NHL 26 Be A Pro Mode Feedback

Thanks for taking the time to read the post EA_Barry​ , I had some additional thoughts that I think may also be useful to some degree. Albeit, some are relatively niche.

One thing I personally struggle with GREATLY in NHL 26 is movement and controls, granted I only picked the series back up with NHL 23 and havent played regularly since maybe pre-2018. But, there are a lot of mechanics added over the years and I find it frustrating that there are no context sensitive tutorials for specific mechanics, which leaves players who are unfamiliar with their application/usage smacking their head against the wall trying to figure out the "how/why" some things work the way they do. I have seen the control indicators pop up in some proper contexts such as the (L2/LT to evade net battle) but aside from small instances where they have you somewhat "stuck" I only ever remember it as a visual box, not a learned mechanic to apply when necessary.

Small example can be turning a skater around, I am slowly understanding that quick direction shifts can easily cause stumbles, BUT, even in some instances, trying to maintain momentum and properly turn the player in the direction you wanna face results in confusing motions and the realization that I genuinely don't understand how movement works, nor does the game explain what I'm missing. I'll take it a step further, with camera preference having my team moving "north" or upwards and my controls also locked to reflect this, I had a sudden epiphany that there's a disconnect between the players actions and the intended ones. If you use defensive stick and hold your right stick to the right, your player always reaches to THEIR RIGHT, not necessarily the right side of the screen if you're coming back "down". I dont know if that makes sense or if ALL actions are effected in this sense, but I genuinely cant find a control style that mentally makes sense to me, camera relative feels horrible because if the net is off to one side or the other of me, attempting forehand or backhand glides results in unintended amd weak shots.

On top of that, other mechanics I have little to no understanding of how they function in context are; Board Battles, Net Front Battles, shove checks, Vision Control/Backskating, stick handling/tying/lifting(maybe? I have had some successful lifts but it feels like it doesnt properly effect player possession?) And I get that a lot of this is "inherited knowledge from previous games" and pretty much useless for other players who understand the application of these things, but this can be extremely discouraging for people who want to get into and learn the game. I feel like the game would benefit greatly for including instructionals on these tools alongside the ability to freeskate and practice team strategies.

I briefly mentioned in my initial post that the game could include a feature for BAP where the game could help you understand your role in the teams strategy, and last night I had an interesting idea for how this could be applied. I like how the game can show you positional aid boxes to give you an idea of roughly where you should be, and I think that could be applied in a more comprehensive form. You could adapt this positional aid in a practice(breakout/rush defense/defensive zone scenario) and give the player a box to stay in that would keep them in proper defensive positioning. Or instead of moving box, it could be a drawn up play with an animation showing what you should be aiming for in theory(X's vs O's on a whiteboard with motion showing positioning in different situations)