Actually, I'm enjoying the game more than I did last year, but it's still a complete mess. It would be best to pause the yearly releases for a couple of years and do a major overhaul, but that's never going to happen.
There's so much wrong with the game that I don't even know where to begin. The people in charge absolutely don't understand how to make a balanced competetive game, they just keep adding new gimmicks every year.
Maybe it would be best to split the game into two like somene in this thread previously suggested, and have one game focused on competetive modes, with just basic skill stick controls, no unnecessary bullshit on top like the X-Factor abilities, and with focus on trying to simulate real hockey. But that's also never going to happen.
The franchise is in a sad state, and honestly even if EA stops making NHL games, I'm not sure someone else is going to try to fill the void. Hockey just isn't popular enough in a lot of countries.