Hey guys. For the past couple years I've gone through and used my own custom ratings in NHL games. While EA has definitely improved at player ratings (especially now that every player isn't rated above 80 overall), this game still has plenty of headscratchers that make playing franchise mode unrealistic and throw the simulation off. Unfortunately it takes a lot of research to figure out what every bottom sixer and #6 defenceman deserves to be rated. That's why for the second year in a row I've decided to put out a spreadsheet of every NHL team's depth chart with player ratings included, so anybody who wants to save themselves that time can have a bit of help.
These ratings are based on a number of factors; points, analytics, performance in the previous three years (with last year weighted most heavily). Much of the info was gleaned from Micah Blake McCurdy's HockeyViz.com as well as rankings made by trustworthy hockey people and my own impressions (although my opinions were weighted the least). I'm sure there will be plenty of disagreement over certain ratings - I tried to be as objective as possible but that only gets you so far. Younger players who are expected to progress mid-season (like Pettersson for instance) are slightly under-rated to account for growth.
Unfortunately it is not yet possible to import these rosters, but for anyone who wants to make their own rosters without having to do a lot of research, I hope this can be helpful.
The document starts with a ratings explanation. The second sheet shows the top 50 players from each position. After that, every NHL team's depth chart organized by division.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...it?usp=sharing
Would love input, and I hope this can be helpful to those of us who neurotically edit rosters.