NHL Needs a Total Systems/Strategy Revamp

For the most part, you've nailed it on the head.  I even learned some interesting things from this.  But actually, the Overload strategy DOES work this way in EA NHL games.  You can set up the umbrella on a 5v5 very easily by skating it up the boards or passing to D1, begin shifting D1 to the point of the umbrella... and now your passing option is F1 or D2 on either corner of the umbrella.  F2 is literally where you said he would be, F3 is literally screening and looking for deflections, with F2 looking for the cleanup or backdoor one timer\rebound.  But a whole lot of people don't know a very specific secret about Teammate AI and why they suck... you see... most people think that the 'AI Learning' slider has more to do with the other team.  When in fact, it actually affects your teammates playmaking and positioning abilities significantly more.  The real reason the AI actually sucks is because that slider is sometimes reduced on people's game, and if you actually max it out, it's like all of a sudden the AI knows what you want to do on offense, the forecheck, the backcheck, on defense and even on the breakout.  They learn sort of a 'on the go' playbook by seeing where you move around and what positions you make passes and shot attempts from.  But I digress, there are a few reasons why the current offense is passable, maybe not perfect but it works fine.

The Overload has been my staple offensive strategy for over a year in 5v5.  Behind the Net is actually used a lot in NHL level hockey as well because of the aggressive man on man defense of some teams and perhaps the lack of innovation of some offensive schemes, F1 will skate up the boards to D1, followed by a dump down the boards where F3 will move his butt behind the net for the pickup... the cycle continues from here.  F2 will be a pass\shot option from a sharp angle depending on whether the puck carrier continues up the boards or not (potentially a deflection setup if D1 wrists one at the goalie.  F1 will move to the weakside or look for the tip in, waiting for the next dump down the boards.  Alternatively, you can L2 (vision control) just behind the net to the left or right of the goaltender to signal a teammate to move back there when you need to get out of trouble.

I am not entirely sure how Behind the Net generates scoring opportunities since sharp angle shots usually don't clear the goalie's shoulder, but they do sometimes with snipers.  My guess is the Shoot\Pass tendency slider is a key factor in how your line uses this setup play.  Also your opponent's aggressiveness\defensive strategy affects whether you can use Gretzky's Office... the stationary behind the net scheme.  At this point, the shoot tendency and pinch slider should be more than welcome.  Because you're so deep in the o-zone your defense WILL pinch if they're set up in the team strategies to do so, it's all preference really.  Tip in's are always an option if shot from the corner of the blue line.  On overload, tip ins work from almost anywhere and even from the point of an Umbrella.  Crash the net, I am not entirely sure I understand since the only position on the ice that I get anything resembling net crashing or setups for deflects is if I am shooting from the corner of the blue line again.  My guess, Crash the Net has more to do with 'Puck Protecting with the A\X button', getting into the slot where the screens are and looking for low rebounds off of the goalie's pads.  Best used with players on checking lines, definitely best used against a weak defensive and forward depth (you will eat alive teams like the Penguins imo).  And usually the 3rd Line CHK should be utilized against the 1st line of a very Offense star power core.  Attribute Effects in sliders should be maxed out, if not... make sure your CHK line is getting the offense time instead of the regular top 6 crew.  You will literally eat them alive, I've made countless clips of me powering my way to rebounds for goals like this.

The forechecks are also there in the game, I read your version of a weak side lock, and actually this is a real thing in the game too.  It's just, you better be F2\F3 most of the time since your responsibility is much greater than F1 if he is chasing the carrier behind the net.  Defense pinch settings matter a whole lot, aggression\forecheck settings matter too.  In addition, the AI is actually programmed to protect the back check and like more than half of the time... there is no real good reason for the defense to pinch if the opposing team is posing an energetic breakout chance.  The AI in the past (NHL 16 era) would completely screw up and pinch anyways causing a massive breakdown on the backcheck.  EA patched this so the AI won't be that vulnerable to bad coaching settings.  And most importantly, the opposing team usually needs to be tired for this to work without giving up massive stretch passes and breakouts.  So you need to time the aggression on forechecks for the latter half of periods so the other team isn't fresh on their legs.  I usually increase the aggression for all settings, even defense once I know the opponent is tired and weak.  It's best to start a period with either balanced or conservative settings so that your team is maintaining healthy and speedy lines.  Since you can turn the latter half of the period, (even earlier) into an outright onslaught.  And it's usually best to start messing with these settings either on a powerplay, or at around 12:30ish left in a period.  Alternatively, you can increase the slider for Teammate Coaching Strategy Adjustments so that the coach automatically increases and decreases pressure.  But with this, sometimes you might not notice the changes until you give up a goal or something.

I'm giving out trade secrets here, so if you like what I said, and if it was helpful just let me know.  I hope this information would help out in case you feel bummed out about the AI, and trust me... sometimes I wish their creativity wasn't so crude and simple at times.  But one thing I did notice is that with Powerforwards, you can usually create a very dynamic offense.  So yeah, hope that helped, good luck.