EA Sports NHL 23 predicts the Golden Knights season
There are many prognosticators and experts making their season predictions for the 2022-23 NHL season and so is the video game maker EA Sports, which has the current rights to produce and distribute the official NHL video game. With the game coming out for its official release on October 14, which is just three days after the start of the season in North America, they have released their predicted finish via a game simulation.
According to the game makers, they have predicted the Golden Knights not only miss the playoffs for a second straight year, they have also predicted them to finish sixth in the Pacific Division. But that’s not all.. they have the Seattle Kraken finishing third in the division with a playoff appearance after finishing dead last in their expansion season.
Final 2022-2023 season division standings according to #NHL23 🔮@SeattleKraken will be making their first playoff appearance this year 🦑👀
— EA SPORTS NHL (@EASPORTSNHL) October 8, 2022
Pre-order now ➡️ https://t.co/bNdI1xvgr3 pic.twitter.com/l9S0WLtrnP
Their playoff simulation has the Kraken with a first round exit against the Edmonton Oilers. As for their Stanley Cup Final simulation, EA Sports has Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins hoisting the Cup after a seven game series against the Colorado Avalanche.
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Keeping this in mind, nearly every publication has the Golden Knights predicted finish of either third or fourth in the division and making a return to the playoffs. Seeing Seattle in third is definitely a surprise. Seeing the Golden Knights in sixth is even more eye-popping. The suspicion is that the game does not have a lot of faith in the ability for the Golden Knights to stay healthy and keeping their goaltending in check.
As for the game itself, it is a game that has not had a whole lot of improvements over the years and after years and years of requests, cross-platform game play is finally coming to the game. That being said, EA Sports NHL has had the reputation of being a basic carbon copy of the previous year’s game and the year after that.
In terms of the individual Golden Knights players in the game, what we do know is that both Alex Pietrangelo and Shea Theodore are ranked as top 10 defensemen in the game. This is at least some respect towards the Golden Knights.
The Golden Knights will open the season against the Kings on Tuesday night in Los Angeles as part of an opening night ESPN double-header.