NHL 23 Franchise/Season Discussion Thread

[MizzouRah]

Quote: Originally Posted by TopSide83

Unfortunately all star default just isn’t for me. The game still moves a bit fast and the skating just feels arcadey. Didn’t see many penalties. The cpu offense was ok though and I did see some point shots. After using different sets of rosters I’ve realized it doesn’t matter if you have adjustments for the defenseman. Makes them play no different than default rosters

Definitely personal preference.. I'm probably going to have to turn up penalties, but I'll tweak during the preseason.

[stlstudios189]

In year 2 of my created team franchise.
My Indianapolis Green Demons are 27-3. I was 22-0 to start but have gone 5-3 recently with last night blowing a 2-0 lead with 2:40 left.

[Martini_Boy18]

I got NHL 23 for Christmas and have completed 5 seasons of my Anaheim Ducks Franchise through simming. I’ll just give brief updates of each season

2022-23
Before the season I traded Gibson and as the season progressed I traded any veteran with a pulse (Fowler, Henrique, Shattenkirk, etc.) to tank for Bedard. I had to sign FA veterans to large 1 year contracts to keep salary cap compliment, and was icing a below AHL level roster outside the top line of Terry, Zegras, McTavish and getting a +5 for Drysdale. We finished 3rd last in the league. San Jose won the draft lottery and we had the 4th Overall selection. I couldn’t let Bedard go to a hated division rival so I traded my next 4 1st Round picks to San Jose for Bedard. I also selected Sale 9th Overall, and got a lot of talent in the later rounds. Florida won the Stanley Cup over Winnipeg that season.

2023-24
With basically unlimited cap space and a lot of holes to fill in the lineup plus the added pressure of performing immediately so San Jose couldn’t win another Draft Lottery with my 1st Round pick, Anaheim made the bold move of signing Patrick Kane, Tarasenko, and Kuzmenko to bolster the offence. James Reimer was signed on a 1 year deal to be the starter with Stolarz until Dostal was NHL ready. The defensive core was still very weak so a Cup run was unexpected. The Ducks made the playoffs but lost in the first round to Calgary 4-1. In the Draft Anaheim made a trade for the 23rd Overall pick and selected Nicholas Irwin, a TWD from the U.S.A. and Gavin Hodnett, a Canadian C/LW from the Edmonton Oil Kings 29th OA. Vancouver beat Buffalo for the Stanley Cup. Bedard easily won the Calder and Coach Abdelkader won the Jack Adams.

2024-25
After a productive season, Anaheim resigned its Head Coach, and in free agency picked up some defensive reinforcements to better help the chemistry highlighted by Brett Pesce. Stolarz and Dostal were the goalie tandem. After a great season Anaheim finished 2nd in the Pacific behind the Presidents Trophy winning Oilers. After dispatching of Chicago in the first round of the playoffs, Anaheim swept the Oilers, defeated the Nashville Predators before losing the Stanley Cup Final to the Toronto Maple Leafs in 6 games (it should be noted that Matthews signed with Chicago in the 2024 Offseason). At the Draft Anaheim traded up to 7th Overall to select LW sniper Jordan Gavin of the Tri-City Americans.

2025-26
After coming so close the previous season Anaheim decided to go all out picking up veteran Victor Hedman on a one year deal for $14 M knowing in the off-season Bedard was up for a contract extension. The forward chemistry was insane with the top 3 lines having +5 and the D getting better as Zellweger and Irwin developed along Drysdale. Anaheim finished 2nd in the NHL after the 2 time Presidents Trophy winning Edmonton Oilers who the Ducks met in the 2nd Round. The Oilers triumphed over the Ducks after scoring the series winning goal short handed in overtime in Game 7. One of the most heartbreaking ways to end a season. In the Draft Anaheim selected RW sniper Jesse Buckley from the QMJHL 24th Overall.

[Martini_Boy18]

Anaheim Ducks 2026-27 Season

After a devastating 2nd round loss to the eventual Stanley Cup finalists Edmonton Oilers (lost to Buffalo in 7), and extending Rocket Richard winner Connor Bedard to a 8 year $11 M deal, the Ducks were looking forward to competing for their first Stanley Cup since 2007. Bedard also became team captain taking over for Corey Perry who retired after returning to captain the team after the 2022-23 season. The veteran core was back with the signing of Marchessault and trades made for Adam Pelech and Casey Mittelstadt. Gavin, Mintyukov, and Pastujov joined from the AHL. Dostal was the clear starter with Callie Clang as the backup. Every even strength line was +5 except for the 3rd D Pair, and all the power play lines were +5 as well

The Ducks easily won the Pacific Division with 100 points which was good for 6th Overall in the league. Bedard led the team in scoring with 94 points and both Bedard and Terry were top 10 in goals with 55 and 44 respectively. Zegras was 1 point off the NHL lead in assists with 69.

In the first round Anaheim had all they could handle from the Chicago Blackhawks but won the series in game 7. For the third season in a row Anaheim played the Oilers in the 2nd round taking the series in 6 games, avenging last years loss. The Ducks then played the Minnesota Wild in the Western Conference final in a repeat of 2003. On this occasion it took a late comeback in Game 7 with Gavin scoring with less than 2 minutes left to lead Anaheim 6-5 over the Wild. In the Stanley Cup Final Montreal was waiting, but was overpowered by the Ducks who lifted Lord Stanley’s Cup on the Bell Centre ice after a 4-1 series win! Connor Bedard won the Conn Smythe after leading the Ducks with 27 points in the playoffs and an amazing 11 in the 5 game Final! The San Diego Gulls captured the Calder Cup as well making it an organizational sweep in 2027! (Weirdly San Diego hadn’t made the playoffs until this season even though they had far superior teams to this one, but I did sign Ryan Suter as the AHL Coach in the off season so it must have been the difference). In the first round of the NHL Draft Anaheim moved up to 6th Overall to Draft defenseman Aleksander Kaminsky from Russia.

2027 Stanley Cup Champions Anaheim Ducks

Tarasenko-Zegras-Bedard
Terry-McTavish-Gavin
Perreault-Mittelstadt-P.Kane
Tracey-R.Suzuki-Pastujov
Marchessault

Irwin-Drysdale
Mintyukov-Pelech
Pesce-Zellweger
Knyzhov

Dostal
Clang

[Martini_Boy18]

2027-28 Anaheim Ducks season

The defending Stanley Cup champion Anaheim Ducks made a couple of changes in the off season as Patrick Kane was traded at the draft, so Eduard Sale was brought up from the AHL after dominating with the Gulls the previous season. Alex Wennberg was brought in on a cheap 1 year contract, and Isac Lundestrom returned after 2 seasons with the Flyers for depth. Contract extensions were given to McTavish for a 1 year $6.65 M bridge deal, Irwin on a 4 year $5.4 M deal, Pesce for a reduced 2 year $4.75 M deal backup goalie Clang for 1 year 1.6 M and Tracy for 3 years $1 M. Hrbal became the Ducks starter after letting Dostal leave in free agency and has 3 years left at under $1 M.

The Ducks dominated the beginning portion of the season with the Ducks and Oilers far ahead of everyone else in the league standings. However at the start of the new year a rash of injuries to Hrbal, Mittelstadt and several key defenders led to a few losses, but AHL starter Frederik Andersen came clutch in his few starts in the NHL with a .930 sv% and a shutout in 7 starts. Nothing was done at the trade deadline as the team was already stacked. A strong finish resulted in the Ducks finishing with a franchise record 129 points, 61 wins and a Presidents Trophy win. Jamie Drysdale won the Norris Trophy as the league’s best defenseman. Troy Terry finished second in the league in points with 111, 11 behind Connor McDavid. Bedard and Terry both finished top 10 in goals.

In the playoffs Anaheim again faced Chicago in the first round where they defeated the Auston Matthews led Blackhawks in a tight 7 game series. Next following a similar path to last season the Ducks beat the Oilers in 5 games. The road to the Stanley Cup Final once again past through Minnesota. The Wild took the first two games in Anaheim, but the Ducks leveled the series in Minnesota. The Wild won the next game on the road. Facing elimination the Ducks had a late comeback to force overtime where Connor Bedard scored the winner in overtime to force game 7. The Ducks took a 3-1 lead into the third period and was able to hold on 4-3 winning the series on home ice.

The Stanley Cup Final was against the 2026 Stanley Cup Champion Buffalo Sabres who finished third in the league overall. Anaheim won both games at home with Buffalo winning their home games. Buffalo took game 5 in overtime, and after tying late in game 6 forced another overtime period. Jordan Gavin came clutch to push the series to game 7. After two periods the score was tied 2-2. With a little over 3 minutes remaining fourth liner Brayden Tracey scored to put the Ducks up 3-2! An empty netter in the final seconds secured the victory as the Ducks became back to back Stanley Cup Champions! Connor Bedard won his second straight Conn Smythe Trophy even though Trevor Zegras had more points in the playoffs. The San Diego Gulls had a great season as well getting swept in the Calder Cup Final to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms

At the draft, The Ducks moved up to 20th Overall to take Jorgensen Stromberg, a playmaking RW from Brynas in the SHL, as well as Justin Pareis a RW from the Peterborough Pete’s 32nd Overall.

2027-28 Stanley Cup Champion Anaheim Ducks

Tarasenko-Zegras-Bedard
Terry-McTavish-Gavin
Perreault-Suzuki-Pastujov
Tracey-Mittelstadt-Sale
Wennberg-Lundestrom

Irwin-Drysdale
Pelech-Mintyukov
Pesce-Zellweger
Alexeyev

Hrbal
Clang

[Martini_Boy18]

2028-29 Anaheim Ducks season

The back to back Stanley Cup Champions didn’t have much business to do in the off season. Tarasenko was traded to the Avs to allow a spot to bring up Hodnett from the AHL. Can Fowler and Phillip Danault were brought in for injury depth, and Sonny Milano was brought up from the AHL as well.

The Ducks were the class of the Pacific Division slowly pulling away from the Vancouver Canucks as the season wore on. Hrabal had a string of injuries starting in November which caused him to miss large chunks of the regular season. Anaheim was quiet at the trade deadline with no updates to the team needed. The last few weeks of the season was noted for a large string of injuries to forwards such as McTavish, Zegras, Sale as well as d men Pesce and Pelech. The Ducks finished the regular season with 119 points enough to win the Pacific Division and the Presidents Trophy for the second year in a row. The Ducks cleaned up in the NHL awards with Bedard winning the Hart, Art Ross (107 points), Rocket Richard (60 goals), Ted Lindsay and Lady Byng. Drysdale won back to back Norris Trophies, Hodnett somehow won the Calder, Clang won the Vezina due to an insane 0.924 sv%, and the Ducks goalies shared the Jennings.

The playoffs started with a dud against the Nashville Predators with 2 home losses. The Ducks redeemed themselves by winning four straight and facing the Vancouver Canucks in round 2. The Ducks again lost the first game before winning the next 4 to advance to the Western Conference Final. Unfortunately they would be without Hrabal for the rest of the playoffs as he aggravated his injury in practice, and Sasha Pastujov who broke his leg. For the third season in a row Anaheim faced Minnesota in the Conference Final. After winning the home games Anaheim split the wins in Minnesota, lost game 5 big, but scored 3 unanswered in the 3rd period of game 6 to advance to their third consecutive Stanley Cup Final. Both Pelech and Pesce were injured in the series so Johnny Germyn was called up and he ended scoring the game winning goal in game 6.

The Ducks would play the New Jersey Devils in the Final, a repeat of the 2003 Cup Final. The Ducks would get an OT win in game 1, but lost the next 2 games to go down 2-1. Unfortunately Tracey and Ryan Suzuki would pick up injuries just as both Pelech and Pesce returned. Alexander Pashin, a Russian who ended up leading the AHL in scoring was called up. Anaheim would change the momentum winning the next 3 games big to win their 3rd consecutive Stanley Cup! Trevor Zegras would win the Conn Smythe Trophy after scoring 28 points in the post season. The Gulls lost to San Jose in the first round of the playoffs 4-3 after a 2nd place finish in the Pacific Division.

