NHL 17: Release Date, Top Player Ratings, New Features, Preview and More

After a long offseason, the 2016-17 NHL regular season is quickly approaching, which means that the release of EA Sports' NHL 17 is very much on the horizon as well.

NHL 17 will hit store shelves Sept. 13 in the United States and Canada and Sept. 15 in Europe. The hit video game franchise is available on both PlayStation 4 and Xbox One and features several new and revamped features that promise to keep gamers and hockey fans alike hooked for many months to come.

Ahead of the game's official release, here is a closer look at some of those features, as well as a rundown of the top-rated players in NHL 17.

Top Player Ratings

Rank	Player	Team	Position	Overall Rating
1	Sidney Crosby	Pittsburgh Penguins	C	95
2	Jamie Benn	Dallas Stars	LW	94
3	Patrick Kane	Chicago Blackhawks	RW	94
4	Drew Doughty	Los Angeles Kings	D	94
5	Alex Ovechkin	Washington Capitals	LW	94
6	Jonathan Toews	Chicago Blackhawks	C	94
7	Shea Weber	Montreal Canadiens	D	94
8	Steven Stamkos	Tampa Bay Lightning	C	94
9	Carey Price	Montreal Canadiens	G	93
10	Anze Kopitar	Los Angeles Kings	C	93
11	Vladimir Tarasenko	St. Louis Blues	RW	93
12	Duncan Keith	Chicago Blackhawks	D	93
13	John Tavares	New York Islanders	C	93
14	Evgeni Malkin	Pittsburgh Penguins	C	93
15	Ryan Suter	Minnesota Wild	D	93
16	Jonathan Quick	Los Angeles Kings	G	93
17	Erik Karlsson	Ottawa Senators	D	92
18	Braden Holtby	Washington Capitals	G	92
19	Brent Burns	San Jose Sharks	D	92
20	Victor Hedman	Tampa Bay Lightning	D	92
21	Tyler Seguin	Dallas Stars	C	92
22	Henrik Lundqvist	New York Rangers	G	92

New Features

World Cup of Hockey

Prior to the start of the 2016-17 NHL campaign, hockey will take center stage on the international level in the form of the returning World Cup of Hockey.

The top six hockey-playing nations as well as Team North America and Team Europe will battle for worldwide supremacy, and NHL 17 capitalized on the craze by including it as one of the biggest new features in the franchise.

Up-to-date rosters for all eight teams will be included, as will a tournament mode and format that will allow gamers to guide a team to the World Cup title.

International teams are always included as part of EA Sports' NHL video games, but the rosters aren't always completely accurate, nor are the uniforms. The best players in the world will be decked out in the official World Cup of Hockey gear in NHL 17, though, which is a huge addition to the gaming experience.

If the World Cup of Hockey is a real-life success as expected, it could become a recurring event. Provided that comes to fruition, NHL 17 will long be remembered as the video game that reintroduced it to the virtual world.

Draft Champions

Customization is a huge factor in assuring that a game has a strong replay-ability factor, and NHL 17 came through in that regard with the implementation of Draft Champions.

The Draft Champions concept was actually introduced in Madden NFL 16, and due to its success and positive reception, EA Sports carried it over to its NHL franchise.

Gamers will have the option of choosing different themes that will influence the player pool before taking part in a 12-round draft. In each round there are four available draft options which allow players to tailor their teams to the way they like to play.

Draft Champions allows gamers to enjoy the thrill of a fantasy draft without the daunting task of combing through every player in the league and being forced to endure a 50-round selection process.

The quick-and-easy nature of Draft Champions means players can build unique teams and take them to the ice within minutes, which is perfect for those who don't have hours to commit to the game.

Net Battle

With time and space currently so difficult to come by in hockey, setting screens and causing havoc in front of the net has become one of the most efficient ways to generate offense in the NHL.

NHL 17 has placed extra emphasis on that fact with the implementation of Net Battles within the already realistic and entertaining gameplay.

Net Battles allow forwards and defensemen to jockey for position in front of the goaltender. The blueliner can try to push the forward out of his goalie's line of vision or tie up his stick to prevent a tip-in, much like in real life.

With goalies being so big and athletic and their equipment better than ever, the easiest way to score on them is ensuring that they never see the shot to begin with.

Net Battles makes it easier than ever to create that realistic dynamic, and it is perhaps the biggest reason why NHL 17 looks to be a better representation of the actual game of hockey than any previous video game in the series.

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