Best Teams to Rebuild in NHL 27 Franchise Mode

EA Sports has added a completely new way to experience Franchise Mode in NHL 27 by introducing Connected Franchise, giving you a chance to compete against your friends in an online environment. While this is a great change for a once-dormant game mode, overall Franchise gameplay hasn’t changed much. You still need to pick your team and manage them to the best of your ability. Team selection can be a daunting process, but if you want the biggest challenge possible in NHL 27, you want to pick a team to completely rebuild.

Taking a bottom-dwelling team and turning it into a contender is arguably the best way to experience Franchise, and that remains true in NHL 27. However, that still doesn’t make picking a team easy. So the question is: which organizations need a rebuild most? Fortunately, we have you covered, as we’ll be listing five teams in NHL 27 that are the best to rebuild in Franchise Mode.

Chicago Blackhawks

When you consider rebuilding a team, having a star as the foundation for the future is especially attractive. Well, Connor Bedard is about as good as it gets when picking a non-Playoff team in the Chicago Blackhawks. With Bedard at the forefront of the rebuild, you absolutely need to focus on getting Chicago some defensive help and a long-term answer at goalie. Spencer Knight hasn’t been the best netminder, but the Blackhawks’ defense certainly hasn’t helped him out.

Of course, you’ll also need to prioritize getting some scorers around Bedard, as Tyler Bertuzzi and the aging Patrick Kane aren’t going to propel Chicago to the Playoffs in a crowded Central Division.

New Jersey Devils

The New Jersey Devils always seem like they have what it takes to compete early on in seasons. Then the team collapses because of injuries, regressions, and all manner of obstacles. Luckily, in NHL 27, the Devils have a decent starting roster headlined by Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, and Timo Meier. Unfortunately, New Jersey has one of the worst goalie situations in the entire league, so addressing that issue is priority one (maybe getting Hellebuyck from Winnipeg is an early option for you).

Once you get an established goalie, the Devils are actually in a decent spot from a roster perspective. Rebuilding the prospect pool won’t be easy, but NJ should be able to compete fairly quickly.

Ottawa Senators

The Ottawa Senators have been right on the verge of competing for years, but they’re in dire need of a rebuild. The team traded captain Brady Tkachuk away during the offseason, leaving a fairly large hole in the top two lines. However, Tkachuk netted a huge return, giving the Sens much-needed prospect depth and future draft picks. In the aftermath of the Tkachuk trade, Ottawa still has Tim Stutzle and Drake Batherson as the top offensive contributors. But the depth isn’t great after that, and Jake Sanderson can’t be the only one making an impact defensively. You’ll need to use the draft capital from the Tkachuk trade to transform Ottawa on offense and defense.

Winnipeg Jets

Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Two seasons ago, the Winnipeg Jets were on top of the NHL with a stacked roster of veterans. Now, the Jets are coming off an 82-point season; their star goalie, Connor Hellebuyck, wants out, and the veteran talent now looks to be an anchor pulling the roster down. However, it’s not all bad for the Jets. Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor still lead the team on offense, Gabriel Vilardi looks to be a bona fide Center 2, and Josh Morrissey continues to be a top defenseman in the NHL.

After those four players, though, the roster gets thin fast. If you decide to trade Hellebuyck, you’ll get a haul in return, which should be the foundation for your rebuild in NHL 27. Keeping Hellebuyck means you’ll have to get creative with the roster.

Vancouver Canucks

Rounding out our list is the Vancouver Canucks, who finished dead last in the NHL standings last season. Obviously, the Canucks will be the toughest rebuild out of any team on this list, as they don’t really have a foundational star to build off. Brock Boeser is likely the team’s best player, but that doesn’t say much. Your first job as Vancouver’s GM will be finding ways to get rid of some horrid contracts, like the ones doled out to Jake DeBrusk and Elias Pettersson.

Also, Vancouver has no real starting-caliber goalie, so there’s another huge problem. Have fun with this one.