EA SPORTS™ NHL 27

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EA SPORTS™ NHL® 27 - Update 1 Blog

11. září 2026

NHL 27 Update 1: Listening, Improving, and What’s Next

BREAKDOWN

Go-Live: September 10th @ 3 PM ET / 12 PM PT. Please complete all online games before this, as server instability is expected up to an hour after the update deployment.

Since the Playtest, we’ve been closely following feedback across the NHL community, including the Feedback Portal, forums, and social channels.

We’ve heard both what you are enjoying about NHL 27 and where the experience needs to improve. Update 1 includes fixes and improvements across gameplay, Connected Franchise, HUT, presentation, commentary, and stability, with several changes directly addressing issues players have raised since launch. Some highlights include, with full details at the bottom:

Gameplay

CPU forwards will now keep possession rather than unnecessarily dumping the puck when they have space.
Adjustments have been made to defensive positioning on penalty-kill breakouts.
CPU players will use diving poke checks more appropriately based on the situation.
Charged passes at close range will now retain their intended velocity.
Addressed several gameplay stability and strategy-related issues.

Connected Franchise

We’ve made a significant number of fixes across league management, trades, free agency, stats, rosters, gameplay, and stability. This includes new Commissioner options to force OT and shootout wins, missing trade notifications, Crossplay options in Find League, and fixes for several crashes, softlocks, and league management issues.

Hockey Ultimate Team

We’ve made several quality-of-life improvements across HUT:

Clearer reward paths.
Rewards can now be granted directly rather than unnecessarily placed in packs.
Captain boosts, requirements, and compatibility are easier to understand.
Line Combination animations can now be skipped.
Cup Chase now provides more information about your opponent and can support larger completion rewards.

Commentary

We’ve been following the discussion around the new commentary team and want to clarify our approach. The broadcast is built on a direct and ongoing partnership with John Buccigross and Darren Pang. With their full consent and active collaboration, we are using AI voice technology to expand on the 50+ recording sessions they have already completed.

This process allows us to bring more variety to the game, react faster to league changes, and incorporate player feedback more quickly. Update 1 is our first step in an ongoing commitment to improve authenticity, with fixes for player-name pronunciations and repetitive lines. We will continue to expand player and city-name coverage in future updates.

Presentation

We’ve continued to build out the arena experience with authentic Jumbotron content from 23 NHL teams, featuring team-specific moments such as intros, goals, crowd prompts, and win celebrations.

(Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, Calgary Flames, Carolina Hurricanes, Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, Detroit Red Wings, Edmonton Oilers, Florida Panthers, LA Kings, Nashville Predators, New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, Pittsburgh Penguins, San Jose Sharks, Seattle Kraken, St. Louis Blues, Toronto Maple Leafs, Utah Mammoth, Vancouver Canucks, Vegas Golden Knights, Washington Capitals and Winnipeg Jets).

Alongside the new arena content, Update 1 includes a broad set of presentation fixes and visual improvements, including:

Camera fixes during faceoffs, replays, and arena sequences.
Crowd clipping and repeated crowd-shot behavior.
Mascot and celebration animation issues.
Jumbotron, safety-netting, and arena visibility problems.
Player alignment and animation issues during group celebrations.
Helmet and chin-strap sizing on some player models.
Hair clipping through helmets.
Visual issue where a player’s face could change during a post-goal wipe.
Arena-specific presentation issues, including Boston camera obstruction, Colorado on-ice projections, and Dallas crowd signage.

What We’re Continuing to Improve

Update 1 is not intended to be the end of that work. We’re continuing to review the areas players are discussing most.

Keep sharing your feedback through our Feedback Portal. We’re listening, and your input is helping us prioritize the changes and improvements that matter most.

Overview of Update 1

Update Highlights at a Glance

Gameplay & AI: Tuned offensive zone puck possession, improved breakout positioning on the penalty kill, eliminated winded getup animations following Truculence hits, and balanced close-range charged passing.
Connected Franchise: Added Force OT Win and Force SO Win commissioner override options, introduced Crossplay options to Find League, resolved major crashes and softlocks, and reworked salary cap/bidding logic to allow for claims to be submitted that would put teams outside of the salary/roster limits. Limits still apply when processing the claims.
Hockey Ultimate Team (HUT): Direct item visibility along XP Season and Wildcard reward tracks, Captain Compatibility previews during season rollovers, and skippable Line Combination animations.
Be a Pro & Franchise: Fixed line promotion leadership challenges, demotion glitches on contract renewals, and improved coach strategy fit mapping.
Presentation & Broadcast: Over 30 visual fixes across arena cameras, crowd behavior, and goal celebrations, plus corrected player name pronunciations across broadcast commentary.
Authenticity Additions: Updated center ice art for Detroit and Dallas, new True Catalyst Nitro and CCM Tacks XR equipment, and additional uniforms for the CHL, Czech Extraliga, and HockeyAllsvenskan.

