Whether you’re just starting out your HUT career or are looking at building a more affordable team, it’s essential for you to find players that are both cheap and not completely useless.
In this article, I will show you the ten best cheap players in NHL 22 HUT that are absolutely insane in terms of individual performance stats, which go for way less than they truly deserve to go for.
1) Matt Duchene
One of the most impressive cheap NHL 22 HUT cards is Matt Duchene’s. The 81-rated Nashville Predators centerman goes for just a few thousand coins and in return for that, you can avail of his 85 skating, 81 shooting, 81 hands, 78 checking, and 80 defense.
The most impressive stats from his entire card though are his acceleration and speed, which are 88 and 89 respectively. He’s also very decent at faceoffs, rated at 77 this year. So, if you know how to win faceoffs, he’ll help you win a lot of games especially early on in the season.
2) Evgeny Kuznetsov
In many NHL 22 players’ eyes, the 1992-born Russian hockey player is one of the best HUT cards in NHL 22 for under 50,000 coins. The good news? He doesn’t cost anywhere near that much, making him of the best cheap players in NHL 22 HUT.
The Washington Capitals winger boasts 86 skating, 83 shooting, 84 hands, 77 checking, and 79 defense. While those stats seem quite on the high end, wait until I break them down for you. Kuznetsov has 90 acceleration, 90 speed, and 88 agility. On top of that, he has 85 deking and an average of 83.25 shooting, making him one of the most affordable complete forwards in the entire division.
If you know how to deke in NHL 22, he’d help you make some magic on the ice.
3) Nikolaj Ehlers
Next up we have the Danish Nikolaj Ehlers who comes with a rating of 82 and various very impressive offensive performance stats. The 1996-born Winnipeg Jets left-winger boasts 85 skating, 83 shooting, 86 hands, 76 checking, and 80 defense.
As I mentioned earlier, the reason he’s worth quite a decent amount of coins but nothing over the top is because of his 89 speed, 89 acceleration, and 87 agility. On top of that, he has very good shooting stats and his deking is also up there with the best players in the NHL.
He also comes with the Apple Sauce synergy, which will improve his wrist shot accuracy (+2), hand-eye (+2), passing (+4), and stick checking (+4).
4) Kasperi Kapanen
The 81-rated Finnish right winger for the Pittsburgh Penguins is another fantastic and relatively affordable choice for those of you who can spare a couple of thousand coins.
At 6’1″ and 194 lbs, the 1996-born boasts 86 skating, 80 shooting, 80 hands, 79 checking, and 80 defending. What really inflates his value in NHL 22 is his acceleration and speed, which are both 90 this year.
As far as his shooting is concerned, it definitely isn’t the best but the rest of his stats will definitely make up for it, especially early on in the game.
5) Anthony Duclair
The Florida Panthers Anthony Duclair is a brilliant and affordable card for anyone working on a budget. He’s quite similar to Kasperi Kapanen, generating most of his value thanks to his crazy speed stats, but unlike Kapenen, Duclair has a much better shot and goes for about half the price of the Finnish player.
To give you a breakdown of his performance stats, Duclair’s 80-rated card boasts 84 skating, 81 shooting, 81 hands, 77 checking, and 79 defending. As for his acceleration and speed, they are both set at 89 for this year’s NHL.
6) Seth Jones
Amongst the most affordable and great defensive cards on NHL 22 is Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Seth Jones. The 1994-born American comes with 86 speed and 85 acceleration, which is a very fine speed for a defenseman.
On top of that, he’s 6’4″ at 213 lbs, making him a really tough opponent that most offensive players will struggle against. As for his defensive attributes, he has an 83 overall but when broken down, his defensive awareness is 84, shot-blocking is at 82, stick checking at 84, faceoffs at 50, which isn’t great and his discipline is at 80.
7) Jake Gardiner
The Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Jake Gardiner is one of my personal favorite defensive cards on NHL 22. His 81-rated card boasts 85 skating, 79 shooting, 79 hands, 82 checking, and 82 defending. If we break down his skating stats, he has 87 speed and 87 acceleration, which are very decent stats for a defender.
As for his defensive abilities, the 1990-born American possesses 83 defensive awareness, 84 shot blocking, 84 stick checking, 52 faceoffs, and 86 discipline.
His slapshot and slap shot power stats are also relatively average, at 77 and 84 respectively. Do note that with the bombarded synergy, those two shooting stats would go up by 2 points and his aggression and discipline by 4.
8) Jake Oettinger (GK)
I don’t really tend to recommend goaltenders in articles like these but the Dallas Stars youngster Jake Oettinger is a card that I can’t just let slide. The 81-rated 1998-born keeper has some of the most impressive stats for keepers in his price range. He boasts 80 high, 80 low, 82 quickness, 81 positionings, and 80 rebounds.
Despite his awesome individual performance stats, the reason why Jake doesn’t go for a lot of coins in NHL 22 HUT is because his card can’t be made part of the Dallas Stars team builder set as he’s technically a Texas star.
9) Nick Leddy
The 6’0″ 204 lbs Nick Leddy is another super underrated name in NHL 22. The 81-rated defender who currently plays for the Detroit Red Wings can be made part of your team just for a few thousand coins, making him one of the most crucial cards to have early on in your HUT career.
The 1991-born American boasts 83 skating, 79 shooting, 82 hands, 80 checking, and 82 defending. If we dig a little deeper into his individual stats that really make him a great choice, we should pay attention to his 85 acceleration, and 85 speed, which really are top-of-the-line stats for a player in his price range.
10) Samuel Girard
And last but not least we have the Colorado Avalanche’s defenseman Samuel Girard. The Canadian 1998-born boasts 86 skating, 80 shooting, 85 hands, 76 checking, and 82 defending.
One of the most impressive performance attributes are his acceleration and speed, which are both set at 89. His shooting isn’t the best but his deking is 85, which makes him a very rounded and capable player. The fact that you can get him for so few coins really makes him a no-brainer of a choice.
Final Thoughts
It’s important to remember that if you don’t have a lot of resources, especially early on in NHL 22, you shouldn’t settle for players that will handicap your performance and overall success in the games that you end up playing.
The above-mentioned players are some of my favorite cheap players in this year’s national hockey league. If you do happen to come across any other cheap but great players, feel free to let me know and I will be sure to add them to the list.
