual deke with. Today it's much less creative and more bound to sequenced animations (click button > deke animation plays). It was really fun in Shootout Mode online. People created youtube videos and shared their deking skill with others much more. A good balance between now vs then (nhl 12-14) X Goalies should stop more simple dekes like backhand forehand dekes at a higher rate X THIS IS STILL NOT FIXED CONFIRMED THROUGH TRAILER/ARTICLE New custom jerseys and logotypes in create a team X You removed the ability to edit created team during post season in Franchise Mode? Why? BRING IT BACK Updated standard goalie masks (all modes where you can edit players) X Increased length of handshake line after completed playoffs series, right now it's about 3-5 seconds long X More replays showing close-up player reactions to near goals, shot blocks leading to pain, etc X Store Stanley Cup winner team picture to watch later through the menus (if the user won) X Tunnel walkout cutscene during playoffs in Franchise Mode CONFIRMED Let users customize hairstyle and eyebrows in Franchise Mode X Present starting goalies in game intro CONFIRMED Present and compare the two team's top players in game intro (can be based on career stat if veteran players or current season stat for others, milestones, etc), like in a real broadcast X NOT ADDED CONFIRMED THROUGH TRAILER/ARTICLE Three stars of the game cutscene after a game X Show team walk out from tunnel and crowd reactions during game intros CONFIRMED Updated crowd models and animations (also fix the crowd clapping with freezed towels in playoffs). CONFIRMED The outdoor settings/rinks are incredible in pro-am/woc, make use of them in franchise and be a pro (some event or something) X Team practice in Franchise Mode and Be A Pro (maybe outdoor practice during post-season?) X Outdoor Stadium games X Stop showing promo popups in main menu, it is very frustrating and makes most of us wanting to stay away from online modes even more X Remove female refs in men's leagues X Add more grit to how players interact with each other (yelling at ref or opposition, talking trash, etc) NOT REALLY A THING, EA ADDED SOME YAPPING PLAYER MOUTH ANIMATION IN PENALTY CUTSCENES UI panel showing last game three stars and game result in Franchise mode and BAP (right now you have to navigate a lot to see that - box score) X Generate 3D headshots for all auto generated players in Franchise Mode (add option to enable/disable when starting a franchise). It's ok if this takes a long time generating each season, but if it slow down menus, then maybe not worth it X PC release would be great X More context after goal scored. Next whistle talk about or show graphic for the goal scorer and cut to player in camera. Context could for example be: "1st goal after 5 games cold scoring streak", "1st point after returning from injury", etc X More random timing for when cpu coach pulls the goalie. Right now cpu opposition coach pull goalie with around 00:50 left in the period. Also only if they are losing with min 1 goal or max 2 goals SEMI-CONFIRMED OPPOSITION COACH NOW CALL TIMEOUTS BUT HAS NOT YET CONFIRMED PULL GOALIE TIMINGS In goal replays, remove the slowmotion to real-time in the middle of the replay. It doesn't look that good, we do not need fancy hollywood effects and a giant blue marker highlighting the puck, we see it anyway. Same with X-factor replays, but at least we can turn those off. X EDIT (ADDED JULY 18TH 2026): Added green labels to improvements that seems to be in NHL 27 EDIT (ADDED SEPTEMBER 9TH 2026): Added green labels to improvements that seems to be in NHL 27 and corrected things confirmed not being in the game after I played the trial. Added X to items confirmed not being in NHL 27 Fixes Fix poor positioning of cpu teammates blocking slap shots from the blue line NOT CONFIRMED Fix slow update of header player information (large headshot with name and other info) when hovering players in lineups, player lists, etc in Franchise Mode X Fix lag occurring with 1 minute left in each period X Still can feel it but it's less lag now Fix show mascot on/off in create a team (it's always on in-game, even if saved "off" in create a team for expansion draft in Franchise Mode) NOT CONFIRMED Fix mascot drumming cutting off arena music during faceoffs CONFIRMED Improve coaches body models and fix clipping of glasses (for example Dan Muse) CONFIRMED Tune hitting to be more realistic. If players are prepared for a hit, then don't make them go down this easily as now. Same with players getting hit into the bench, happens too much now. X System & Experience System: Xbox Series X Experience: Owned every NHL game since NHL 2000 I play with sliders set to punish my own players and be in favor of the cpu players. Standard Superstar AI is no match. Which I hope future games will change I also want to say that I enjoy the presentation added in NHL 26, but patches this release has been underwhelming
Issues with gameplay
Frustrated with Issues and Goalie AI in NHL 26 The current state of NHL 26 has major issues. Instead of fixing core gameplay problems that have plagued this series for years, the focus has shifted to adding new features while ignoring fundamental flaws. Here are the main issues that need to be addressed: * **Goalie AI & Performance:** Goalie tuning is incredibly inconsistent. Poor goalie positioning and flawed logic frequently break the gameplay experience. * **Glitch Goals:** Repeatable, exploit-based goals continue to ruin competitive play. These legacy exploits should have been patched long ago, yet they remain completely unaddressed. * **Misplaced Priorities:** It is incredibly frustrating to see new features introduced when the foundational gameplay mechanics are still broken or outdated. If these core gameplay issues aren't prioritized and fixed, there is no justification for buying NHL 27. The game needs fundamental fixes, not more additions.
Bring NHL to PC already!
How is it possible that EA has FC, Madden and basically every other major sports franchise on PC, but NHL is still missing? PC players have been asking for NHL for years. We already have cross-play, modern anti-cheat technology exists, and PCs today are more than capable of running the game. I don't want to buy an Xbox or PlayStation just to play one EA Sports game. I want to buy NHL on PC, play it natively, and use my own hardware. Please stop giving PC players the same excuse every year and actually bring NHL to PC. There is clearly demand for it. We want NHL on PC.
