I play full sim cpu vs cpu Franchise. I'd like to see the gameplay look more like real hockey. The game has become linear and very stale to watch. I'm not talking about animations but reactions to play by play. Hockey is such an exciting sport but players always make the same overdone moves and angles. The game looks like real hockey but doesn't carry the excitement and creativity from the CPU players.
I also cannot find an online game and play in an NHL arena with other players like we used to 10 years ago with no issues. The other thing is the sound effects. There are still these old punching wax paper sounds that are from the 90's to represent hits. Those sounds do not exist in hockey. They're thumps. Years ago this was the bests we could do but now it's really inexcusable.
If a game doesn't play itself like a real hockey game looks, then it's poorly done. That's the ultimate litmus test. Watch the game play itself.