The Cover for EA Sports NHL 19 with PK Subban on the Cover
Twitter: @ChrisMottHockey
The NHL season is almost here, with training camps a week away. That means this year’s version of the NHL video game franchise by Electronic Arts Sports will be releasing soon. As a part of the marketing campaign for NHL 19, EA Sports has gradually released the top 50 players in the upcoming game with their respective ratings. A player many fans want to know the rating of is reigning Hart Trophy winner Taylor Hall. He made the top 50, but the question is did EA give him the right rating compared to his peers?
Taylor Hall
Taylor Hall has 90 overall rating and is the 16th best player in NHL 19. With regards to his individual ratings for certain skills, there are two ratings that may be a bit little low. Those two attributes being “discipline,” where the rating is 84, and “durability,” where the rating is 83.
There is a case to be made for both attributes to be boosted up just a little bit to the upper 80s, as they seem low for him. With “durability”, Hall was only injured a couple times during last year’s MVP season and was not out for long periods of time. His performance would also pick up right where he left off when he returned to action.
When it comes to “discipline,” an argument can be made that the attribute ties into both offensive and defensive awareness, as well as not taking bad penalties. Hall has high ratings in both those categories and does not take many bad penalties. He’s also in the right position for what is going on during the play most of the time. To see all of Taylor Hall’s ratings, check out the link at the bottom of EA’s website for their player ratings.
Other Notable Players Around Him
Even though Taylor Hall won the Hart Trophy, he was not ranked higher than his fellow nominees. Anze Kopitar also had a 90 overall rating and was ranked 15th best just ahead of Hall.
Anze Kopitar skating – from nhl.com
Like Hall and Kopitar, MacKinnon has a 90 overall rating but ranked 13th best. There is a possibility that this actually is not as big a deal as it seems. EA easily could’ve had listed all 90 overall players in a random order, but it’s hard to say when the list specifically is ranking the top 50 players in the game.
Nathan MacKinnon taking a slap shot – from nhl.com
Of course, the player who beat Taylor Hall for the Ted Lindsay Award, Connor McDavid, has the highest rating in the game.
Connor McDavid celebrating – from nhl.com
One last player of interest is John Tavares, who is fresh off signing a massive deal with Toronto. He has a 90 overall rating but is the 19th best player in the game and ahead of Auston Mathews in the rankings. It will be interesting see the team rankings once the game comes out.
John Tavares at his free agent signing Press Conference for Toronto – from nhl.com
To check out the full list of players and their rankings in the top 50 for NHL 19, I have included a link below that will open their page. NHL 19 releases Sept. 14 for Xbox One and PlayStation 4 and is available for pre-order. It will have many interesting game modes and features that will add on to the “Chel” tournament scene amongst friends and peers.
https://www.easports.com/nhl/ratings/nhl-19-player-ratings-top-50#50-41