So your saying that we need to have a human Defensive partner to be able to play the game efficiently. What people are actually complaining about is that when the other team starts skating down toward the goal that the AI defensive players often don't do anything. They skate backwards at slower speeds, they don't get in front of them, stick out their stick, basically they do absolutely nothing. NHL is supposed to be a simulation of a real hockey game.
No. I'm not saying you have to have a human defender. You can have one of the forwards back up the D better. I have also seen plenty of times the D take action, but as you know, they are easy to beat by teams that know what they're doing. You may want to try allowing drop in players to join you.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts.