The EA NHL development team has taken shots over the last several years when it comes to its player ratings. In the NHL series, there is rarely enough player separation between top line players and third and fourth line players. On the whole, the lack of differentiation is less than ideal and probably has something to do with the number of leagues included in the game.
With that in mind, is the EA team way off as it relates to the attributes of the players on the NHL All-Star teams, or does the team get it more right than wrong? To test this out, we’ll take a look and see how the results from this past weekends NHL’s All-Star Skills Competition compare with the attribute ratings in EA’s NHL 20.
Fastest Skater
In the Fastest Skater Competition, the participating skaters are timed on how long it takes them to complete one full lap around the ice surface. The two key attributes that factor into the Fastest Skater Competition are speed and acceleration. Also, agility should play a small part in determining how a skater maintains top speed while crossing over. How quickly each player can accelerate to top speed and maintain that top speed is the key to winning.
Defending Champion: Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers — 13.378 seconds
Edmonton Oilers superstar, Connor McDavid saw his three-year reign in the Fastest Skater Competition end to the New York Islanders’ Mathew Barzal.
Fastest Skater Final Results:
- Matthew Barzal, New York Islanders — 13.175 seconds
- Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers — 13.215
- Chris Kreider, New York Rangers — 13.509
- Jack Eichel, Buffalo Sabres — 13.540
- Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado Avalanche — 13.895
- Anthony Duclair, Ottawa Senators — 14.005
- Travis Konecny, Philadelphia Flyers — 14.113
- Quinn Hughes, Vancouver Canucks — 14.263
Results Based On EA’s Rosters:
- Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers — 97 speed, 97 acceleration, 97 agility
- Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado Avalanche — 93, 93, 93
- Anthony Duclair, Ottawa Senators — 92, 92, 89
- Jack Eichel, Buffalo Sabres — 91, 91, 91
- Quinn Hughes, Vancouver Canucks — 90, 90, 91
- Matthew Barzal, New York Islanders — 90, 90, 90
- Chris Kreider, New York Ranger — 89,87,85
- Travis Konecny, Philadelphia Flyers — 88, 88, 88
Save Streak
The purpose of this event is for goaltenders to earn points for their division by saving as many pucks as possible against an opposing division’s shooter in NHL shootout fashion. The goaltender with the longest “save streak” and most saves wins the competition. Since this competition is basically just a series of breakaways over and over, the key attribute for all goaltenders in this competition is their breakaway rating.
Defending Champion: Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers — 12 saves
Save Streak Final Results:
- Jordan Binnington, St. Louis Blues — 10 saves
- Andrei Vasilevskiy, Tampa Bay Lightning — 9
- Frederik Andersen, Toronto Maple Leafs — 7
- Braden Holtby, Washington Capitals — 5
- Jacob Markstrom, Vancouver Canucks — 5
- David Rittich, Calgary Flames — 4
- Tristan Jarry, Pittsburgh Penguins — 4
- Connor Hellebuyck, Winnipeg Jets — 4
Results Based On EA’s Rosters:
- Andrei Vasilevskiy, Tampa Bay Lightning — 92 breakaway
- Frederik Andersen, Toronto Maple Leafs — 90
- Braden Holtby, Washington Capitals — 90
- Connor Hellebuyck, Winnipeg Jets — 88
- Jacob Markstrom, Vancouver Canucks — 88
- Jordan Binnington, St. Louis Blues — 87
- David Rittich, Calgary Flames — 87
- Tristan Jarry, Pittsburgh Penguins — 84
Accuracy Shooting
The key attribute that factors into the Accuracy Shooting Competition is wrist shot accuracy. Secondly, wrist shot power may also play a minor part in this competition.