Gameplay & On-Ice Tuning

Core Mechanics & Physics

Truculence X-Factor Tuning: Players checked by opponents equipped with the Truculence X-Factor will no longer trigger unintended winded getup animations, keeping play flowing naturally after physical contact.
Close-Range Charged Passing: Charged pass velocity is no longer unexpectedly reduced when delivering passes to teammates positioned in proximity.
Pull Goalie Settings: Resolved an issue where toggling the "Pull Goalie" feature on and off could leave an empty net permanently enabled or show incorrect statuses in the Settings menu.
General Loading Stability: Fixed a potential crash during gameplay loading screens affecting Play Now, World of Chel (WOC), and HUT.
Manual Passing (Found in Controller Settings)

WHEN SET TO OFF

The power of the pass is controlled by the distance away from the targeted player.
Holding the pass biases towards further players in the direction of the left analog stick
More consistent pass targeting with less pass expression

WHEN SET TO ON

The power of the pass is controlled by the user
Holding the pass biases towards further players in the direction of the left analog stick
More expression through passing, but with increased risk/reward

AI Decision-Making & Tactics

Puck Possession & Retention: Offensive AI forwards with open ice will now maintain possession and carry the puck forward rather than dump it past opposing defenders prematurely.
Penalty Kill Breakout Coverage: Defensive positioning on the PK breakout has been tuned; defenders now back off slightly to cover mid-ice passing lanes more effectively rather than staying glued to forwards.
Defensive Discipline: AI skaters will no longer perform diving poke checks outside of breakaways or odd-man rush situations.
Playbook & Strategy Diagrams:
- Fixed an issue where Set Team Power Play and Offensive Zone (OZ) strategy diagrams displayed player positions incorrectly.
- Strategy playbooks in Threes are no longer restricted strictly to the chosen team.

Connected Franchise

Commissioner Tools & League Administration

Expanded Override Results: League Commissioners now have access to Force OT Win and Force SO Win options when manually resolving game outcomes.
Trade Approvals: Added missing inbox notifications when trades are approved by the Commissioner.
Crossplay League Discovery: Added missing Crossplay filter options to the Find League browser panel.
Rule & Settings Persistence:
- Fixed an issue where league rules inadvertently reverted to default settings when adjusting team counts during the off-season.
- Fixed custom user settings within Connected Franchise failing to save across title reboots.
Playoff Formatting: The Wildcard spot setting is now properly enabled by default during league creation.

Stability, Crashes & Softlocks

Resolved a softlock that occurred when accepting a game invite while simultaneously launching Connected Franchise.
Fixed an assert error encountered when re-entering Connected Franchise through the EA Connect menu.
Addressed an issue where the Place Bid and Propose Claim screen turned blank and failed to transition.
Corrected a File Does Not Exist error occurring when downloading maximum custom rosters, ensuring the proper roster limit dialog displays.
Fixed an error triggered when removing a manager or skater from the league while they were waiting in a pre-game lobby.
Fixed missing Box Score data and post-match crashes when inspecting Home/Away stats for completed games.
Resolved a softlock when viewing opponent lines after removing the first team alphabetically during the off-season.
Fixed an Invalid Roster error when attempting to inspect box scores for games completed with guest participants.
Resolved a softlock in Accessibility/Settings menus when navigating tabs during season advances.
Fixed an issue where backing out of Game Setup left the user on a blank screen.
Fixed an error that prevented player abuse reports from generating and submitting properly.

Free Agency, Claims & Salary Cap Logic

Zero-Goalie Rosters: Fixed an issue preventing users from submitting a Free Agency claim for a goaltender when their active roster contained 0 goalies.
Pre-Processing Cap Logic: Fixed constraints to allow submitting free agent bids that temporarily exceed salary cap limits before daily processing (processed claims will still strictly enforce the hard ceiling).
Drop/Claim Dependencies: Fixed an issue where users were blocked from dropping a skater tied to another pending claim.
Claim Priority & Submission: Fixed silent submission failures when setting a 4th pending claim priority to 5, as well as errors when repeatedly editing bid priorities.
Free Agency Screen UI Polish:
- Fixed minimum bid and salary sorting filters on the Free Agent and My Team screens.
- Resolved a bug causing the skater counter to falsely inflate after rapidly selecting and deselecting players.
- Corrected instances where the goalie bids incorrectly updated the skater legend.
- Fixed the Claims Remaining tracker not updating without rebooting the game.
- Addressed salary cap meters falsely displaying as 100% full when usable space remained.

