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NHL Front Office

Real 2026-27 rosters. A hard cap with no mercy. Sixteen teams, one Cup.

Take over an NHL front office

Real 2026-27 rosters from the NHL's own data, rated off real 2025-26 stats. Work under the hard cap, chase points in an 82-game-shaped season, then the divisional bracket: sixteen teams, four best-of-7 rounds, one Cup. Saves automatically.

NHL Front Office: the GM Sim

Take over a real NHL club with its actual 2026-27 roster, every player rated off real 2025-26 stats pulled from the league's own data. Work under the hard salary cap, waive contracts, sign free agents, swing trades the AI weighs on age, position and rating, then chase points through an 82-game-shaped season where overtime losses still pay. Make the real divisional bracket: top three per division plus two wild cards per conference, four best-of-7 rounds, the Stanley Cup at the end. Draft prospects whose scouting grades can lie, manage aging curves where goalies last longer, and stack Cups across unlimited saved seasons.

Running an NHL club is a math problem with feelings, and now the math is yours.

You get a real 2026-27 roster rated off real 2025-26 stats, a hard cap, a points race and the actual divisional bracket. Contracts and trades in the sim are fictional; the hockey logic is not.

How to play NHL Front Office

  • Pick any of the 32 clubs and inherit its actual roster.
  • Read the ownership mandate: a contender is told to win the Cup, a bubble club to make the bracket, a rebuild to hit an honest win number. It resets every offseason from where the roster really stands.
  • Shape it: waive players, sign free agents, and work the phone on trades, where the other GM counters with pick demands and lesser returns instead of a flat yes or no.
  • Sim the season in 20 rounds of roughly four games each, with a live read on whether you are on pace.
  • Qualify for the playoffs: top three per division plus two wild cards per conference.
  • Win four best-of-7 rounds to lift the Stanley Cup, then draft and go again, as long as ownership keeps you.

    • Rules to know

  • The hard cap starts at 104M and rises about 9 percent a season; every move must fit.
  • Points are real: 2 for a win, 1 for an overtime loss, and roughly a quarter of losses go to overtime.
  • Rosters run between 8 and 15 players, floor and ceiling both enforced.
  • Trades are player for player plus an optional pick, and the AI prices age, rating and position before saying yes.
  • At the draft you make 2 picks, and scouting grades carry error; the true rating appears only after you commit.
  • Trust upstairs runs 0 to 100: beat the mandate and it climbs, miss it and it falls, a Cup fixes almost anything, and at zero you are fired and the save ends.

    • Example walkthrough

    Say you take Buffalo. You waive a fading winger, sign a 79 rated defenseman, then package your third line center plus a pick for a younger blueliner. The AI takes the deal because the value clears its price.

    The season becomes a wild card sweat decided by overtime loser points. You sneak in, stun a division winner, then die in the division final. At the draft an 88 grade center turns out to be an 84.

    Strategy tips

  • Overtime loser points decide races. A team hovering around .500 can still make the bracket on them.
  • Strength math: the top six forwards carry half your rating, the top four defensemen 30 percent, the starting goalie 20.
  • Players 23 and under develop toward their potential every offseason. Hoard them.

    • NHL Front Office FAQ

    Why does the AI keep rejecting my trades?

    It wants a premium. Centers cost the most, age tanks value fast, and adding a pick often flips a no into a yes.

    Can I get fired?

    Yes. Ownership grades the mandate every season and tracks trust from 0 to 100. Missing the bracket with a Cup-or-bust roster costs real trust, and at zero the save ends and you take another chair.

    How long can one franchise run?

    As long as ownership keeps you. Seasons chain through the draft and offseason, the game autosaves in your browser, and your Cup count carries over.

    Is NHL Front Office free to play?

    Yes. NHL Front Office is free to play on DoUKnowBall, right in your browser. No download and no signup needed.

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