2018 NHL Draft Monitor

Following the 2018 NHL Draft as a Gamer

The 2018 NHL Draft, held in Dallas in June 2018, is remembered for the Buffalo Sabres taking defenceman Rasmus Dahlin first overall, a pick many observers had expected for months. For gamers, a draft like this matters beyond the real league. Annual hockey titles such as EA Sports' NHL series update rosters, prospect pools and franchise-mode ratings based on who gets picked and where. A draft monitor thread became a natural meeting point for players who wanted to compare real selections with their own simulated drafts.

Why draft tracking fits a gaming community

Franchise and GM modes reward long-term planning. Players who follow junior leagues, European pro leagues and the NCAA often spot prospects whose in-game potential ratings undervalue them, then stash them in their virtual systems. Discussing those picks after a real draft is a good way to test scouting instincts and to see how quickly game developers adjust ratings once a prospect starts playing professionally.

• Roster files: community-made roster updates help keep older editions of hockey games current with draft classes and trades.
• Simulation comparisons: many players run a sim of the draft before the real event and post the differences afterwards.
• Long-term saves: following a 2018 draftee's real career alongside a franchise save shows how well a game models player development.

Looking back at a past draft

Because the 2018 draft has long since passed, its value now is as a reference point. Several players from that class have gone on to established NHL careers, which makes it a useful benchmark for judging how accurate pre-draft rankings and game potential ratings turned out to be. If you edit roster files or build custom databases, checking real career data against what a game predicted is a solid exercise in modding accuracy.

If you want to try making your own roster or ratings edits, the tutorials section covers general modding techniques, and the tools page lists utilities that help with editing game data files. Sports-game threads are welcome in the forums, as long as posts follow the community rules.