Historical League - players assigned to real-life teams

sixto · 04-05-2026, 12:04 AM

Hi - OOTP has a setting for historical leagues where players can be assigned to their real-life clubs at the time of the start of their careers, when a historical league reaches that season.

This is a nice option because a human who knows how things turn out can always draft or trade for the best players.

Is there a way to do this in FHM12? If not, could it be seriously considered as an option? I enjoy the game, but I find that I quickly assemble a squad of HOF-level players because I know what the programmed GMs could never know.

I thought it was an option in league setup, but I just started my second season, and there's an entry-draft coming up, so whatever I thought I did, did not work. Thanks for your help!

Castleview · 04-05-2026, 07:49 AM

It is an option - something like 'use historical drafts' (Yes/No).
I think you can still choose not to use the draft, even after 1969 when
the NHL drafts began.

I don't think you can change it retroactively however, so you may have set it up wrongly
to begin with.

sixto · 04-05-2026, 11:46 AM

Ok, I see what happened now. I did set the flag to off for "Draft Rookies/Generate Rookies at 16" when creating my league.

However, what I now know is that when you enable historical editing, the checkbox for Draft Rookies/Generate Rookies at 16 disappears. (If you uncheck historical editing, it comes back, albeit flagged on again.)

Is it not possible to enable historical editing and have players assigned to the clubs they started their careers with? I would like to be able to do both and not sure I see why those options conflict.

Castleview · 04-06-2026, 03:18 AM

Just a guess, but with historical editing on you can add and remove
teams from the league , and the game probably can't keep track of
which teams players should now be assigned to.

sixto · 04-07-2026, 09:06 PM

That makes sense!

sixto · 04-08-2026, 12:01 AM

I have tested this twice. It looks like (assuming you leave historical editing unchecked) when you choose to have players assigned to the same club that they were originally signed by, they are automatically signed to contracts. This can lead to a team having way more than 50 players under contract.

Is it possible for the devs to change this so new players are brought in as unsigned players? Or is there perhaps also a reason this has not been done?

As an example, I'm starting a new save in 1984, and Pelle Eklund is already signed to a $53,000 contract, when in real life he did not join the Flyers until 1985.

04-05-2026, 12:04 AM	#1
sixto Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 2,271	Historical League - players assigned to real-life teams Hi - OOTP has a setting for historical leagues where players can be assigned to their real-life clubs at the time of the start of their careers, when a historical league reaches that season. This is a nice option because a human who knows how things turn out can always draft or trade for the best players. Is there a way to do this in FHM12? If not, could it be seriously considered as an option? I enjoy the game, but I find that I quickly assemble a squad of HOF-level players because I know what the programmed GMs could never know. I thought it was an option in league setup, but I just started my second season, and there's an entry-draft coming up, so whatever I thought I did, did not work. Thanks for your help! Last edited by sixto; 04-05-2026 at 12:05 AM.

04-05-2026, 07:49 AM	#2
Castleview All Star Reserve Join Date: May 2020 Location: Scotland Posts: 937	It is an option - something like 'use historical drafts' (Yes/No). I think you can still choose not to use the draft, even after 1969 when the NHL drafts began. I don't think you can change it retroactively however, so you may have set it up wrongly to begin with. Last edited by Castleview; 04-05-2026 at 07:56 AM.

04-05-2026, 11:46 AM	#3
sixto Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 2,271	Ok, I see what happened now. I did set the flag to off for "Draft Rookies/Generate Rookies at 16" when creating my league. However, what I now know is that when you enable historical editing, the checkbox for Draft Rookies/Generate Rookies at 16 disappears. (If you uncheck historical editing, it comes back, albeit flagged on again.) Is it not possible to enable historical editing and have players assigned to the clubs they started their careers with? I would like to be able to do both and not sure I see why those options conflict. Last edited by sixto; 04-05-2026 at 11:48 AM.

04-06-2026, 03:18 AM	#4
Castleview All Star Reserve Join Date: May 2020 Location: Scotland Posts: 937	Just a guess, but with historical editing on you can add and remove teams from the league , and the game probably can't keep track of which teams players should now be assigned to.

04-07-2026, 09:06 PM	#5
sixto Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 2,271	That makes sense!

04-08-2026, 12:01 AM	#6
sixto Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 2,271	I have tested this twice. It looks like (assuming you leave historical editing unchecked) when you choose to have players assigned to the same club that they were originally signed by, they are automatically signed to contracts. This can lead to a team having way more than 50 players under contract. Is it possible for the devs to change this so new players are brought in as unsigned players? Or is there perhaps also a reason this has not been done? As an example, I'm starting a new save in 1984, and Pelle Eklund is already signed to a $53,000 contract, when in real life he did not join the Flyers until 1985.