NHL 23 Franchise/Season Discussion Thread

[kinsmen7]

Every year this is my favourite thread on the MLB the Show forum. I get a great kick out of seeing how others are rolling through their franchises, and enjoy reading the experience, decisions and tinkering of other franchise/season players.

This year, I've settled on creating an expansion team, and am bringing the Nordiques back to Quebec City!

It's going to be a bit wonky at the start, mainly because I'll have a flurry of early offseason moves since my intention is to try and load up on future picks, while also trying to remain *reasonably* competitive.

I'm playing on PS4, Superstar w/6 min periods.

A few house rules:
-Can only draft 3 players under 23
-Cannot draft recent UFA signings
-Must be cap compliant by opening night

Looking forward to reading everyones experiences!

[kinsmen7]

Quebec Nordiques Expansion Draft

ANA: Anthony Stolarz
ARI: Connor Timmins
BOS: Matt Grzelyck
BUF: Zemgus Girgensons
CAL: Adam Ruzicka
CAR: Max Paccioretty
CHI: Reese Johnson
COL: Sam Girard
CBJ: Emil Bemstrom
DAL: Thomas Harley (U23)
DET: Jakub Vrana
EDM: Stuart Skinner
FLA: Aleksi Hepponiemi
LAK: Alex Iafallo
MIN: Jonas Brodin
MTL: Cayden Primeau (U23)
NSH: Dante Fabbro
NJD: Jesper Boqvist
NYI: Scott Mayfield
NYR: Vitali Kravtsov
OTT: Alex Formenton
PHI: Ryan Ellis
PIT: Alex Nylander
SJS: Noah Gregor
STL: Joel Hofer (U23)
TBL: Ross Colton
TOR: Justin Holl
VAN: Luke Schenn
VGK: Nick Hague
WSH: Lars Eller
WPG: Axel Jonsson Fjallby

Sitting just under the salary cap floor of $61 mil, meaning this obviously won't be my opening night roster. Went with 2 under-23 goalies to try to build up the future between the pipes a bit, and was pretty surprised that Harley was available in Dallas.

Looking forward, my intention is to shuffle the roster around a bit and take on some cap dumps w/picks. I'd say my number 1 trade target needs to be a center. Going to look into Jonathan Toews, who would fix my cap issues, and if he produces his value should jump significantly at the deadline if I'm out of it (that's the expectation), especially with 50% retention. Will also try to add a goaltender on an expiring contract to hold me over for the year.

[PernellKarl076]

Good thread there kinsmen !

The only thing wrong I see with your team, is that you only have 1 player that was born in Quebec… Not gonna go well with the Nordiques fans, lol 😂

Samuel Girard will have to answer most of the reporters questions 😉

[kinsmen7]

Quote: Originally Posted by PernellKarl076

Good thread there kinsmen ! The only thing wrong I see with your team, is that you only have 1 player that was born in Quebec… Not gonna go well with the Nordiques fans, lol 😂 Samuel Girard will have to answer most of the reporters questions 😉

Hahaha, don't worry...I made a couple of deals last night and brought in a couple of Frenchmen. Girard is obviously the Captain PLUS, it'll be funny to have Patches playing against the Habs on a regular basis.

Pretty wild start though, and I'll update the next time I'm around my PS4, but after making a bunch of roster adjustments I've got something along the lines of 6 picks in the first 2 rounds of the 2023 draft (I used my 3rd-7th rounders in the first draft to even out some deals that brought back 2023 picks), and my roster looks a LOT more like a 90/2000's era expansion team, instead of the Vegas (and to a lesser extent, Seattle) formula.

My basic plan is to remain competitive leading up to the deadline and see where I'm at. Hard to build a solid foundation right off the bat, because none of the picks/prospects that I've acquired are NHL ready (though I picked a RD @5OA in the draft that looks like he's got a solid ceiling...going to leave him unsigned until the spring though).

[kinsmen7]

Nordiques announce opening night lineup

Paccioretty-Toews-Puljujarvi
Formenton-Boqvist-Vrana
Beauvillier-Bemstrom-Kravtsov
Colton-Girgensons-Gregor

Girard-Spence
Hague-Ellis
Harley-Fabbro

Stolarz
Quick

Scratches: Timmins, Grimaldi, Jonsson-Fjallby

Quebec City kicks off it's season with a 6 game road trip, starting in Philadelphia on October 11th.

[kinsmen7]

Nordiques kick off season with win against Flyers

Max Paccioretty scored a hatrick in his Nordiques debut, and Quebec City battled back twice before taking care of the Flyers in their inaugural game.

Nick Deslaurier kicked off the scoring for the Flyers, who also added another goal scored by Joel Farabee.

The Nordiques, who trailed 1-0 and 2-1, responded both times with goals from Paccioretty, who also put them up for good with 18 seconds left in the second period.

Goals from Jesper Boqvist and Vitali Kravtsov in the 3rd sealed the deal as Quebec City starts 1-0-0.

The Nordique controlled the play most of the night, outshooting the Flyers 34-19, handing Anthony Stolarz his first win of the season between the pipes.

Quebec continues their 6 game road trip with a game in Vancouver on Friday.

[kinsmen7]

Canucks blow 3 goal lead, Nordiques jump out to 2-0-0 start

36 year old Nordiques goaltender Jonathan Quick put on a vintage display in Vancouver on Friday night. The 2012 Conn Smythe winner stopped 33 of 36 shots to hold off an upstart Canucks team, helping Quebec City continue their winning ways.

Quick, who won two Stanley Cups with the Kings, was one of the pieces acquired when the Nordiques returned Alex Iafallo to LA.

Vancouver jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first, with goals from Connor Garland and Bo Horvat, as they dominated the period outshooting Quebec 11-4.

Andrei Kuzmenko scored his first career goal early in the 2nd, putting the Canucks up 3-0.

Vitali Kravtsov's goal in the final minute of the period seemed to swing momentum in the Nordiques favour though, as Jonathan Toews scored his first of the year 34 seconds into the 3rd, putting Quebec City right back in the game.

Zemgus Girgensons, who scored 10 goals for the Sabres last year, took over 13 minutes into the final frame, with an incredible wraparound goal.

Quick, who had locked the door throughout the second half of the game, made 3 huge saves to help kill off an ill-timed powerplay in overtime, leading to the first shootout in Nordiques history.

With the game on the line in the shootout, Quick would stand tall again, stopping all 6 shooters that he faced, with Ryan Ellis scoring the lone goal for Quebec City.

The Nordiques continue their 6 game roadtrip on Monday, when they face the new-look Detroit Red Wings and Calder trophy winner Moritz Seider.

[PernellKarl076]

Great stuff !

Are you actually playing the games or simming them ? Also when you do a new team (old) in the Nords case, what’s your jerseys situation ?