[damientheomen3]

I recently got FHM 3 for the Stanley Cup Finals sale, but one major thing I've noticed is that goalie prospects just don't seem to be handled well at all, at least in fictional sandbox mode. Now, I am playing something of an unconventional setup (14 pro teams, 14 minor league teams and 30 junior teams), but for my first league I made a goalie with really high potential to sim a few seasons and see where he goes and he just... didn't.

He didn't play at all in two pre-draft junior seasons, because his 1* current/5* potential couldn't outrank the other guy's 2* current/3* potential, but he still went 4th overall because of the potential. He spent another year in the juniors, didn't play at all again, and wasn't signed by his drafting team. Then in the following two years, in the minors after having his rights signed, he didn't play at all, not even once, again, for the minor league team of the team that signed him. He didn't progress either, in any rating whatsoever (which is likely because teams can only develop one goalie at a time in the important ratings, which I feel is deeply flawed).

But, looking into other players, it looks like a lot of young goalies get shafted. There was a goalie in the same league that went first overall, was signed, then had his rights released 3 months after signing and constantly shuffled around despite his 5* potential. Again, it's entirely possible this is because of my unconventional setup of twice the junior teams as pro teams, but this has still left a kind of sour taste in my mouth as a first impression.

I like the FHM series. As someone that's still trying to get integrated with hockey, likes to learn sports through management sims, and finds EHM utterly inaccessible because I don't want to spend an hour setting up my training based off a guide that's a game old and doesn't really apply too well, I find the simplicity of the game enjoyable, but I don't want to play a RL league (especially with that ghastly 14/16 conference setup). Are young goalies still this poorly mismanaged if I were to have a more conventional setup, or does it at least even out at that point?