I was thinking about this before, but I'm not so sure it's the perks that need a nerf as much as it's the goalies and defensive interceptions that need a buff.
If you watch a game of real hockey, pay attention to the goalies and their positioning. Most of the time, the goalie is near the outer edges of his crease so that he can cut down the angle of the shot, aka challenging the shot. He's able to do this because he knows that, at least most of the time, the other team isn't likely to get passes through a sea of skaters for a wide open backdoor goal.
Now, what about when the goalie ISN'T confident in the pass not getting through? Say maybe because his defense is bad or his team is on a PK? Well, the goalie starts playing more conservatively and positions himself further back in his crease so that he'll need to move a shorter distance for backdoor plays, cross creases, one timers, etc.
Well, in the NHL video games, this same exact logic is exists. As goalies, we're constantly dealing with a laundry list of handicaps.
* bad defenders
* very fast, agile forwards
* poor ability for defenders to intercept passes even when positioned properly
* very fast, powerful, and accurate passes by forwards and offensive-minded defensemen
Because of this, the majority of human goalies will play more conservative because we can't count on the defenders, even if positioned well, to break up passes, and if the pass gets through while we're challenging the shot, our goalies can't keep up with the speed and agility of the forwards. As a result of this conservative approach, goalies end up exposing more of the net to the offense and our savability on shots goes down.
If EA wanted a more realistic hockey game, they'd buff defenders ability to break up passes as well as the lateral speed of goalies. Until then, what you have is a game of uber conservative defense and cartoonish forwards.
@EA_Aljo, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this essay lol.