As an offline only player; I find that the passing is more realistic compared to prior games. Is it less accurate, I can see the argument in that, but also, in NHL 23 and 24, passes were too accurate and made it offer less realism cause there should be no pass that is 100% guarantee. When looking at teams passing percentages after games in my franchise mode the average for myself and the AI team is usually around 80% - 85%, compared to NHL 24 where the AI passing would be in the 90% range or higher, which was unrealistic.
I have had missed passes but usually falls on me for not timing the pass correctly. I have also learned that stretch passes don't work as well (which again makes sense - they are risk reward type of passes), where as doing short passes have a higher completion rate.
The overall gameplay feels better overall and feels more like a SIM experience instead of the Arcade experience of NHL 23 and 24.