Gameplay and Presentation Issues

A set of good ideas, but I need to point out three of them.

Skating Mechanics and Stick Physics: Those clipping issues you mention occur in like. 95% of video game titles. It's just a sacrifice made to increase performance if I'm not mistaken. There could definitely be improvements made to the skating clipping issues, but the stick clipping is unlikely to see significant improvements.

Missing Stanley Cup Playoffs Logo On The Ice: You know who else is missing that logo? The entire NHL. No arena paints those logo on the ice anymore because broadcasts have replaced that spot on the ice with graphics advertisements, done to combat lost revenue from the COVID pandemic. Re-adding this feature would technically be unrealistic, as the last time the playoffs logo was featured on the ice in real life was in 2019.