How many HUT packs do we have to buy to fund a functional EA hockey game?

You did the right thing. You want a better hockey game? Stop buying it until they are forced to make a better game. They charge the same amount of money for all their sports game even if NHL is nowhere near the quality of like NFL and FC (there are far from good games too, but it's another debate). 

And before someone says it : no, because "hockey is not enough of a big market to justify investments into the game" is not an excuse. Either make an actual good sports game so the fan base and the sport can grow (similar to what The Show is doing) or make NHL less expensive. No one should buy this full price with the current state of the game. 

The game is good in a lot of ways, but there are so many things not going well with it that it's impossible to enjoy it. 

Hello! While the feedback is certainly appreciated, it would be good to know specifically what your issues are. Blanket statements like the AI is useless, don't tell us anything. What bugs are you experiencing? It would be good to have details on those as well. Which past bugs have returned? What attention do you want to see given to popular modes?

No connected franchise is of course one that doesn't need further explanation.

There has been a lot of positive feedback about the gameplay. Is there something about it you don't like?