Trading & Inbox Flow

Corrected display issues on the Propose Trade screen where opposing team details were missing, or team names appeared swapped when exceeding the salary cap.
Fixed an unintended pop-up warning stating an offer would clear when proposing a new counter-trade.
Deleting a vetoed trade in one user's inbox will no longer remove the notification from the recipient's inbox.
Fixed persistent unread notification pings appearing on Propose Trade, Edit Trade Block, and View Trade Block.
Properly restored color coding for trade blocks (green for matching needs, red for surplus positions).
Corrected Activity Feed trade summaries rendering from the opposing team's perspective.
Fixed text overlapping between long team names and Roster Space indicators in league notices.

Stats, Standings & Trophy Logic

Conn Smythe Trophy: Retuned award logic to evaluate postseason individual performance accurately.
Stats Central Tracking: Fixed player records and statistical totals failing to update properly following mid-season trades.
Overtime Wins: OT wins are now accurately tallied in team win totals on Stats Central tiles.
Goalie Leaderboards: Reordered goalie career stat columns to standard statistical ordering and restored missing goalie win data in widgets.
Playoff Box Scores: Fixed game-winning goals (GWG) crediting the incorrect skater when multiple goals were scored, and restored the 'SO' shootout tag on box score summaries.

Lines, Rosters & In-Game Logic

Fixed line edit modifications reverting when interacting with playbook filters, quick actions, or quick swaps.
Fixed an issue where selecting a "Balanced Playbook" in Game Setup did not apply to in-game Edit Lines.
Addressed mid-game goalie substitutions failing to swap netminders on the ice.
Fixed opponent line scouting defaulting to the Anaheim Ducks lines instead of the active matchup.
Fixed an issue where users on the losing team in the Stanley Cup Finals could control who received the Stanley Cup during celebration cinematics.
Resolved missing playoff beards during postseason action.
Corrected traded goaltenders retaining masks and gear branding from their former clubs.

Hockey Ultimate Team (HUT)

XP Seasons & Wildcard Reward Paths

Direct Reward Presentation: Reward paths now clearly display individual Player Items and exact reward quantities directly on the track, eliminating the need to unpack multi-item rewards.

Team Captains

Captain Player Info: The Captain Player Info screen now clearly outlines each Captain's specific boosts, roster requirements, and real-time progress based on your active lineup.
Captain Compatibility: Added Captain Compatibility indicators to the Captain selection screen during Season rollover, allowing you to preview lineup synergy before making a commitment.

Quality of Life & Game Modes

Skippable Line Animations: You can now instantly skip Line Combination animations, making lineup adjustments significantly faster.
Player Collection Objectives: Introduced new Collection Objectives that reward players for building and completing Live Team Player collections.
Cup Chase Enhancements: Matchup screens now display opponent OVR ratings. Select Cup Chase seasons now support one-time completion rewards for high-tier milestone achievements.
Store Badging: Added visual store badges to clearly signal new pack drops and special promotional offers.

Career Modes

Be a Pro

Leadership Challenges: Coach Feedback values tracked during Leadership Challenges no longer reset after being promoted or demoted between forward/defensive lines.
Captaincy Retention: Fixed an issue where team Captains were demoted to Alternate Captain upon re-signing with their current franchise.
AHL Call-Up Logic: Addressed a roster assignment issue where freshly promoted AHL prospects were placed immediately into the NHL healthy scratch rotation.

Franchise Mode

Coaching Schemes: Fixed an issue in scheme fit player conversations where player line strategies did not accurately map to head coach strategies.

Presentation, Visuals & Audio

Cinematics, Cameras & Arenas

Jumbotron Updates: Added 23 authentic Jumbotron updates across NHL arenas, including team-specific intros, goal moments, crowd prompts, and win celebrations. Teams include: Boston, Buffalo, Calgary, Carolina, Colorado, Dallas, Detroit, Edmonton, Florida, LA, Nashville, New Jersey, NY Islanders, Pittsburgh, San Jose, Seattle, St. Louis, Toronto, Utah, Vancouver, Vegas, Washington, and Winnipeg.
Camera Polish: Resolved drone cameras clipping through arena exterior walls, fixed blocked camera shots in Boston's home arena, and corrected camera glitches occurring when skipping opening face-off sequences.
Stanley Cup Celebrations: Fixed broken arm animations during locker room Stanley Cup celebrations and resolved transition jitter between player hug and flyby celebrations.
Broadcast Netting & Projections: Resolved visibility clipping with the Jumbotron and safety netting during non-interactive sequences (NIS), and aligned Colorado's on-ice intro projections with real-world reference.
Crowd & Mascot Polish: Fixed crowd character clipping during close-up camera angles, corrected reversed Dallas Stars fan signs, and resolved mascot clipping through arena seating.
Creation Zone & Player Models: Resolved helmet and chin strap sizing discrepancies on select skater models, fixed hair clipping through helmets, and addressed jersey/pant warping in the Creation Zone.
In-Game Menus: Players will no longer be locked out of adjusting Team Strategies in the Pause and Pre-Game menus.

