Re: There needs to be a penalty for speed and agaility ASAP
Just want to throw my lot in with everyone here, I think I agree with basically everything that's been said. One my favorite ways to play this game is being the speedy guy flying down the wing and making a play, but it has gotten too easy to overpower your opponents with just continuing to do that. Defense needs a boost. Computer defenders need a boost. And computer goalies desperately need a boost. While not dealing directly with the offense meta, increasing defensive tools may naturally lead to shutting down meta plays more often and an organic shift in tactics. I know its not an easy thing to solve because there is always a chorus of "its too hard to score" when any bone is thrown to defenders.
And in a similar vein, you get little snipers running around with truculence and the broken hip-check mechanic so the traditional trade off for being a little shooty guy is largely mitigated. Re-balancing x factors and fixing hitting are no-brainers for NHL 25.