How to Deke in NHL 23: Full List

Creating offense in NHL 23 is harder than it’s been in previous years in the series, whether playing online or versus the CPU. Unlike in the past, you can’t just set up for cross-crease looks and expect that the pass will arrive at its destination without being intercepted by a defender. Even when those passes do find the stick of a teammate, it’s no longer as much of a foregone conclusion that the goalie won’t be able to slide over and make an amazing save. This makes it imperative that you learn how to unleash the right deke at the ideal time to generate some pressure in a different way. The game has a lot of them at your disposal and practicing them in free skate will be the fastest way to get comfortable with how to execute them.

To help you out, here’s a list of how to perform all of the dekes in NHL 23 and an overview and when they can be leveraged to your advantage. You’ll also see a difficulty score out of 10 for each to give you an idea of the kind of frustration you might experience when trying to get them to work properly.

How To Deke In NHL 23: Full List

Backhand Toe Drag

How To Do It: Click in the right stick (R3) and pull back the right stick.

Difficulty: 1/10. This is the foundation for a few different maneuvers and it’s easy enough to get down with little effort.

Backhand Toe Drag Shot

How To Do It: Click in the right stick, pull back the right stick, then push the right stick forward.

Difficulty: 2/10. Once you’ve mastered the toe drag, adding a shot to the end of it shouldn’t take too long.

Backhand Toe Drag Pass

How To Do It: Click in the right stick, pull back on the right stick, then press L2.

Difficulty: 3/10. Not a whole lot harder than the shot, though it does require bringing another button into the mix.

Backhand Toe Drag Flip Shot

How To Do It: Click in the right stick, pull back the right stick, then push R1/RB.

Difficulty: 6/10. The only real trouble with this one is putting enough on the flip and positioning yourself at the right angle to put it on the net. Can be great to show up the goalie but you’ll look a little silly if you don’t put it in the net (especially if you’re wasting a breakaway).

Slip Deke

How To Do It: Press L1/LB when you’re near the boards.

Difficulty: 2/10. It’s just the press of a button and yet having the awareness of when to use it and when not can be the difference between creating a scoring chance when entering the zone along the boards or turning over the puck.

Flip Deke

How To Do It: On either your forehand or backhand, press L1/LB and R2/RT at the same time.

Difficulty: 4/10. Befitting of its similar name, think of this as the slip deke except rather than being along the boards, you’re in open ice. This makes it slightly more dangerous because a turnover can quickly lead to a counter-attack.

Stride Deke

How To Do It: Push the right stick either left or right and press L1/LB.

Difficulty: 2/10. This is a pretty basic deke when you’re trying to finagle around a defenseman while on a rush and create some separation.

Jump Deke

How To Do It: Push the right stick upwards and press L1/LB.

Difficulty: 3/10. It’s a pretty simple and a fun way to push the puck forwards while leaping off the ice and into the air.

Skate Kick Deke

How To Do It: Push the right stick downwards while pressing L1/LB.

Difficulty: 3/10. A close cousin of the the jump deke in terms of controls, this deke is more about confusion though as you kick the puck from your skate back to your stick.

Drop Pass

How To Do It: Press R1/RB when not manipulating the left stick in anyway (that last part is crucial).

Difficulty: 3/10. There’s something satisfying about pulling off a drop pass at the perfect time, disorienting the opponent like sleight of hand on a magic trick. If you aren’t careful about laying off the left stick when pressing R1/RB though, you will end up flipping the puck right to them.

Between The Legs Pass

How To Do It: Push L1 and click in the right stick, then press R2.

Difficulty: 4/10. It’s not that it’s hard to do, it’s just difficult to imagine many situations where a between-the-legs pass would be a necessary option rather than a normal pass (unless you’re collecting style points, that is).

Between The Legs Saucer Pass

How To Do It: Push L1/LB and click in the right stick, then press R1/RB.

Difficulty: 4/10. Just as easy to perform as the regular between-the-legs pass and even harder to think of a situation where it would come in especially handy.

Between-The-Legs Deke

How To Do It: For left-handed players, hold the right stick down and to the left, then press L1/LB and rotate the stick all the way to the right.

Difficulty: 5/10. Not the easiest to pull off in the heat of the moment, but it looks really cool when you can use it to your advantage.

Between The Legs Shot

How To Do It: Push L1 and click in the right stick while pushing it forwards.

Difficulty: 7/10. You’ll need to be careful on this one to click in the right stick while pushing L1 first to trigger the between the legs animation. If you do it wrong, there’s a good chance you’ll just give the puck away to the opponent with a blind shot.

Board Bank Self-Pass

How To Do It: Press R2/RT and L1/LB at the same time when near the boards

Difficulty: 4/10. You can execute this near the boards anywhere on the ice, and it can be most effective when in tight quarters behind the net. This is similar to the slip deke but involves pushing the puck a little farther in front of yourself, so it can leave you more vulnerable.

One-Hand Deke

How To Do It: While on your backhand (will be different depending on if your player is right or left-handed), push the right stick back to your forehand as you press L1.

Difficulty: 4/10. Timing this deke is key, as getting the puck quickly back onto your forehand can be helpful in creating some space between you and a defender. If you play it just right, it can generate a prime scoring opportunity when you’re 1-on-1 on a rush.

Tap Back Deke

How To Do It: This can be done either from forehand or backhand. On backhand, hold the right stick to the right (for a left-handed player), then push the right stick left while pressing L1/LB and then press the left stick to the right. Reverse the movements of the right stick and left stick for the forehand tap back deke.

Difficulty: 8/10. This is awfully complicated for what essentially amounts to flashy drop pass.

Fake Deke (The Kucherov)

How To Do It: Start by performing a stride deke to your backhand and then quickly push the right stick to your backhand.

Difficulty: 9/10. This is mostly used by people who want to show off and show up human goalies on breakaways. It’s tricky to trigger the animation, and even then you need to hope you can fool the goalie into following your stick rather than the puck.

One-Handed Tuck

How To Do It: When pushing the right stick either to your backhand or forehand, press R1 and L1 at the same time.

Difficulty: 9/10. Triggering the required animation isn’t the challenge here, it’s executing it in such a way that you can fool a goalie. This deke can only really be pulled out on a breakaway because it will involve losing possession of the puck one way or another.

Lacrosse Deke (Michigan)

How To Do It: Push the left stick in the direction of your forehand, then hold down R3 and L1/LB, then swing your stick in the direction of your backhand.

Difficulty: 10/10. This is as hard as it gets. It’s meant to be unleashed behind the net so you can tuck it in behind an unsuspecting goalie. Timing it just right is as hard it should be for such a rare maneuver though, to the point where I still haven’t been able to score a goal with one.