Draft six players from across NHL history — 3 forwards, 2 defensemen, 1 goalie — and an engine projects your run through the playoffs: 16 wins (four rounds of four) lift the Stanley Cup. A perfect 16-0 sweep is the dream.
Each of your six picks starts with a slot-machine roll that lands on a franchise and an era, then shows you every player it has — forwards, defense, goalies. Take one; it drops into a matching slot and the choices narrow as you fill up. Stuck with a weak roll? You get two skips per game — one to re-roll the franchise, one to re-roll the era.
Every player is scored 0–99 in each of four categories, measured only against others from their own era — so a 1950s great isn’t punished for low modern totals. That rating is hidden; infer it from the stats, the year, and your hockey sense.
Each group is judged on its own job — forwards on Scoring & Playmaking, your two defensemen on Defense, your goalie on Goaltending. Your record blends all four and your lowest drags hardest, so chase balance, not just scoring.
Forward passing wasn’t legal in the attacking zone until 1929-30 — the season scoring nearly tripled and hockey first looked like the modern game. Everything before is a different sport that can’t be fairly era-adjusted, so the player pool begins there.