Electronic Arts unveiled EA Sports NHL 27 today, confirming a September 11, 2026 launch on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. Developed by EA Vancouver, the game headlines with Connected Franchise, a brand-new mode that lets up to 32 human-controlled teams compete in a shared online league. NHL 27 also brings a new commentary team to the booth and a refreshed broadcast presentation across all 32 NHL arenas.
San Jose Sharks center Macklin Celebrini headlines both the Standard and Deluxe Edition covers, becoming the youngest cover athlete in franchise history at 20 years old.
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Connected Franchise Finally Hits the Ice in EA Sports NHL 27
The single biggest addition to EA Sports NHL 27 is Connected Franchise. The mode lets players build and manage a shared online league with up to 32 human-controlled teams. EA is promising flexible scheduling and full roster management, backed by commissioner tools designed to grow alongside the community over time.
This has been a long time coming. The last time the NHL franchise offered anything like this was GM Connected, which appeared in NHL 13 and NHL 14 before EA cut it when the series jumped to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One with NHL 15 in 2014. Every year since, fans have flooded EA’s forums and social channels asking for the mode’s return.
EA community managers publicly acknowledged the demand as recently as last year without committing to a timeline. NHL 27 finally makes good on that ask, and it does so with the full 32-team setup that the community has been pushing for. The only downside so far is that it looks like players have to fill the entire league with real humans, but there is still plenty of time for EA to respond to feedback and change that.
Buccigross and Pang Take Over the Booth
NHL 27 is swapping out its entire commentary team. John Buccigross and Darren Pang will handle play-by-play and color commentary, respectively, replacing James Cybulski and Cheryl Pounder. Cybulski had been the play-by-play voice since NHL 20, while Pounder joined as color commentator starting with NHL 24.
Buccigross has been at ESPN since 1996 and currently calls games for the NHL on ESPN. Pang played goal for the Chicago Blackhawks from 1984 to 1989 before transitioning into broadcasting, where he now serves as the Blackhawks’ lead color commentator and calls national games on TNT. The two previously worked together on ESPN’s NHL 2Night, which ran from 1998 to 2004.
On paper, this is a great duo. There was nothing wrong with Cybulski and Pounder, but Buccigross is one of the most well-known hockey commentators, and Page is excellent in his own right. How well they work together remains to be seen, but I’m optimistic.
Every Arena Gets Its Own Identity
Beyond the booth, NHL 27 is overhauling how every building in the league looks and sounds. EA says the team recreated all 32 arenas to match their real-world counterparts, complete with team-specific pre-game presentations and real goal songs that play when the home team scores. A new dynamic crowd system gives each building its own feel on top of that.
This presentation face-lift is crucial for getting new fans into the game. It’s not just new players who will enjoy it, either. Celebrini called the in-game recreation of the Shark Tank “honestly unreal,” pointing to specific touches like skating out through the shark-head entrance and hearing the real goal song after every score. Senior Game Design Director Mike Inglehart put it simply: the team wanted players to “feel the change the moment they take the ice.”
NHL 27 picks up where NHL 26‘s ICE-Q 2.0 system and NHL EDGE integration left off, continuing to use real-world puck and player tracking data to power gameplay. The announcement headline also teases “Unique Team Playbooks,” though EA has not shared specifics on that front yet. EA plans to share more on NHL 27‘s full feature set in the coming weeks.
In our NHL 26 review, we praised the game for bringing hockey to life better than any previous entry while noting there were still things to clean up. NHL 27 appears focused on the presentation and social sides this time around, with the gameplay foundation from NHL 26 staying largely in place.
Pre-Orders and Early Access
NHL 27 is available in two editions. The Deluxe Edition includes seven days of early access starting September 4, 4,600 NHL Points, a Macklin Celebrini World of Chel Limited Loadout, and several Hockey Ultimate Team packs. Standard Edition pre-orders come with 500 NHL Points, a HUT NHL Player Pack, and a World of Chel double XP boost.
EA Play members can jump in starting September 4 with a 10-hour early access trial. Members also receive 3,000 Chel Coins, World of Chel Season Pass XP Multiplier Tokens, and a 10% discount on EA digital purchases, including pre-orders and NHL Points.
EA Sports NHL 27 launches September 11, 2026, on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.
