NHL 17 Announced for PS4 and Xbox One, Cover Vote Begins

EA Sports today announced NHL 17, the next entry in its longrunning professional hockey series. The game is launching later this year, likely around September, for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

The developer released a "vision" trailer for the game as well, containing some footage, but mostly serving as a high-level overview for what it hopes to deliver.

NHL 17 will offer "deeper and more customizable experiences in [its] most popular modes," the video's narrator says. Additionally, it sounds like EA will be looking for player feedback, as the developer says it plans to "engage" with fans "across all aspects of development."

Overall, EA's ambition for NHL 17 is to create the "biggest and most exciting hockey game to date."

Fans will determine which NHL player gets featured on NHL 17's cover as part of a multi-round community vote. The first round of voting takes place now through May 2, with rounds two and three coming later.

Round 1 matchups are listed below, while you can place your vote here. Alternatively, you can cast a vote on Twitter using the hashtag format of "#NHL17[player name]." There is no limit on how many votes you can place, while votes on Thursday count as double for some reason.

The winner will be announced at the NHL Awards in Las Vegas on June 22, which is also where EA will broadcast NHL 17's first gameplay footage.

Round 1 Matchups:

• Joe Pavelski (Sharks) vs. Anze Kopitar (Kings)
• Aleksander Barkov (Panthers) vs. Jamie Benn (Stars)
• Connor McDavid (Oilers) vs. Jakub Voracek (Flyers)
• Vladimir Tarasenko (Blues) vs. Victor Hedman (Lightning)

A "Legacy Edition" of last year's NHL 16, featuring only minor changes from NHL 15 and updated rosters, was released for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. However, EA has not yet said if it plans to release something similar for NHL 17. We'll report back with new details as they become available.