Scouting/Drafting in Franchise Mode

[sccavs64]

Re: Scouting/Drafting in Franchise Mode

Thanks for the compliment.. I hate to read all the negative posts.. Those people that say the game is broken think they are playing in the real NHL. just drives me nuts.

My scouting system works for me and i hope it works out for you.. Trust me I find a GEM EVERY draft.

I just went finished 2022-2023 and my draft went like this

6 TOTAL PICKS

RD 1 #23 - LW - High Top 6 - 73 overall
RD 3 - #75 D - High Top 4 - 65 overal
RD 4 - # 103 - RW - High Top 9 - 64 overall
RD 4 - # 107 - C - Medium Elite - 65 overall (Faceoff Skill 70 - Speed 93) ***GEM***
RD 5 - # 128 - D - High Top 6 - 61 Overall
RD 7 - #200 - RW - High Top 6 - 60 Overall

I think thats an A+++ draft.. Everyone of those players will make the NHL someday!!!

Nice!!

I really think looking at speed/acceleration/agility is the way to go on later rounds. Unfortunately it's just a crap shoot as to whether or not any of these attributes get fully scouted or near fully scouted. Wish we had the option to scout specific prospects on trips, would make everything much easier.

[sccavs64]

Re: Scouting/Drafting in Franchise Mode

My overall scouting and drafting strategy:

1. Don't screw up my first round pick(s).
2. Trade down for "exact" players projected to go lower than my pick.
3. Scout for organizational needs by position.
4. Take chances in the later rounds.
5. Draft one goalie every year. Sign the ones that pan out.

The first place I go at the start of a new season is the "view draft class" panel, and I try to get an idea of where prospects are concentrated at each position by sorting the draft by "projected round." In the procedurally generated drafts after the first year, I usually find that one league (like the WHL) will have the majority of prospects initially projected to go in the first round. I'll send a scout to that league for at least month on forwards and defensemen, which will give me a pretty accurate picture of how to approach the first round regardless of where I end up picking (nothing worse than winning the lottery having not scouted any of the top-5 picks). In the first round, I'll usually take the player that I'm most certain is going to be good—regardless of position. If possible, I'll trade down to where they're projected to be drafted rather than take a risk on a player who's projected to go higher but who I haven't scouted fully.

The rest of my scouting will depend on my organizational needs and the way the prospects happen to be sorted that year. I try to alternate my draft emphasis between forwards and defensemen each year so I don't end up in a situation where all of my best forward prospects are ready but my defensemen are still 2 or 3 years away from the NHL. If I'm looking for defensemen this year, I'll send my scouts to leagues that have a lot of them projected to go in the early and middle rounds, where I'm more likely to find defensemen with elite and top-4 potential.

Usually my heavy scouting of a few leagues will identify an "exact" elite player or two who is projected to go outside of the first round. These are the players I make sure to draft, and I'll definitely reach for them. I'm pretty happy if I can come away from a draft with 2 or 3 players with low/medium elite/top-4 defensemen/top-6 forward.

My strategy is to take a flier every year on a goalie in the late rounds. If I really need one, I'll scout them a little bit but mostly it's a shotgun approach.

Have you had much luck with goalies? I've just simmed about 4-5 drafts and didn't find anybody worth taking outside of the top 5

[BigBadAss33]

Re: Scouting/Drafting in Franchise Mode

Have you had much luck with goalies? I've just simmed about 4-5 drafts and didn't find anybody worth taking outside of the top 5

Yup.. Same as the other positions. the more you scout the more you find out... I have had a few good goalies picked in the late rounds.. If i remember right i found a high starter in the 5th round that is currently my AHL starter and is a 75 in his 3rd year.

Totally Random..

[BigBadAss33]

Re: Scouting/Drafting in Franchise Mode

Thanks for the tips! I think I got most of it down, just trying to figure out how to budget my scouting time is the hardest but I'm still playing around with it.

Quick tip I've noticed to find late round gems - Speed and Acceleration

Any prospect I've drafted so far with 80+ speed or acceleration fully scouted, regardless of the round, has been a steal. This means they're closer to NHL ready than other prospects. But, it's hard to scout these attributes fully with limited time available for tons of players, obviously.

Addressing your timing question. My suggestion

11 regions i think(from Memory)

Scout Every Regions (F) once for 1 week - 11 weeks
once done with all 11 regions you should have a good pool of say 100+ players scouted. Now these players wont be completely scouted but you will also know who to and who not to pin. The more I play this game and scout players i feel that pinning players actually makes the scout look at that certain player. I cant prove this but it just seems to reveal more about that pinned player. As i said in the past posts, don't believe the potential rating until ALL categories are GREEN and the player has been scouted at least 5 times. your next step once you settle on a few players you have pinned to the board is scout that region a few more time. You will then while scouting this pinned player scout the entire region and that my friend is where you find the hidden GEMS. It happens EVERY time. I guarantee it..

