The key word here is "matchmaking". And to follow that up, what's really made sense about some of the subtractions over the last several years?
It's not an overly thorough look, but there's a list of "but why?", and there's another list of "because we can".
Ladies and gentlemen, realistically and collectively, there is absolutely no chance that our "financial involvement", into this series, is going to result in either making this a number 1 and/or go-to game, once we start up our consoles. Nope. For some, they eat this cluster*&$# all day long, no questions asked, unless it's asking for seconds, thirds, etc. And for others, including myself, it's an absolute embarrassment of actual hockey plays, and majorly nonsensical.
Personally, and in The Division 2, I have played 4274 hours. The Division (1), I'm at roughly half of the hours. Meaning, playability, new DECENT content, less worry about a graphic-appeasing/useless engine, and a long list of why I continue to play this game. Oh, and it came out in 2019. And the best part, as much as I respect Mr. Lahey (John Dunsworth), you don't have to be "right in the pocket" to play and have fun with it. With the current EA SPORTS NHL series, being "right in the pocket" is expected, and playing and having fun with usually requires more drinky poos....