What happened to pokes?

No amount of stats or x-factors should stop that puck from being poked. Offensive player just mindlessly skating right at the defender not protecting the puck in any way whatsoever, in no world is that clip an acceptable outcome. This is the exact same problem that's been in the game for years now, pokes like that need to work every single time.

I'm not seeing there's no room for improvement and this is perfect. Hopefully, we'll see these situations handled more realistically in the future. Currently though, pokes are working a lot better than they used to. And pokes in this situation are very frequently working. There's of course the option to use your body to separate them from the puck. 

I get the debate over this particular play. However, there are also a ton of pokes knocking the puck away. Ability scores need to matter as well. Even the most skilled players aren't going to land every stick check. Both player's abilities are factored in to these plays.