Any love or changes to Defence players?

---

@EA_Aljo wrote:

What changes would you all make to defense? Besides improving tying up players in front of the net as well as decreasing penalties for stick lifting.

---

Since you asked.  I'm pretty sure I've brought all of these up over the last couple of years, but once again:

1. A stick lift that isn't so risky  it isn't worth using.
2. Poke-checks that reliably dislodge the puck when timed and placed correctly.
3. As @KidShowtime1867 mentioned, remove the speed hit when using poke/DSS while face-to-face with the puck carrier.
4. The ability to tie up players sticks without needing them to come to a stop.
5. The return of incidental contact dislodging the puck.  The change made to NHL 23 where the puck-carrier's stick just moves defender's sticks out of the way when they collide is terrible given the lack of other tools we have.
6. Vastly increase the time it takes for a player to re-gain control of the puck after their stick phases through other players.  Right now the fraction of a second the player takes to re-gain the puck they "lose" by dragging their stick through a defender essentially means they don't lose possession at all.
7. Stop allowing players to maintain possession "through" the boards.  Especially the ability to quickly spin off the boards while keeping the puck.  For example if a player is holding the puck on their left while kissing the glass they shouldn't be able to quickly spin to the right while keeping possession.
8. In general, make body position matter.  Puck carriers skating right at defenders and coming out the other side smelling like a rose should be the exception, not the norm.

One new feature I'd like to see is some way to swat at the puck or opponent's stick to dislodge the puck instead of using a poke-check.  One-on-one and face-to-face with an opponent with the puck all of our existing tools are not nearly as effective as they should be.  Stick-lift is too risky, poke check needs to be done at just the right spot and even then doesn't always have the desired effect.  Even just getting your body in the way doesn't do much.  What's missing in EA NHL is what I'd using IRL hockey, a quick swat at puck exposed right in front of me would knock the puck away AND knock the opponent's stick.

At a ski-high level the main thing that I think would make the game better is to make one-on-one battles more like "real" hockey.  It should be hard and take skill to beat a defender one-on-one.  In  EA's NHL game it's far too easy.  I get that the game will always tilt a bit towards offense, but when every play is a "wow" moment, nothing is.  Make one-on-one offense harder and encourage more passing plays would make the game so much better IMO.

Part of the reason there's so much concern here about the "exhaust system" is the way EA has encouraged players to play offense for years.  Unrealistic puck possession combined with poor defensive tools has created an environment where offense is encouraged to rag around the perimeter in hopes of drawing a defender out of position into a one-on-one battle that is lopsided in the offense's favor.  If passive defense is the wrong way to play defense ( and the "exhaust system" is EA saying exactly that ) the way to encourage more aggressive defense is to give defense the edge in those one-on-one battles.  Force the offensive team to make passing plays or put the puck on net because they fear giving up the puck.  Artificially weakening the defense because they're not running around chasing the puck just encourages the current offensive meta.  Now there's no ability to out-wait offensive players ragging the puck on the perimiter.