Here is a wishlist I have for features that should be added and/or brought back into the game:
To add:
Being able to view created players by team and/or last name, because that way, if I use a SnipeNScore Productions roster, I wouldn't have to scroll all the way to the bottom just to find Zdeno Chara
Custom logo editor, as the current logo set might not fit all teams offline players like me want to create.
Expansion in the middle of Franchise Mode, especially Custom League. This way, if you start in, for example, the 1999-00 season, year 2 (equivalent to the 2000-01 season) would have created versions of the Minnesota Wild and Columbus Blue Jackets.
Vintage pre-Edge style jerseys in Create Team, as nowadays, you would probably have to use a mixture of Reebok Edge style jerseys and Adidas Adizero style jerseys. Speaking of Create Team...
New uniform styles in Create Team (shoutout to @Juhani_91_91 for the uniform list I am about to put):
New York Rangers home uniform
Chicago Blackhawks home uniform
Dallas Stars home uniform
Pittsburgh Penguins home uniform
Calgary Flames home and away uniforms
Seattle Kraken uniforms
Detroit Red Wings home and away uniforms
All Reverse Retro uniforms (this would be especially beneficial for people like me and SnipeNScore Productions, as we make retro and/or retro-inspired rosters)
New city/region options (shoutout to @MV75 and his Offline Creators Wishlist for some of these. If you want ones not here, go check that thread out):
Sweden: Ornskoldsvik, Gavle, Ostersund
Finland: Jarvenpaa, Utsjoki, Kokkola
Russia: Sochi, Yekaterinburg, Perm, Samara, Voskresensk
Kazakhstan: Astana, Oskemen (used to be Ust-Kamenogorsk), Almaty
Latvia: Riga, Daugavpils, Liepaja
Belarus: Minsk, Mogilev, Pinsk, Brest, Grodno, Vitebsk
Ukraine: Kyiv, Mykholaiv, Kharkiv, Odessa, Bakhmut, Kremenchuk, Donetsk
Lithuania: Elekrenai, Vilnius, Kaunas
Iceland: Reykjavik
Canada: Duncan (British Columbia; my hometown)
USA: Arkansas
Have non-American names for players from France, Switzerland, Denmark, Norway, Poland, Italy, Croatia, Hungary, Slovenia, Asutria, and Rest of World... if you guys ever have prospects generate from Rest of World anymore.
Allow for even more customization of created player faces, such as being able to change the skin colour at will (this was a thing 2 generations ago, but hasn't been a thing since NHL Legacy Edition, from 2015)
Have Franchise Mode go on for as long as you wish (It's not 2009 anymore, and the 25 year limit wasn't even a technical limit, as NHL 2K10, which released the same year, was able to do this on weaker hardware!)
Generated headshots in Franchise Mode (shoudout to @MV75 for this) for generated prospects. I want this to apply to created players in the mode as well. I also want to see this for custom players elsewhere as well so that historic rosters aren't full of silhouettes, and thus, make them full of life.
To bring back:
Viewing players on custom teams in those teams' uniforms. This was a thing in NHL 20, yet hasn't from NHL 21 onward.
GM Connected. One of the big new additions of NHL 23 was crossplay, which would have been a perfect time to bring back this mode.
Ireland as a selectable country. This hasn't been a thing since, I think, NHL 2003, which released 21 years ago! Nowadays, the only option for Ireland is Northern Ireland, which is part of the UK.