Commentary & Audio Fixes

Player Name Pronunciations: Corrected broadcast commentary pronunciations for:
- Gilbert, Marchand, Luostarinen, Rakell, Sasson, Greig, Minten, Eyssimont, and Bratt.
Commentary Logic: Corrected situational lines referencing timeouts, resolved inaccurate bench-shortening comments following power-play goals, and prevented repeated player name calls during extended puck carries.
Arena Audio: Fixed Jumbotron SFX incorrectly firing during intro sequences in Boston, Seattle, San Jose, and Nashville.

Equipment & Center Ice Additions

Equipment Updates

Goalie Stick: True Catalyst Nitro
Player Glove: True Catalyst Nitro
Player Skate: CCM Tacks XR

Center Ice Art

NHL: Dallas Stars, Detroit Red Wings

Authentic Uniform Updates

Canadian Hockey League (CHL)

Ontario Hockey League (OHL)

Barrie Colts: Home & Away
Brampton Steelheads: Home, Away & Third
Brantford Bulldogs: Home, Away & Third
Flint Firebirds: Home, Away & Third
Guelph Storm: Home, Away & Third
Kingston Frontenacs: Home & Away
Kitchener Rangers: Home, Away & Third
London Knights: Home & Away
Niagara IceDogs: Home, Away & Third
North Bay Battalion: Home, Away, Third & Fourth
Oshawa Generals: Home, Away & Third
Ottawa 67’s: Home & Away
Owen Sound Attack: Home & Away
Peterborough Petes: Home, Away & Third
Saginaw Spirit: Home & Away
Sarnia Sting: Home, Away & Third
Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds: Home, Away & Third
Sudbury Wolves: Home, Away & Third

Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL)

Baie-Comeau Drakkar: Home & Away
Blainville-Boisbriand Armada: Home & Away
Charlottetown Islanders: Home, Away & Third
Chicoutimi Saguenéens: Home, Away, Third & Fourth
Drummondville Voltigeurs: Home, Away & Third
Gatineau Olympiques: Home, Away & Third
Halifax Mooseheads: Home, Away & Third
Moncton Wildcats: Home & Away
Newfoundland Regiment: Home & Away
Quebec Remparts: Home, Away & Third
Rimouski Océanic: Home & Away
Rouyn-Noranda Huskies: Home & Away
Saint John Sea Dogs: Home & Away
Shawinigan Cataractes: Third
Sherbrooke Phoenix: Home & Away
Val-d'Or Foreurs: Home & Away
Victoriaville Tigres: Home & Away

Western Hockey League (WHL)

Brandon Wheat Kings: Home & Away
Calgary Hitmen: Home, Away & Third
Edmonton Oil Kings: Home, Away & Third
Everett Silvertips: Home, Away & Third
Kamloops Blazers: Home, Away & Third
Kelowna Rockets: Home, Away & Third
Lethbridge Hurricanes: Home, Away & Third
Medicine Hat Tigers: Third
Moose Jaw Warriors: Home, Away & Third
Penticton Vees: Home, Away & Third
Portland Winterhawks: Home, Away & Third
Prince Albert Raiders: Home, Away & Third
Prince George Cougars: Home & Away
Red Deer Rebels: Home, Away & Third
Regina Pats: Home, Away & Third
Saskatoon Blades: Home & Away
Seattle Thunderbirds: Home, Away & Third
Spokane Chiefs: Home, Away & Third
Swift Current Broncos: Home & Away
Tri-City Americans: Home & Away
Vancouver Giants: Home, Away & Third
Victoria Royals: Home, Away & Third
Wenatchee Wild: Third

European Leagues

Czech Extraliga

Banes Motor České Budějovice: Home & Away
BK Mladá Boleslav: Home & Away
Bílí Tygři Liberec: Home & Away
HC Dynamo Pardubice: Home, Away & Third
HC Energie Karlovy Vary: Home & Away
HC Kometa Brno: Home & Away
HC Oceláři Třinec: Home & Away
HC Olomouc: Home, Away & Third
HC ŠKODA Plzeň: Home & Away
HC Sparta Praha: Home, Away & Third
HC VERVA Litvínov: Home & Away
HC Vítkovice Ridera: Home & Away
Mountfield HK: Home & Away
Rytíři Kladno: Home & Away

HockeyAllsvenskan

Roma/Visby Hockey: Home & Away

EA SPORTS™ NHL® 27 is now available on PlayStation®5 and XBOX Series X|S. Stay in the conversation by following on X, Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook.