Here’s How Retirement Works in NHL 25 Franchise Mode

One of the main pitfalls of franchise mode in NHL 25 is you only have so much control over the players on your roster. You can sign them to a new deal, trade them away, or even stick them on the bench. However, one of the main questions new and veteran players always have with franchise mode is about retirement.

Whether you want an aging player to retire because they’re taking up a spot on the roster or one of your best players just retired out of nowhere, retirement is a constant issue in NHL 25. There’s also a question about retiring a player’s number, as sometimes you want to honor a franchise legend after they’ve hung up their skates.

I’ll take a look at everything involving retirement in NHL 25 franchise mode in the guide below.

Can Players Retire In NHL 25 Franchise Mode?

Let’s just start off by saying that there is very little you can do when it comes to retirement in franchise mode. The game doesn’t really let you control when a player retires. Retirement can happen suddenly with a star member of your team, or one of your older players could skate into his 40s without ever thinking about calling it quits.

However, what users have seemed to notice is that real NHL players will tend to play for longer in franchise mode. On the other hand, CPU-generated players with generic names that don’t exist seemingly are more prone to retirement as they get older. Some NHL 25 players in the community have reported seeing CPU-generated players retire in their early 30s while current NHL stars and legends regularly play past their primes beyond age 40.

It also appears some players are simply more likely to retire later than others. Not every player can be Jagr, but some of them do seem to feature his ageless abilities and won’t retire until their bones start to shake on the ice.

So, while all of this is something to keep in mind, it doesn’t really solve your problem. While you can’t make players retire, you also don’t control when they announce retirement. This can lead to some problematic situations, especially if a player retires out of the blue and leaves a gaping hole on one of your lines. Fortunately, there is a sneaky way to ensure players can’t retire on you.

How To Stop Retirement In NHL 25 Franchise Mode

If you happen to have a player that’s integral to your team and they decide to just retire out of nowhere, there is a way for you to undo that decision. This revolves around regularly saving your franchise mode with new saves, allowing you to load your franchise from many different points.

When a player retires, you can simply reload a previous save where they’re still active, and more often than not, that player won’t retire at the same time they did in your initial save. You can essentially trick the system and change the course of your franchise as retirement is seemingly random, so a new save will likely have different results from another one.

Of course, this only works if you continually save your progress at different points in NHL 25 franchise mode. If you’re like me, you tend to forget about your save and just let the auto-save function do its job or keep your console on for days without having to worry about a new save.

Can You Retire Player Numbers In NHL 25 Franchise Mode?

The final question about retirement you might have is with a player’s number. Retiring a number is one of the highest honors a player can receive from any sports team because it signifies their dedication to the organization and promises no other player can wear their number again.

Unfortunately, there is no way to retire any player’s number in franchise mode. Even if you’re playing with a current NHL legend who is guaranteed to get their number retired by a team, the mode won’t retire any number throughout the course of your playthrough.

So if you play as the Pittsburgh Penguins and keep Sid on your team, just know that his number will be up for grabs after he retires. Of course, that could open the door for you to see some shocking numbers on your team in the distant future. Seeing another 87 in Pittsburgh would be a sight to behold.