As summer turns into fall, EA Sports continues its push towards NHL 18’s release. The last bit of news we shared concerned NHL Threes, the game’s new three-on-three mode. This week, EA Sports put the spotlight on the revamped Franchise Mode and the different options players can choose while playing the mode.
Players will have three different ways to begin Franchise mode in NHL 18. Of course, most gamers will play the Classic Franchise mode to play their favorite team and navigate through multiple seasons in a standard 31-team NHL league. While this is the way Franchise has always been done, EA Sports added two more ways to begin Franchise and it is fascinating.
The second franchise mode is the 31-team Expansion Draft Franchise, which puts players three days away from the NHL Expansion Draft. As either the expansion Vegas Golden Knights or as one of the other 30 teams in the NHL, you move through the process of a new team entering the league. If you select the Golden Knights, your job is to pick players from the NHL's Unprotected List (a group of players that are available from every team in the league) based on what type of team you are trying to build. A neat wrinkle that developers added was to give players the option of using the real-life Unprotected List or have a computer-generated list.
If you choose to play as one of the current team, your job is to determine which players you will leave unprotected for the Vegas Golden Knights. After the agonizing process of seeing one or multiple of your players being selected by Vegas, you move right on to the NHL Draft and the rest of the offseason before you move towards competing for the Stanley Cup. Not to worry Vegas Golden Knights fans, the same thing applies to you after selecting your team as your offseason will consist of the exact things the other 30 teams will do (NHL Draft, free agency).
Here is where it gets interesting. The third franchise mode is a 32-team expansion mode in NHL 18 where you create your own NHL team to become the 32nd team in the league. Players are tasked with selecting the city, team name, creating jerseys and the building of the arena for the new team. Players even create the AHL affiliate (the minor league team) for your new NHL team.
After creating the team, you go through the same process as the Vegas Golden Knights (as they are still an expansion team in this mode), which includes the expansion draft. This will be the mode that many will take to as the customization options are vast and will have players feel a little more invested in the team they’ve created.
What are your thoughts about the Franchise Mode in NHL 18? Let us know in our comment section.
