EA Sports NHL 23 comes out this upcoming Friday, Oct. 14, 2022. The game is the latest NHL game and features two hockey stars in Trevor Zegras and Sarah Nurse on the cover. EA did a simulation of the 2022-23 NHL season, and they got one big thing wrong for the Los Angeles Kings.
The latest NHL game usually has a simulation for the year ahead of every regular season. It is a fun way to see how the game thinks the teams will do. While this is always an exciting event, the game definitely got it wrong with the Los Angeles Kings.
NHL 23 gets it all wrong with season sim of Los Angeles Kings
The Los Angeles Kings did not make the playoffs in the 2022-23 NHL simulation. This tweet shows who made the playoffs in the simulation in the game:
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
The four playoff teams from the Pacific Division were the Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers, Seattle Kraken and Vancouver Canucks in that order. The Los Angeles Kings were fifth in the division.
The Kings missing out on the playoffs is a real head-scratcher to me. I do not have any issues with teams in the east, but I will say I hope Ottawa, Detroit or New Jersey makes the jump into the playoffs this season.
While the Kings’ season did not start on the right note on Tuesday against the Vegas Golden Knights, I still believe they are one of the top teams in the division and in the league. This team still has Kopitar, Doughty and Quick. They also have so much young talent with players like Quinton Byfield and Adrian Kempe to name a few. This team will be good this season, and I cannot see them missing out on the playoffs.
The simulation ended with two familiar teams in the Stanley Cup Final, and a team adding yet another championship to their history.
The #NHL23 Season Sim is here 🔮
— EA SPORTS NHL (@EASPORTSNHL) October 8, 2022
Congrats to the @penguins on taking home the 2023 Stanley Cup 🏆🐧
Pre-order now ➡️ https://t.co/bNdI1xedp3 pic.twitter.com/5hZ9t3epqe
The Seattle Kraken are going to be a good team in a few seasons, but having them get into the playoffs this season just seems like a bit of a reach to me. Hopefully, we see Seattle in the playoffs down the line, but for now, I think the Kings would make for a better round-one matchup against ht Edmonton Oilers.