I will tell you that i have had a player pinned to my board from mid December to almost June and then took him off because i found a gem in the later rounds so i trade down. i have also had my scout be completely wrong on a high pick. (Example: Scouted as High 1st Rd - (F) Medium Elite. I traded up from Pick#25 to pick #13 giving away a sure fire top 6 d-man to only have this pick turn out to be LOW BOTTOM 6, that one stung a little but it does happen on occasion.

Scout Only Regions(LIIGA,SHL,WHL OHL,US,QMJHL) (D) once a week for 6 weeks - Same applies here except that i only concentrate on less d-men because if they are not in the 1st round they taker longer to develop and don't pan out as much. You can still find a few sleepers.

This strategy requires you to know your team inside and out. The types of players you have in the NHL/AHL.

Its very intensive but if your strictly a FRANCHISE player why not give 100%.

Also remember don't feel bad giving up on a prospect that is not producing. If he has high trade value, you might be able to package deal him for a high pick or even a younger more promising prospect.. I make tons of trades every year. Ship out the older end of contract players for younger NHLers all of which lowers your payroll allowing for the big free agent signing.

I just signed Kucherov for 8 years @ 9 mil per. 6 games in 10 goals.. i think my 1st line has like 30 points thru the same 6 games..

Hope this helps even more...

BigBadAss33

[BigBadAss33]

Re: Scouting/Drafting in Franchise Mode

Another GEM has been found

Boston Bruins Select in the 5th round Center Tomas Cabbandara (76) overall High Elite..

Scout missed on this one - Scouted as Medium Elite - picked # 22 (58 overall) high Bottom 6 - So proof that scouts can make mistakes..

lol

[sccavs64]

Re: Scouting/Drafting in Franchise Mode

Another GEM has been found

Boston Bruins Select in the 5th round Center Tomas Cabbandara (76) overall High Elite..

Scout missed on this one - Scouted as Medium Elite - picked # 22 (58 overall) high Bottom 6 - So proof that scouts can make mistakes..

lol

Damn nice find! I found a ton of steals, but not many with elite potential unfortunately. But, they're still nice.

In fact, here's my 2nd to latest draft. I signed a RFA and lost my 1st, 2nd, and 3rd round picks, and I did some great work here with only having picks in the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th rounds.











After 1 simmed season, Tarasov is an 81!! Starts on my 3rd line. Koop starts on my 4th line and is a 79 I believe. Crazy good on the PK with all that speed and defense.

And then in the 2021 draft I found this little gem. Currently is my leading scorer and starts on my 3rd line in his rookie year.



Only 4 games in to my season (I'm playing all 82), and I'm 2-2. Love this game so far. This franchise mode blows madden's out of the water.

[BigBadAss33]

Re: Scouting/Drafting in Franchise Mode

Damn nice find! I found a ton of steals, but not many with elite potential unfortunately. But, they're still nice.

In fact, here's my 2nd to latest draft. I signed a RFA and lost my 1st, 2nd, and 3rd round picks, and I did some great work here with only having picks in the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th rounds.











After 1 simmed season, Tarasov is an 81!! Starts on my 3rd line. Koop starts on my 4th line and is a 79 I believe. Crazy good on the PK with all that speed and defense.

And then in the 2021 draft I found this little gem. Currently is my leading scorer and starts on my 3rd line in his rookie year.



Only 4 games in to my season (I'm playing all 82), and I'm 2-2. Love this game so far. This franchise mode blows madden's out of the water.

WOW!!! Great Job.. Glad my system is working for you...Your team is going to be ridiculous in a few years... Right now i currently have 45 players signed and only 6 are older than 28... 2 cups down in the trophy case so far..

[sccavs64]

Re: Scouting/Drafting in Franchise Mode

My oh my...... it pays to look at the the players who are projected to go undrafted boys!

Literally had nobody I wanted with my 7th round so I said "screw it, lets look at these guys and see if anybody doesn't suck" and boom.

[BigBadAss33]

Re: Scouting/Drafting in Franchise Mode

My oh my...... it pays to look at the the players who are projected to go undrafted boys!

Literally had nobody I wanted with my 7th round so I said "screw it, lets look at these guys and see if anybody doesn't suck" and boom.

That for sure is a GEM!!!

So much fun isn't it... It really makes you feel like your actually in the game. I find myself thinking of my team at work and saying you this kid isnt producing maybe time to shake things up.. a demotion, a trade... the little things... My AHL team has no player on it less than a HIGH TOP 9.. they started the season out 17-1-2 thru 20... The leading scorer has 25 goals already..

