EA Sports released their beta for NHL 19, and we now know what ratings Montreal Canadiens players received after last season’s performances.
Are you a fan of the NHL and video games? If so, you’re probably looking forward to playing as the Montreal Canadiens in NHL 19 set to hit stores in September.
It’s always fun to see what new game mechanics are added to each installment. Personally, if they can improve the specs around poke-checking and reducing the ability of some of the computer goalies (LOCKHART) not to have a Dominik Hasek impersonation every game, I’ll be satisfied. But another thing that both fans and NHL players get involved with are the ratings.
The rating system in the game takes into account qualities such as puck skills, defence, on-ice senses, skating, shooting, and physicality. There are subdivisions within those categories as well. For example, a player’s ability to deke, puck control, hand-eye coordination (for deflections), and playmaking each have an individual value that makes up the overall stat.
The programmers in EA are also privy to what goes on throughout the NHL and use that for their rating systems as well. Based solely on the Montreal Canadiens performance this year, it wouldn’t be surprising to see a couple of players fall. However, others took several steps in the right direction which should factor into what their score ends up being.
Forwards
- Max Pacioretty – 86
- Jonathan Drouin – 84
- Artturi Lehkonen – 78
- Phillip Danault – 80
- Brendan Gallagher – 82
- Paul Byron – 79
- Nikita Scherbak – 72
- Nicolas Deslauriers – 76
- Charles Hudon -77
- Andrew Shaw – 79
- Jacob de La Rose – 72
- Byron Froese – 72
- Michael McCarron – 75
- Tomas Plekanec – 79
- Max Domi – 81
There weren’t too many differences as far as the forwards go as many of them stayed where they were ahead of last game’s release. Pacioretty and Domi saw their ratings fall by a single point while Plekanec dropped by a pair. Personally, I thought Gallagher would’ve been the forward to take the biggest jump given his 30-goal performance in the 2017-18 season.
Defence
- Victor Mete – 78
- Shea Weber – 89
- Karl Alzner – 81
- Jeff Petry – 82
- Jordie Benn – 79
- Noah Juulsen – 76
- Mike Rielly – 76
- David Schlemko – 80
- Brett Lernout – 69
Mete and Juulsen saw the biggest jumps by 19 and 11 points respectively. But that’s to be expected seeing as they both had their NHL debut and played well in the process.
Goaltenders
- Carey Price – 92
- Antti Niemi – 76
Price had his rating remain at 92 while Niemi saw a drop from 79.
It is only the beta, so a few of those ratings will probably change. Again it’s not indicative of the real player, as Ilya Bryzgalov says, it’s only a game.