The Franchise Hockey Manager series returns for its 13th version in 2026-27, with new additions that will further expand on the most authentic hockey strategy gaming experience you can find.

Choose one of dozens of leagues around the world and select a team to guide to glory, including a chance at the ultimate prize: FHM13 is licensed by the NHL®, allowing you to take the reins of your favorite franchise to capture the Stanley Cup®. Or, take control of a national team and try for international supremacy.

You can also choose a historical game, where you can begin in any year in NHL® history, play in one of several historical minor leagues, or play in a legendary international tournament, including the World Championships as far back as 1929.

If you'd like to create your own customized league, you can do that, including allowing international play in the world you design.

If you've been playing FHM12 and can't bear to part with your team, import that save into FHM13 and carry on with the addition of FHM13's new features.

However you choose to play, you have control of your team and can oversee finances, select strategies, hire your staff, make trades, sign free agents, and draft the newest generation of stars as you try to build a championship team - and then make it into a dynasty!

All new for Franchise Hockey Manager 13:

• Feel the heat on Trade Deadline Day as you try to improve your team while the clock is running down.

• Trading AI rewritten from the ground up that is used by all trading-related systems (“AI–AI Trades”, “Human–AI Trades", “Shop Player”, “Make This Work” and "Draft Day Trades"), thereby creating a consistent gameplay experience.

• Manage your team off the ice with more interaction between you and your players in our completely new Team Dynamics system. React to player concerns and make sure you stay in control of the locker room. You can also disable this feature if you prefer.

• A new Playoff Editor allows you to fully customize your playoffs the way you want them.

• A reworked Home Screen gives you more information about your league and the hockey world. Never miss an important international tournament or the start of the playoffs again.

• Better support for larger screens. The new default window size is now Full HD (1920×1080), with a larger font size for improved readability.

• An improved schedule generator reduces the number of back-to-back games for each team to a more realistic level.

• Greatly improved player creation in fictional games: the quality of players generated at the start of a new game is now much more in line with the real world. In addition, generated contracts are now more realistic, making finances a much more important factor in fictional games.

• The Team Outlook System has received a complete overhaul. Teams now move through the different phases much more realistically and make greater use of their current phase when making decisions, such as trades.

• A new Team Championship Check screen allows you to see how close your team is to competing for the playoffs. See which important pieces are already in place, which prospects are already in the system and will contribute in the coming years, and where you still need to find help from outside the organization.

• New league reports: League and team rankings for career jersey sales. Track which player from your team has sold the most jerseys throughout his career and see how he compares to the rest of the league.

• As always, the update also includes complete team and player updates for the new 2026–27 season, as well as numerous smaller changes and improvements.