If L2 "vision control" allows your player to pivot their hips in one direction (usually towards the goal), then why can't there be an option to pivot the opposite way? I'll give an example of a very common scenario when this makes sense.
Let's say you are a left handed shooter and you're skating down the right wing. You enter the offensive zone. There's a defender to your left that has inside position between you and the net. You want to pass it to the defenseman behind you on the right side blue line. You can either A.) Make a low percentage, blind pass behind you while your body faces the opposite direction of the target. That is very likely to miss the intended target. B) Skate in a clockwise circle to perform a "button hook" away from the defender and make a pass while facing the target, which takes a long time and is more easily defended. C) Hold L2 to pivot your body and stick towards the defender, which makes you vulnerable to a poke check. Or D) Hold L2 + X to pivot your body away from the defender towards the boards, and face the target at the blue line and make an accurate pass.
There are many other scenarios when pivoting in this manner makes sense. It's not an unrealistic maneuver. It's pivoting in the exact same way that L2 does, but the opposite way.
The issue with L2 + X is that you can continue skating at a high speed while pivoting, which makes it spammable. So then don't allow us to continue skating while pressing those buttons and force us to glide. And make a cooldown so you can't repeatedly pivot in a short period of time.
in real life the skating manuever is called the "mowhawk" and its used every game at the NHL level all the way down to beer leagues.
L2+x spammers as well as people that would wrap the puck around their bodies with the right stick in unrealistic ways was a problem but the solution should not be to COMPLETELY BREAK THE SKATING AND STICK HANDING MECHANICS to where the players have LESS control and ability to simulate a realistic skating style.
KInda ironic that Makar is the cover boy this year because he "mowhawks" probably more than any other current NHL player, and EA takes the ability to do that out of the game this year.
Its hard to beleieve that the people that make this game have ever skated or puck handled at any competitive level of hockey, or even watch it that closely.
