NHL 25 Franchise Mode Details Revealed

EA Sports released a new video and blog today showcasing the updates in NHL 25‘s revamped Franchise Mode, highlighting how community feedback influenced several changes. The improvements include a streamlined Franchise Mode hub, enhanced scenarios like contract clauses and new conversation features, all aimed at providing a more authentic experience both on and off the ice. We’ve listed some of the details below, but be sure to check out the embedded video and read the blog for more in-depth details. It’s great to see the developers are finally showing some love to the franchise heads.

A NEW FRANCHISE HUB

Ahead of each game, players will have new Widgets with various stats, including team point leaders, goals per game, powerplay percentage, and more for each franchise. Team leaders can also be viewed directly through the revamped hub at any point in the season. Everything a player needs, from division standings to point leaders to updates on how players and teams perform throughout the year, is now more easily digestible. Also, the ticker at the bottom of the Franchise Hub screen continuously feeds information replicating the experience during the trade deadline. 

BOX SCORES

Aiding players’ love for game stats, Box Scores delivers a breakdown of all major statistics from every game, including pre-and post-season, alongside the three stars from every match. 

AWARD TRACKING

Players can now also view the entire awards history for every player in the league within their player card. From early in their career to future awards won within your Franchise Mode, NHL 25 features the most extensive history of a player’s accomplishments.

NEGOTIATIONS AND CONTRACT CLAUSES

Contract clauses and trade protection add to the authenticity, giving players insight into what happens during negotiations. Players may now request partial or full no-movement clauses as a part of their contract, and team management can adjust them based on the franchise’s needs. Teams can also try to push a trade on a player based on the terms of their contract and their current motivation. 

Negotiations and contract clauses have undergone a significant overhaul, making the signing process more realistic. Additional factors now come into play when trying to sign a player, and it doesn’t just come down to contract length and salary. A new interest Organization Meter displays a player’s motivation for joining the team based on factors such as team status and market size. 

CONVERSATION SYSTEM

Another area of focus is the Conversation System, which allows for assigning both short-term and long-term goals. These goals range from season objectives that can enhance attributes or X-Factor development to short-term aims that can yield immediate results or even lead to winning NHL awards. 

During the offseason, coaches can focus on a specific area of a player’s game to seek improvement on the ice. This now extends to position changes and playstyles. However, be prepared for a player to reject the request and lose motivation.

Lastly, this system improves roster management by setting preferred lines and locking players into specific roles. This allows for a more seamless process; for example, players returning from injury can easily shift back into the lineup without going through the old process of replacing them in every line slot.

DRAFT PICKS ADDED TO PLAYER MOVEMENT SCREEN

Another feature that helps the roster-sharing community is adding draft picks to the player movement screen. Players can now trade five years’ of draft picks to keep up with real-world rosters, make adjustments while waiting for the next NHL 25 update, and upload and share for other players to download with the new draft picks.

The Standard Edition of NHL 25 releases on October 4 for Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5. The Deluxe Edition arrives 7 days earlier on September 27. Here’s what’s included in each edition. The NHL 25 EA Play trial will also arrive on September 27, allowing EA Play members 10 hours of playing time.