[gamingwithlogan3]

Re: Scouting/Drafting in Franchise Mode

OK... I am strictly a Franchise player and have learned a few tricks that work for me anyway that i will pass along to you.
Scouting:
1. Scout EVERY League at least 1 time at every position except Goalie. The smaller leagues have less players so you will see the more players in less scouting trips.
2. WHL CHL QMJHL and US DON'T always have the best players.
3. DO NOT get blinded by the potential rating. I use the star system - I will explain later about this. It pays off in the later rounds
4. You need to know your team and EVERY player on it(even the AHL)

Here is how I scout to a T.

I can’t say it enough you need to know your team needs and need to check stats every week. Who is scoring, who is not, who is getting scored on the most (+/-) and so on. This all comes into play when scouting. Pay attention to the stats. If you are getting dominated in the faceoff circle time to draft/trade for a Center who had great faceoff skill with high potential.

Back to scouting help.

Here is what I call the use of the STAR System

Make sure YOU as the GM are sending you scout to the locations- DO NOT let the computer handle this. If assigned by system you will miss out on the better players late in the draft.

After scouting every locations forwards at least once you get a picture of some players in that location. This is where if you have been watching how your team is playing week in and week out you have some idea a what you need to improve.

I always scout the smaller regions 1st. Less players less times to scout all players. The more players in a location the longer you need to scout that region.

Don’t concentrate on that. WHL, CHL, QMJHL and US will 95% of the time have the most players, but remember they don’t always have the best players.

The STAR system is a sure-fire way to win in the late round drafts As you scout each regions players you reveal more and more of the players abilities.

Whatever you do don’t believe a scout telling you a player is HIGH ELITE after 1 visit, most of the time he is not right.

If you see a player that you like but have only seen 1, pin him to your board and scout that region until he is seen at least 4 times. That will give you the best chance at the right decision to either keep scouting to find out 100% or take the chance and draft him.

I settle on my 5 pinned players around the trade deadline. Once there I scout ONLY those regions until the player is all green on the star system and the scout has HIGH confidence rating on each category. If he doesn’t pan out then you pin someone else and repeat.

My best pick ever – Boston Bruins Franchise - Year 3 (2019-2020) – Center – Carl Gerbe – 6th Round – National League (14 total Forwards) High Elite (76 Overall) As a rookie. I am 2 years down the road and he is up to an 86 and my 2nd line Center.

There is no perfect system and a lot of luck is involved but as long as you do the star system for the later rounds your farm team will be loaded with tons of potential NHL players of all caliber.

Also remember some players may rate out low in the upper 50’s to low 60’s but have elite potential. Let them develop in the minors. Some pay off, some don’t and Most can be used as trade bait to get a already developed player. And last but not least there is NO chance at rebuilding a team with only draft picks, You must make trades and sign FREE agents to compete.

I LOVE this game. The best NHL ever!!!

Hope this helps a little

Thank you, this helped a lot for me. I will have to try this for my Coyotes Franchise Mode for my youtube channel. Im currently just getting into season 3. And i have been having trouble drafting prospects. My best prospect in the season 2 draft was a guy with 56 overall low top 9 f. awful. Season 1. we went to the 2nd round and got eliminated by the ducks. and then the second year we went to the stanley cup final and got kicked out by the penguins in 7 .

[NowZ777]

Re: Scouting/Drafting in Franchise Mode

So basically, what I've found to be most effective when scouting in nhl 18, is to just let the cpu do the work for you. There's no effective method I've found, I have even drafted a top 6 forward from North Korea in the 3rd round just for the heck of it (I'm not kidding). It's an absolute given that the first two drafts of any franchise are just gonna be bad, there's no getting around it. The only surefire thing you can do for the 1st (or second draft, I cant remember) is to pick Timothy Liljigren, ALWAYS. Don't ever go for Exact top 9 forwards or exact top 6 defenseman, neither of those types will do you any good in the future. Always have a go big or go home mentality, it'll pay off. I've found that one of the easiest draft picks to make is goalies (After the first THREE years). Many times I'll go for a goalie that has a High fringe starter prediction, and I end up with a medium elite. Even if you don't need a goalie particularly, it's still awesome trade fodder. This is not to say however that you should always draft goalies. Only draft the goalie if it's your only choice. If you can draft an exact to high elite skater, go for it. After about year 4 or 5, make sure to always check free agency for undrafted low elites, I've got undrafted low elites as high as 82 overall, and they progress very well if you manage them well. A couple of tidbits here. 1. If there a player projected to be a franchise player, ALWAYS trade up for that player unless you already have two or more franchise players on your team. It is worth it. 2. If there is a player in the draft that is available and at least high elite, however you don't need that position, still pick that player. It's a good safe pick, and you can trade the player at any time.
3. If you snag a med elite goalie, when it's time to renew his contract, give him an 8 year contract along with whatever money he wants. It pays off for years to come, considering I have a 89 overall goalie who I'm paying 4.8 mil, I'd know.
4. Don't get attached to players on your team who are 86 or below. Generally as you get into the latter half of your franchise, players are gonna start asking for absurd amounts of cash. I'm in year 16 of my current franchise, and it's very common to find 81 overall free agents asking for upwards of 6 mil a year.
If you are concerned about my strategies, just don't be, it's tried and true. In my current franchise, I've won the stanley cup 10 out of 16 years with NO human interference in games. 94 overall offense, 100 overall defense, 89 overall goalie with a medium elite backup at 82, and endless amounts of low to medium elite prospects.