Defending Champion: David Pastrnak, Boston Bruins — 11.309 seconds
Accuracy Shooting Final Results:
- Jaccob Slavin, Carolina Hurricanes — 9.505 seconds 82 wrist shot accuracy, 87 wrist shot power
- Leon Draisaitl, Edmonton Oilers — 10.257, 93, 91
- Jonathan Huberdeau, Florida Panthers — 13.704, 92, 89
- Alex Pietrangelo, St. Louis Blues — 13.763, 80, 90
- Tyler Bertuzzi, Detroit Red Wings — 13.868, 87, 86
- Mark Scheifele, Winnipeg Jets — 15.160, 91, 89
- Tomas Hertl, San Jose Sharks — 17.161, 88, 87
- Nico Hischier, New Jersey Devils — 19.550, 88, 87
Results Based On EA’s Rosters:
- Leon Draisaitl, Edmonton Oilers — 93 wrist shot accuracy, 91 wrist shot power
- Jonathan Huberdeau, Florida Panthers — 92, 89
- Mark Scheifele, Winnipeg Jets — 91, 89
- Tomas Hertl, San Jose Sharks — 88, 87
- Nico Hischier, New Jersey Devils — 88, 87
- Tyler Bertuzzi, Detroit Red Wings — 87, 86
- Jaccob Slavin, Carolina Hurricanes — 82, 87
- Alex Pietrangelo, St. Louis Blues — 80, 90
Hardest Shot
In the Hardest Shot Competition, the participating skaters get two attempts to record the hardest shot. Each skater starts around the blue line, gets to take a few skating strides to the stationary puck and then fires away. The puck must hit the net to count. The highest recorded time of the individual’s two attempts will be recorded as their hardest shot. The key attribute that factors into the Hardest Shot Competition is slap shot power. Secondly, slap shot accuracy also plays a minor part in this competition as players do need to hit the net.
Defending Champion: John Carlson, Washington Capitals — 102.8 mph
Former Calgary Flames and St. Louis Blues star Al MacInnis, a seven-time winner of the event, started the proceedings with a 100.4 mph slapper with a wooden stick at the age of 56 (he didn’t actually, but it was an homage to his 100.4 shot he in the event back in 1998). Shea Weber’s first attempt was actually good enough to win the competition (105.9), but he took another attempt for fun and beat his first attempt (106.5). It’s the fourth time the Montreal Canadiens defenseman has won the event.
Hardest Shot Final Results:
- Shea Weber, Montreal Canadiens — 106.5 mph
- John Carlson, Washington Capitals — 104.5
- Elias Pettersson, Vancouver Canucks — 102.4
- Mark Giordano, Calgary Flames — 102.1
- Victor Hedman, Tampa Bay Lightning 102.1
- Seth Jones, Columbus Blue Jackets – 98.8
Results Based On EA’s Rosters:
- Shea Weber, Montreal Canadiens — 95 slap shot power, 83 slap shot accuracy
- John Carlson, Washington Capitals — 91, 85
- Victor Hedman, Tampa Bay Lightning — 91, 84
- Elias Pettersson, Vancouver Canucks — 89, 92
- Seth Jones, Columbus Blue Jackets — 89, 83
- Mark Giordano, Calgary Flames — 88, 84
Shooting Stars
Ten players — eight NHL All-Stars, one American Elite Women’s All-Star team member, and one Canadian Elite Women’s All-Star team member — competed in the Gatorade NHL Shooting Stars. Players were positioned on an elevated platform behind the goal, approximately 30 feet above the ice surface, where they shot pucks at a variety of targets located on the ice, with each target possessing different point values. One at a time, each player attempted seven shots and earned points for each target hit.
The key attribute that factors into the Accuracy Shooting Competition is wrist shot accuracy. Secondly, wrist shot power may also play a minor part in this competition since the targets are so far away.
Shooting Stars Final Results:
- Patrick Kane, Chicago Blackhawks — 24 points (2 in OT)
- Mitch Marner, Toronto Maple Leafs — 22
- Matthew Tkachuk, Calgary Flames — 20
- Marie-Philip Poulin (CAN) — 15
- Hilary Knight (USA) — 14
- Ryan O’Reilly, St. Louis Blues — 14
- David Perron, St. Louis Blues — 14
- Tyler Seguin, Dallas Stars — 14
- David Pastrnak, Boston Bruins — 10
- Brady Tkachuk, Ottawa Senators — 6
Results Based On EA’s Rosters:
- Patrick Kane, Chicago Blackhawks — 95 wrist shot accuracy, 89 wrist shot power
- David Pastrnak, Boston Bruins — 94, 89
- Tyler Seguin, Dallas Stars — 94, 93
- Mitch Marner, Toronto Maple Leafs — 91, 87
- Matthew Tkachuk, Calgary Flames — 89, 88
- Ryan O’Reilly, St. Louis Blues — 88, 89
- David Perron, St. Louis Blues — 87, 87
- Brady Tkachuk, Ottawa Senators — 86, 87
Final Thoughts
The development team at EA Sports gets a lot of heat — rightfully so — in regards to the lack of player differentiation and player separation between stars and fourth liners. However, when it comes to the NHL All-Star rosters, you can see by the results above that the results are often separated by the smallest margin.
