@KlariskraysNHLyes 100% , the game need to balance their player classes or and mix the xfactor and grey/gold attributes with specific classes
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.
I think a way you can penalize speed and agility without effecting other stats, because lets face it our players rating wise are too low across the board, is to do two things.
1. Hustling down the ice in any fashion BURNS through your energy quickly.
2. Hard turns and stops cost energy to perform.
These two changes could slow the game down immensely and make it less a rush style and a little more tactical.
Oh and my usual add some form of line change/energy regen system to balance this so if you use all that energy you can, at the risk of being out of position, go to the bench to refill your energy back to full.