[UDM2004]

Re: Scouting/Drafting in Franchise Mode

So basically, what I've found to be most effective when scouting in nhl 18, is to just let the cpu do the work for you. There's no effective method I've found, I have even drafted a top 6 forward from North Korea in the 3rd round just for the heck of it (I'm not kidding). It's an absolute given that the first two drafts of any franchise are just gonna be bad, there's no getting around it. The only surefire thing you can do for the 1st (or second draft, I cant remember) is to pick Timothy Liljigren, ALWAYS. Don't ever go for Exact top 9 forwards or exact top 6 defenseman, neither of those types will do you any good in the future. Always have a go big or go home mentality, it'll pay off. I've found that one of the easiest draft picks to make is goalies (After the first THREE years). Many times I'll go for a goalie that has a High fringe starter prediction, and I end up with a medium elite. Even if you don't need a goalie particularly, it's still awesome trade fodder. This is not to say however that you should always draft goalies. Only draft the goalie if it's your only choice. If you can draft an exact to high elite skater, go for it. After about year 4 or 5, make sure to always check free agency for undrafted low elites, I've got undrafted low elites as high as 82 overall, and they progress very well if you manage them well. A couple of tidbits here. 1. If there a player projected to be a franchise player, ALWAYS trade up for that player unless you already have two or more franchise players on your team. It is worth it. 2. If there is a player in the draft that is available and at least high elite, however you don't need that position, still pick that player. It's a good safe pick, and you can trade the player at any time.
3. If you snag a med elite goalie, when it's time to renew his contract, give him an 8 year contract along with whatever money he wants. It pays off for years to come, considering I have a 89 overall goalie who I'm paying 4.8 mil, I'd know.
4. Don't get attached to players on your team who are 86 or below. Generally as you get into the latter half of your franchise, players are gonna start asking for absurd amounts of cash. I'm in year 16 of my current franchise, and it's very common to find 81 overall free agents asking for upwards of 6 mil a year.
If you are concerned about my strategies, just don't be, it's tried and true. In my current franchise, I've won the stanley cup 10 out of 16 years with NO human interference in games. 94 overall offense, 100 overall defense, 89 overall goalie with a medium elite backup at 82, and endless amounts of low to medium elite prospects.

From the sounds of your post, you simulate all of your games. Is this true? If so, do you change your lines and strategies manually or have the computer do it? I'm looking to start a franchise purely as a GM. I want to set all the lines and strategies to auto and be responsible for scouting, drafting, trades, free agents, etc. I wish we could hire coaches with different styles.

[coachmac75]

Re: Scouting/Drafting in Franchise Mode

Anyone experimented a scoyt not making any progress with A+ in the region + B+ general skill ?

I have one which cannot progress the potential of a player and I keep sending him and he is not improving my knowledge on the oplayer. Very frustrating.

[coachmac75]

Re: Scouting/Drafting in Franchise Mode

I am not succesful getting answers but one more question.

How material is the injury prone weakness ?

I mean at the end of my season with the Sabres I end up with the 2nd pick at the lottery.
Thing is I only see Kakko here below as exciting pick at 2nd. But he is injury prone.
His comparison is Patrick Kane which is quite exciting since Sabres would benefit a lot from such a profile of player they lack.
but....

So have you guys spent a high pick on injury prone guys ? did it work ?

Alternative might be to trade down...

[Hockeystatic]

Re: Scouting/Drafting in Franchise Mode

I am not succesful getting answers but one more question.

How material is the injury prone weakness ?

I mean at the end of my season with the Sabres I end up with the 2nd pick at the lottery.
Thing is I only see Kakko here below as exciting pick at 2nd. But he is injury prone.
His comparison is Patrick Kane which is quite exciting since Sabres would benefit a lot from such a profile of player they lack.
but....

So have you guys spent a high pick on injury prone guys ? did it work ?

Alternative might be to trade down...

I picked kakko fifth overall and he had the same injury attribute. He played 80 of 82 games so it hasnt really manifested itself so far.