EA's hockey sim is back on September 11 for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, though plenty of people are already on the ice. The Deluxe Edition opened seven days of early access on September 4, and EA Play members got a 10-hour trial the same day.
The headline addition is team playbooks. Using EA's NHL EDGE tracking data, all 32 clubs now get their own tendencies for breakouts, special teams and late-game situations, so facing Colorado should feel different from facing Boston. Every arena has been reworked too, with goal songs, chants, lighting and jumbotron gags tuned per team, and there's a new broadcast package fronted by ESPN's John Buccigross alongside former goalie Darren Pang.
Worth the upgrade?
Early reviews land where yearly sports games usually do. The presentation is genuinely sharper and the on-ice tweaks are welcome, but the modes underneath haven't moved much. One review summed it up as all polish and little progress, and Connected Franchise still carries limitations it has had for years.
If you play NHL every night, the arena and commentary overhaul will probably be enough on its own. If you skipped a couple of editions, this is a reasonable one to come back on. If you were hoping the career and franchise modes finally got rebuilt from the studs, wait for a sale.
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