NHL 20 has found its new champions. In both a cinematic trailer and an announcement page on its website, developer EA Sports unveiled its 2020 Team of the Year, highlighting some of the strongest hockey players from the 2018-2019 season.

The Hockey Ultimate Team (HUT) Team of the Year is selected from six leading players from a list of 36 nominees. NHL 20's winning six players this year are Jordan Binnington, Brent Burns, John Carlson, Nikita Kucherov, Connor McDavid, and Alexander Ovechkin.

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All of these NHL players achieved new highs or won accolades during their season. Goalie Jordan Binnington, for example, helped his underdog team, the St. Louis Blues win the Stanley Cup. Other players like Kucherov and Ovechkin won individual awards for their skills. While Kucherov was crowned the MVP and earned a Hart Memorial Trophy for his 128 point season, Ovechkin celebrated his time as the NHL's top scorer with his eighth Rocket Richard Trophy. Defensemen and center players like Burns, Carlson and McDavid respectively also earned recognition for the large amount of points they had earned this season.

According to EA, each player will receive special in-game items like a pair of custom golden skates or a golden hockey mask and "receive both in and out-of-game recognition." This customization of the NHL players is emblematic of many games in the series.

This is not EA Sports' first interaction with the real-life players and teams that populate its games. Last October, NHL 20 tried to predict the winners of the 2019 Stanley Cup. The game's prediction was incorrect, as HUT member Binnington and the St. Louis Blues defeated the Boston Bruins (the predicted champion) to claim the Cup.

With the announcement of the Team of the Year and the end of the season, hockey fans might turn to NHL 20 to recreate some of the iconic moments of the past season. Fans looking to play as some of the best players in the league might be drawn in by the new in-game items, but they might stay for some of the more unexpected downloadable content (like being able to play as Snoop Dogg in NHL 20). Players can also look forward to new and improved gameplay like the reworked Franchise Mode, which will allow hockey enthusiasts to step into the role of a team owner overseeing players and coaches throughout the 2019 season.

NHL 20 is available now on Xbox One and PlayStation 4.

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Source: Electronic Arts/YouTube