A big storyline throughout the season was if the Ducks were going to extend Terry or McTavish since they couldn’t afford both. Ultimately Terry was given a 4 year $8.9 M extension late in the season as McTavish was asking for way too much money after an excellent season. Ultimately he was traded at the NHL Draft to Toronto for the 11th overall pick. Pelech and Pesce were traded as well. Anaheim traded up to 4th overall to pick C Lars Obergauer of Farjestad of the SHL, a medium elite playmaker. With the 11th pick Anaheim took defensive defenseman Luis Bednar off the Schwenninger Wild Wings of the DEL. Anaheim traded up again to the 22 overall pick to select defensive defenseman Hayden Conley of the U.S.A. Later round draft steals include Thomas Tarvainen, Mason McKinlay, Stefan Johansen and Tiny Petan.

2028-29 Stanley Cup Champion Anaheim Ducks

Gavin-Zegras-Bedard
Sale-McTavish-Terry
Pashin-Hodnett-Perreault
Danault-Mittelstadt-Milano

Irwin-Drysdale
Pelech-Mintyukov
Pesce-Zellweger
Fowler-Germyn

Clang
Silvos

Suzuki-Tracey-Hrabal

[Martini_Boy18]

Anaheim Ducks 2029-30 Season

It wasn’t a busy off season for the three time defending Stanley Cup champions. The only players brought in during free agency was Gabriel Landeskog to replace Mittelstadt on the 4th line and Kuzmenko as he was asking for a 2 way contract. Perreault was given a 3 year $3 M extension before the start of the season, and Hrabal was given a 2 year $3 M extension. The biggest priority of the off season was resigning Abdelkader as head coach and find a new AHL head coach. Abdelkader was given a 5 year deal, and Ryan Suter was eventually resigned as the AHL head coach for 4 years. Pelech was resigned just before the start of preseason because his contract demands were too high during the summer. He was signed to a 1 year $3 M deal. Germyn, and first round pick Obergauer are the other new additions this season.

The Ducks got off to a slower start than usual, being behind the Seattle Kraken for most of the season in the Pacific division. In January Mintyukov and Clang got injuries that meant they would be out until the second round of the playoffs. Kaminsky was brought up for a few games from the Gulls to cover when Irwin also was hurt for a month. At the trade deadline Martin Fehervary was traded to the Ducks from Washington for a selection of picks and prospects for depth. The Ducks finished the year winning the Pacific Division with 105 points, finishing 4th overall in the league. Bedard finished top 10 in both goals (46) and points (92). Drysdale won his 3rd consecutive Norris Trophy. San Diego won their division for the first time ever.

The Ducks easily beat the Canucks in round 1 4-1 even without Mintyukov. San Jose was also beaten handily in 5 games. The Auston Matthews led Chicago Blackhawks followed in the Western Conference Final, but again the Ducks won in 5. After a 5 day wait the Ducks would face the Montreal Canadiens in the Stanley Cup Final for the second time in four years. Anaheim would take the first two games at home, then lose their next two games at the Bell Centre. An overtime win followed with the Ducks winning game 6 on the road 4-1 winning their 4th consecutive Stanley Cup over Montreal in 6 games! Connor Bedard won his 3rd Conn Smythe Trophy with the victory. Unfortunately Landeskog was injured after game 2 and could not celebrate with the rest of the team on the ice. San Diego strangely enough ended up playing Montreal’s AHL affiliate the Laval Rocket in the Calder Cup Final. The Gulls swept the Rocket to win their 2nd Calder Cup!

In the NHL Draft, Anaheim traded out of the first round due to no prospect’s having the profile the Ducks were looking for (seriously this was the worst draft I’ve ever seen, the top 11 picks were all TWF or TWD, and by the mid 30’s there was a constant stream of OVR’s in the 50’s). It wasn’t a great draft as none of the players selected in later rounds shown much promise.

2029-30 Stanley Cup Champions Anaheim Ducks

Gavin-Zegras-Bedard
Sale-Obergauer-Terry
Tracey-Hodnett-Pastujov
Kuzmenko-Suzuki-Perreault
Milano-Landeskog

Irwin-Drysdale
Pelech-Mintyukov
Zellweger-Germyn
Fehervary

Hrabal
Clang