Sets

Sets are pretty straight forward and very important in building your team. This is how you can get most of your top players without having to open packs or buy them on the market.

You take your extra cards you are not using and turn them into rewards of cards, packs, collectibles, players, or anything you can receive in the game. There are exclusive set only players you can only get if you build them in sets.

There are plenty of sets. I will go into detail on each but the most important sets you need to know are the event sets and the Icon sets.

1. Team Building Sets - NEW TO 21
Not new, I should say brought back from previous versions of HUT.  Main goal of this was to take an entire team's base players and be able to add them to a set to get a high overall player.   I will update more on this once I can play more with the game.  Wouldn't waste any time yet on these sets until you have quite a few cards built up, more than you can get in playing for 10 hours during a trial.                 

2. Event Sets
Every event has a list of sets you can do. Every event always has a top overall rated card in the game (at least 1, usually more) which you can trade in gold collectibles get get. You can also upgrade your Silver/Gold Icons during these events (though if the event ends these will be available in sunset sets or a Master Icon Set list for the Gold Icons) Each one releases some different icons so be patient if your player hasn't shown yet. The master 99 icons also appear at the end of the year in here.
Each event set has collectibles earned during event challenges which can be traded in here. In the past, they have ranged from a player to a low percentage pack. This right here is by far the easiest way to build your team quickly.
QUICKTIP: ALWAYS PLAY EVENT CHALLENGES AND TURN IN SETS.
If this was Zombieland, that would be rule number 1 and 2. You will not get a usable player every event, but most will.
The MSPs you can get via loan in the challenges are available here for Gold Collectibles, as well as the gold cards for 1 gold collectible set. Be warned, those MSPs run for over 10 collectibles usually. This is why you are told to play Rivals and Squad Battles. The rewards can be turned into these collectibles.
My one recommendation on getting MSPs, and that is if you can wait until the next, always do. They always get better. Hold onto your gold cards too. Don't turn them into collectibles until you are ready to get a player. Between deciding to get a player, and having enough resources to get them, your need may change or you may want to turn them into a silver icon using icon collectibles instead. You may open a pack as a reward and get the player you were saving for. So always keep them until you're ready to use them.
QUICKTIP: When the event starts, check the MSPs. See if you really like any, and aim for that player when you play the challenges for the loan. Trial runs are not a bad thing.
QUICKTIP - Current event - I would pass at this event currently. The resources you use to build an 89 overall player (8 Golds) and then a few more to get the 90, to me isn't worth it yet. There is not guarentee these cards will ever be upgraded. So I'd recommend saving your players for the next event or an Icon.

3. Icon Sets - My favorite and the way I built my team up at first. I used all my untradable gold cards on Icon Collectibles, got others randomly, bought the players to make them and used them to build players.
QUICKTIP: never buy gold or icon collectible on the market unless you see one at a steal. They're always posted for more than what it costs to buy 50 players. Just buy 50 players.
Basically put, these are all former players, almost all hall of famers, and they are available at a silver level at the start of the game ranging from 85-91 overall. In fact, there are only 2 91 overall, 66 and 99. You can either buy the silver cards from the market (which I found cheaper for most silver players) or use them to make a set for a 85 player, 86 player, ect. The higher the rating the more icons necessary. You will put your icons in a set, and get a choice of 4 of the players at that level.
My recommendation is if you want a specific icon, buy him in the market and use your icons to upgrade him. Most go cheap. You will use your icons to turn him from a silver into a gold player. In NHL HUT 2020, only 3 players really go for much more than their icons, Mario, Wayne and Chris Pronger. If you want one of those three, I recommend using your icons to get them. The first two are automatic with your icons, and if you use them on the 88's (the group Pronger is in), there's a few players you wouldn't mind taking if you do not get Pronger. Forsberg, Sakic, and Selanne are not shabby alternatives. Also, all players you get from doing the icon set become untradable.

Unlike packs, sets offer sure things. Some packs offer high odds at a lesser cost, but Sets are good things and packs can be won as rewards, use your winnings on Sets.

4. Monthly Collectible Sets - these are obtained from your daily rewards pack and daily/weekly objectives. These are free packs/collectibles! Sign in daily to get your daily reward pack for 1, and if you get time, get the 2nd by getting all daily objectives. Rewards for these include Premium Packs, Premium Player Packs, Icon or Gold Collectible, or some customization packs that you shouldn't waste the collectibles on.

5. Upgrade Sets - these are simply there to give players an easy to do for their daily and weekly objective requirements, and occasionally are a lottery ticket. Like 1 in a 100 trillion chance lottery ticket. But gives you something to do with all the crap you get from packs you do not want.
In these sets you will find the following:

• Bronze Player Upgrade - For some reason EA wastes our time having bronze players in the game. No one plays with them. Everyone immediately has a silver or gold team to start. Why do we need this? So you take every bronze player you get and put them into this set. 8 Bronze cards gives you 2 untradable silver cards. Wow. Divison 1 here I come.
• Silver Player Upgrade - Same thing like Bronze, except they give you silver players so they can fill the packs with garbage so you keep buying them. Take every untradable you have and put them into this set. I recommend always selling your tradable silvers for max profit. Unless you need them to do a set for an objective. But 8 gives you 2 untradable gold cards. Once to twice a year you may hit on a card you can use in your lineup. Probably done about 300 of them, and gotten 1 player I've used. Rest turned into collectible fodder.
• Gold Player Upgrade - this time, 8 gold players become 2 untradable gold players. Yes, that is correct. Oh, but one is guarenteed to be above 80. Wow. Again, you can do this if you wish, but thinking you are better off putting these players into a gold or icon collectible set.
• Bronze/Silver Jersey/Logo Sets - just autofill them. Do then when you need to get an objective done or when you feel like a random pack. These reward you all mini and base packs, but packs none the less. At least you will get a contract or two out of them.
• Gold Areana/Logo Sets - again, used just when you need to get rid of them for a Premium Pack this time. Except I've been playing daily since Nov and have not gotten one of the logos and maybe 1 other arena. They rarely show in packs. Just mentioning them because they are there.
• Gold Jersey Sets - these will yield 1 Premium Pack as well. People will pay some coin for some rare jerseys, but I do not believe its worth the time to find out if they'll pay 500 or 800 coins for a jersey. Keep 1 home and 1 away you like, use the rest in this set to get packs. Easy as that. Rewards are tradable too.
  

6. Sunset Sets - use these for past players in sets you can upgrade that you may have missed while the event was live. Any MSPs will not be there (the ones you have to trade in 16 Gold Collectibles for), but certain silver icon upgrades are available there for gold collectibles. In case you have a few GCs and ICs and want to upgrade a silver icon faster.

7. Tips Set - at beginning of the game to give you free contracts and a few other things. Do them in the beginning to get a few free contracts and such.