Best NHL 25 HUT Team-Building Strategies

Online play in NHL 25 can be a fun way to play the game but it can also be overwhelming to get started as it’s not always clear what the best path forward is to building a competitive side. Between managing your economy, shopping the market and constructing a balanced roster there’s a lot to consider. This guide can help you understand these different phases of team building to help construct a winner as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Economy HUT Team Building Strategies

One of the most frustrating elements of nearly all annual sports games has been the way online modes have evolved more and more currencies to track when it comes to leveling up and evolving your team. Making the most of the options available to you is a critical part of HUT team building as exploiting the most effective ways to acquire your virtual spending power will shorten the time it takes until you’re icing a truly competitive lineup.

• Use your free packs: Particularly at the start of your HUT journey you’ll have access to some easy packs for nothing more than accepting them or opening a section or announcement. These are easy ways to quickly snag some packs or currency for no effort at all, and with special event freebies you can get your hands on some elite players for free.
• Head to Moments: Acquiring the currency you need to open packs is essential for growing your team and if you want to keep your wallet in your pocket that means maximizing opportunities. Moments is an excellent way to quickly tick off some fast challenges to reap the rewards you need to improve your side.
• Pay attention to Objectives: Like with moments, Objectives offer you the chance to reel in some currency. Knowing what your active Objectives are can give you something to focus on when playing or, if you’re really desperate for quick virtual cash, you can grind your Objectives by focusing primarily on progressing them as quickly as possible.
• Capitalize on Events: In an effort to try to keep online modes engaging for the full lifecycle of an annual sports game, developers use timed events. These special opportunities often also include the potential to unlock excellent cards, making them a fantastic way to increase the talent floor on your team.

Buying & Selling HUT Team Building Strategies

The player market is your opportunity to directly influence the players at your disposal without having to rely on the luck associated with opening packs, even when you know there is a minimum talent level waiting for you inside. Buying means you can target a specific player or specific need, while selling off your excess players when they are no longer required for your lineup allows you to raise the funds you need to make your next purchase.

• Check the market before selling: Before going through your collection looking for cards that may now be surplus to requirement it can be beneficial to spend some time checking the auction house out. This can help you identify if there are any metas in the market such as types of cards going at above-average rates letting you know they may be worth an auction instead of a quick sell or conversion.
• Act as early as possible: While it’s a bit too late to apply this for this year’s edition to its fullest extent, it’s still valuable to remember especially when preparing for the switch to NHL 26. Buying star players early in a release before the market has had time to stabilize and when players haven’t yet earned massive amounts of currency to pump into it means you may be able to snag your franchise centerpiece on the cheap.
• Be careful before spending real money: If you want to spend real money on packs and players it’s a proven way to quickly acquire talent, but with so many ways to earn currency by playing the game it is not a necessity, even if the sheer volume of options can be overwhelming at first. Only spend what you’re willing to lose as soon as the new year drops, then enjoy at your preferred budget.

Roster Construction HUT Team Building Strategies

Just as in the real world, building your team in HUT is all about maximizing the resources available to you. While NHL GMs have to operate within a strict salary cap that dictates how much they can spend on player contracts as a HUT player your cap is in the form of the limited currencies you have available to spend. Learning how to use them efficiently will unlock you team’s full potential by helping you find and acquire the best fits for your needs and current capabilities.

• Focus on the top lines: Stanley Cup Championships are often built on the back of pestering third line and fourth lines that can grind out hard minutes. In online play in HUT you’re going to see opportunities that skew even more strongly to your top lines so it’s essential to make sure that raising your team’s ceiling with highly rated players who possess valuable traits is your top priority. Instead, develop your lower lines by buying high enough to bump your upper lines down instead of spending on a player who will be out of your team the next time you get a star.
• Look beyond Overall Ratings: When shopping for cards to add to your team or making  a selection from a choice pack, don’t simply rely on finding the highest possible rating on a player you can. Instead, assess your team rosters before doing any opening or visits to the auction house. Look at areas where you are currently least-strong on your top offensive and defensive lines and look to address them with new buys. While you can certainly roll out the red carpet for a clearly-superior pull even at a position of depth, you may sometimes benefit from grabbing that slightly lower rated defensemen over the better right wing where you’re overloaded with studs.
• Capitalize on collectible trade-ins: Before shipping your unused cards off to the auction house or quick-selling them, make sure to see what your options are with trade-ins. Using the trade-in offers allows you to convert some unwanted parts of your roster into replacements with guaranteed quality floors. This means if you’re seeing an option to cash in players for a reward player that’s highly rated enough to be sure to slot into your team then you can lock in that new acquisition without worrying about if sales helps you raise enough to buy a player of that level.
• Shop to a level: The skill rating filter is an excellent way to start increasing the quality of players in your team. Find a level where a new player with that rating is likely to be a useful addition to the team and perform a search filtering for exactly that amount. Once you have that search you can then peruse your options at the desired level to find the best match of fit, skills and price to spend your virtual cash on and raise the talent level of your squad.
• Use the “Buy Now Range” filter at new drops: If you’re looking to make a big splash and bring in a high-quality signing to your team, then new drops are a great time as players looking to buy the new hottest cards will be looking to offload their current players to raise the cash meaning more selling on the market to bring down prices. Combining this with a filter for the maximum amount you’re willing to spend on a big signing lets you browse all the players currently available in your range to find your favorite choice to bring onboard.

Armed with these strategies you now have everything you need to get started with NHL 25 HUT or to take your existing team and get under the hood to make it even better. If you’ve got any tips and strategies you use to make your teams excel we missed drop them in the comments to help everyone else make their teams better, too!