For the first time in series history, EA’s next NHL entry will feature a female player on the cover. On Wednesday, the publisher announced Team Canada’s Sarah Nurse would be one of two athletes to grace the cover of NHL 23, marking another first for the franchise. She’ll join Anaheim Ducks superstar Trevor Zegras. The two are among the most talented young players in the game today.

Nurse, who is biracial, was dominant during the Bejing Winter Olympics earlier this year. In helping Team Canada reclaim the women’s hockey gold after a disappointing silver medal finish in 2018, she set two Olympic records for most points and most assists in a single women’s tournament. She also became the first Black woman to win an Olympic gold medal in hockey.

As for Zegras, even if you’re not a hockey fan, you’ve probably seen his plays in many a highlight reel. He’s known for his creative decision-making, often scoring the kind of goals you see in lacrosse, not hockey. In his first full season with the Anaheim Ducks, he netted 23 goals and 38 assists across 75 games. That performance earned him second in voting for the NHL’s rookie of the year award last season.

EA will reveal more about NHL 23 when the first trailer drops tomorrow at 11AM ET.

A week before the Winter Olympics get underway, EA has added women's teams to its NHL games for the first time. You can now select one of 10 women's International Ice Hockey Federation national squads in NHL 22: Canada, Czech Republic (Czechia), Denmark, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Japan, Russia, Switzerland and, of course, Team USA.

EA has also introduced IIHF Men's and World Juniors teams to NHL 22. Along with competing in IIHF World Championship tournaments, the Men's and Women's teams are playable in the Play Now, Online Versus, Threes Now and Offline/Online Shootouts modes. EA announced the additions last month.

NHL 12 (which was released in 2011) was the first game in the series in which players could take to the virtual ice as a woman, as long as they created one themselves. The following year, Canadian hockey pioneer Hayley Wickenheiser and American defense player Angela Ruggiero (who could join any team in NHL 13) became the first real playable women hockey players in the franchise, but it's taken almost another decade for EA to add full women's squads.

The NHL series is following other major sports games franchises in adding women's teams. EA brought them to its FIFA games for the first time in 2015, while 2K Games introduced the WNBA to NBA 2K in 2019.

Women's hockey teams are coming to EA Sports' NHL games for the first time. The publisher will bring 10 International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) women's teams to the Play Now mode in NHL 22 in January. You'll be able to play as Team USA and Team Canada, among others. The update will also add the tournament structure and visuals of the Women's World Championships.

"The introduction of women's national teams to NHL 22 as part of the upcoming IIHF content will be an important moment for the franchise in its continued effort to reflect the diversity of the hockey community," EA Sports vice president Sean Ramjagsingh told ESPN.

The move is long overdue. Other major sports games franchises have added women's teams over the last several years. Women players were introduced to EA's FIFA series in 2015, while NBA 2K20 was the first game in the 2K Games franchise to feature the WNBA.

Meanwhile, starting today, NHL 22 includes IIHF men's and junior teams. You can play through the IIHF World Junior Championship now and the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship next month. The branding and jerseys for men's national teams will be updated in January too.

EA Sports' NHL series is finally making the switch to Frostbite, several years after FIFA and Madden NFL moved to the engine. As such, NHL 22 marks the "biggest leap forward" for the franchise in terms of gameplay and graphics, according to EA.

Developer EA Vancouver has seemingly made every stitch of player uniforms visible via high-res graphics. Player models have been overhauled as well. EA says Frostbite enables enhanced spatial awareness, with players having upgraded eye animations and the ability to track and react to what's going on around them. The publisher is promising "new physically accurate stick interactions" as well.

A system called Superstar X-Factors brings unique moves to some of the more high-profile hockey pros with abilities based on their real-world traits. For instance, cover star and Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews' Shock and Awe move allows you to let fly with "exciting shots," while Andrei Vasilevskiy’s Contortionist ability plays into the Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender's body-twisting flair to let him pull off impressive saves. Superstar X-Factors will feature in the Franchise Mode, as well as the Be A Pro, Hockey Ultimate Team and World of Chel modes.

NHL 22 is the first game in the series to have dedicated PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S versions. It's also coming to PS4 and Xbox One, but the standard edition doesn't include a free upgrade to the PS5/Series X/S versions through EA's Dual Entitlement system.

For that, you'll need to opt for the X-Factor edition, which includes extra Hockey Ultimate Team (HUT) packs and other bonuses, as well as three days of early access. If you buy the NHL 22 X-Factor edition for PS5 or Xbox Series X/S, you'll also have access to the respective previous-gen versions. However, the only game progress you can move from previous-gen consoles to PS5 or Xbox Series X/S is your HUT team, and it's a one-time content migration. 

The FIFA and Madden NFL games moved to Frostbite in 2016 and 2017 respectively, so NHL is lagging behind a bit. That said, Frostbite was primarily designed for Battlefield and other first-person shooters. Some EA studios, such as BioWare, have found the engine difficult to work with and had to build some of the tools they needed from scratch. That might go some way toward explaining why it took so long to move the NHL franchise over to Frostbite.

NHL 22 will be released on October 15th.