Rebuilding Teams in NHL 16

[redsoxfan31]

I just wanted to post this here cause I read a good article about rebuilding teams in NHL 15 but haven't seen much of that for NHL 16 and I may be a little late to the party and I apologize if this topic has been discussed elsewhere. I always like taking on a rebuilding team or the underdog. I was curious what you guys think about rebuilding, what teams do you use, how have you faired? I was playing as the Sabres which was a lot of fun cause after two years Eichel was a 90 and Reinhart an 88, pretty good building blocks on top of Ristolainen and McCabe. I also look at teams like Boston who are heavily restricted in player movements due to their cap situation. Would you guys rather start a BeAGM with a young, upcoming team like Buffalo and bring the franchise their 1st ever championship or take on an older team with a lot less financial freedom like Boston. Interested to see what you guys on here think!

[stevendah]

I prefer going with the up and coming core. Buffalo was one of my options, as was Colorado and Florida. They have great young assets, good veterans that you can always move out, and face the possible need of better goaltending. I like choosing teams that look good, but lack experience. That being said, I ended up choosing Calgary as my team to rebuild. I had a blast doing it too. We were making the playoffs in my first year so I traded for Kyle Okposo to wing Sam Bennett. I also held on to Jiri Hudler but let him go in free agent season. I signed Yandle as a top 4 D that year, but kept the defensive core pretty much as is besides. I even let Ramo develop into a starting goalie, which is unlikely going happen in real life unfortunately. Year 2 I won the cup. I know a rebuild is supposed to take longer but I found it to be very time consuming after season 1. I usually like to cram a handful of GM modes in a years time with the game, so I'm already debating on which team to chose next. I tried Minnesota befor Calgary but didn't find them as fun. Too many veterans.

[brandon27]

I prefer just to take my favorite team (Detroit) and move on from there. They're due for a rebuild anyways.


The morale system makes it a bit difficult I found. I'm in 2022 in a Wings dynasty right now. I think it was in the second year, I decided to blow it up and get something for Datsyuk and Zetterberg before they retired on me.


Trading them away caused several other players to take a morale hit which dropped their overalls in some cases by 5 points. It was really frustrating, because one dropped from 88 to 83, and is demanding to be traded. He's 22 years old. It's a little crazy. To this date I haven't moved him, because that would be stupid... and he's never recovered.


I find scouting and drafting to be a nightmare in this game. It's a complete crapshoot IMO. So the picks I acquire from dumping off UFA's and older players, I'll tend to package and ship out to bring in a younger star player. Then trading away the 1's and 2's, caused players to take a morale hit as well. But bringing in Ryan O'Reilly a 91 OVR C for my top line means nothing for morale? Ok...


So those two issues, morale, and draft/scouting makes it pretty difficult to rebuild teams without getting everyone's undies in a wad presently on the roster.


The roster management screens are a disaster in the offseason as well. You hit free agency, you get a great list of players to sign, but good luck taking a look at how your roster/lines presently shake out to really plan out who to sign. There's nothing... convenient to help with that process.


I'm having fun with it, that's for sure. However The whole mode could really use an overhaul though. I wish they could have done that when transitioning the mode into the new gen games when they stripped it down, and now are slowly adding things back in. It is what it is though.

[redsoxfan31]

That was part of the problem I had with rebuilding with the Sabres, Eichel was a 94 his second season, and Ristolainen and Reinhart were both low 90s. I also won the cup in my second year so I was trying to find a new challenge that isn't so easy to complete. The morale thing is a kinda cool at sometimes but I can see how that would be very frustrating when all of your trades are received with negative morale changes.

[actionhank]

I never seem to get guys hitting free agency in mine. At least not big names. I simmed through the playoffs to see who would hit free agency this year, and both Stamkos and Kopitar signed right away. It would be nice if there was a way to try and see your negotiations with other players, and maybe hear rumors of demands and various player's desire to cash in and get a big signing somewhere, or take a hometown discount.

I really hope EA improves that part of the game. It would be nice to have a team's success, roster, and cap space available along with a player's age and skill, maybe even the market for those types of players influence a potential free agent's decision to re-sign, or test the market.

It would add a whole new dynamic to the game if you had someone like Stamkos, and you were working on contracts during the season. Maybe adding something like being able to get word out to the media, or put the player on the trade block to help add pressure from your side, but also potentially causing the player to want to walk more. It would be great to also have guys demand trades, and cause it to possibly affect the locker room if it's not addressed.

[T5063]

I just started a Sabres franchise last night (was waiting for post dealine rosters). They are my favorite team and with this being Eichel's rookie season I thought it would be a great time to build a Sabres dynasty since I've never done it before in an NHL game. I'm planning to just let the core young guys develop and bring in a supporting cast to help them and possibly a better goalie if Lehner doesn't work out.

Last year (legacy NHL 15) I randomly picked Florida, they already had a good group of young guys and didn't need to much tinkering, just needed to sit and wait till they developed. I also signed/traded for (can't remember which) Jagr before they actually did in real life.

In NHL 14, I randomly picked Edmonton. I finished 3rd last in the first season but then I made the playoffs every year after that. I even drafted Draisaitl (sp?) before it actually happened in real life.

For NHL 17, I'm planning to pick the Leafs. They are a mess right now unlike Buffalo/Florida/Edmonton who have a group of good young players who will become elite in a few years time.

[stevendah]

I've wanted to do a franchise mode using Edmonton for a long time, but despite their real life struggles, the player ratings in the game would make doing so such a breeze. I'm thinking of doing Buffalo next. It seems to be the one everyone like doing. I also love tinkering with the Islanders. Turning them into an elite team and setting them higher than the Rangers in the Eastern standings.

[actionhank]

Quote: Originally Posted by stevendah

I've wanted to do a franchise mode using Edmonton for a long time, but despite their real life struggles, the player ratings in the game would make doing so such a breeze. I'm thinking of doing Buffalo next. It seems to be the one everyone like doing. I also love tinkering with the Islanders. Turning them into an elite team and setting them higher than the Rangers in the Eastern standings.

I really wish roster sharing was possible still. The current rosters are just goofy with how close everyone is together. I think Steen is just slightly higher in overall than Reaves. And while Reaves isn't bad...he shouldn't be anywhere near Steen in terms of ratings.