I was drafted 1st, started 3rd line, played almost perfect hockey and still end up 4th line because the game decides where you play, the game can't even give me 3 green stats (c+ etc.) when before they were 100, 100, 100... now 42, 36, 75, 57... What you do doesn't matter, the computer decides everything. This is a middle finger show for the players, shame on EA! I'm seriously considering switching back to NHL23 because it's the last game that works.
Overall, it feels like I was robbed of $80.
Of course, you can "cheat" the game, i.e. set the level to beginner or play in 20 minute increments, etc., but that's not the point that players should be reduced to doing that. One more thing, the translation of this game, from English to Finnish, was done by someone who was no more than 7 years old, and there are some absolutely shocking mistakes.