BAP Wishlist - Updated

I have been an avid Be A Pro player since NHL 09. While NHL 22 definitely has seen some improvements there's also multiple things that can improve moving forward. Here are my suggestions (for what it matters).

UPDATED March 2022 - Updates in RED

Be A Pro

• CHL: Please bring back the CHL. I loved how in NHL 20 I could really develop with a couple years in the CHL after being drafted. It felt like I had to something to play for. I understand EA wants this experience to always have the player be the next Connor McDavid, but let us decide our role. Many times in NHL 20 I would play a year in the CHL and grind out for a 2nd round pick. This felt more real to me and I miss it! 
• More Contract Offers PLEASE: The 1-2 contracts at the end of your current contract cycle is asinine. If I am scoring 10 points a season, sure. However if I am netting 65+ points I should be getting multiple offers ESPECIALLY when my RFA status is up. Madden gives us tons of offers in the offseason..shouldn't be that hard to replicate in NHL.
• Completely Overhaul Teammate AI: After playing for months on countless different slider sets the AI for the players team needs to be seriously overhauled. No matter who is on my line, literally doesn't matter if it's McDavid even, they CONSTANTLY turn the puck over and are completely useless. I have set sliders to 100 for "human" just to test this and they are still useless. What is the point of this game mode if your teammates gingerly skate the puck in and immediately just run into the opposing AI and turn the puck over? Has anyone at EA actually seen a hockey game before? Ever heard of puck cycle? Because it does not exist in this mode. one of two things happen. Your AI dump the puck and it's a turnover 99% of the time, or they skate past the blue line and turn it over. I understand the aspect of needing a challenge and I am not advocating that we make our team unstoppable, just make it better! I cannot count the times I have fought for a position to be wide open and my AI does nothing to get the puck to me. It's either intercepted or they fall down after skating into someone. I have set the sliders to ZERO for the opposing team on so much before and it's still an issue. Just make them smarter already. 
• Pre-Game Skate / Practice Mode: I am not a game developer and therefore have no idea the amount of work it takes to make a game, however I don't see why we can't have a more immersive environment with be a pro. Taking part in pre-game skating and off day practices would add SO much more detail to the mode that seriously lacks it. If you don't want to do it, just make it skippable, easy enough for everyone. Preparation leading to the actual game is a large part of a players life, so why not incorporate that in the game. 
• Better Prospect Development: I don't know how many times I see my team draft first-second and beyond round prospects and we never see them in the lineup, even years after being drafted. Usually the AI GM will always sign some overpaid free agent that's 38 years old taking up roster spots for younger breakout players. While I know this certainly happens in the NHL it seems to be severely over-utilized in Be A Pro. I once had three WHOLE lines of 35+ players all signed in FA. All of our prospects just rotted in the minors. Unless your team drafts 1st overall you just never see prospects grow. 
• More Immersive Draft: In franchise mode you can see what team drafted what player. Why can't we see the same in Be A Pro? I would like to see a more expanded draft where I can actually see what player was chosen by which team. Again, you can simply sim the draft if you don't care. This shouldn't be hard to add on for Be A Pro. 
• Contract Negotiation: This is arguably the most frustrating aspect of Be A Pro in my opinion. There is zero customization with contracts. We see bridge deals with RFA's all the time in the NHL, we see players with no trade clauses, bonuses for performance, extension years, etc. This needs to be desperately added for Be A Pro. Even something as simple as stating the term I want for my next contract would be a nice start. However you just get two offers every two-three years? That's not likely. Especially since EA wants your player to be the next star. Also, add the RFA into the process. If I am just finishing up my ELC I can't just sign with anyone without my current team denying to match the offer. The game treats you like a UFA after just three years? 
• Revamp the "Salary Perks": I don't mind the salary perks mainly because it's a good way to add perks to your player. However the amounts for items is laughable. I believe a 10 speed bike is $22,000? C'mon EA haha at least make the perks realistic. Who pays $30,000 for a team barbeque as well? I'm sure Jordan Belfort in his hay day spent more than that on a party, but we are making just a handful of millions, no one is spending $30,000 on a dinner party especially if that perk is only good for 5-10 games. I know the salary means absolutely nothing in this game, but this is an opportunity to have your salary mean something with more meaningful transactions. The system is good, but make the prices realistic. 
• Make the Be A Pro cutscenes optional: When NHL21 introduced Be A Pro cutscenes I was initially stoked about it. However after about 20 games I was over it. There's no context to these and frankly it just ruins immersion worse than if it wasn't in the game at all. It's the same repeated nonsense. Make this optional to turn off. I have actually gone back and played on 20 before just to avoid the annoyance of teammates asking me to go to jazz concerts every other game or my agent asking if I want to help the homeless 15 times a year. I do like how 22 at least adjusted the points you earn to make it more slowly progressive, but unless EA adds TONS of more situations it's just boring. 
• Better yet just remove the cutscenes altogether - So I have been playing BAP for months now and I have compared the mode to Madden. Just take out the cutscenes altogether. it is SO MUCH easier to get through a season in Madden because we can generally skip all these annoying cutscenes. I don't know why these are mandatory in NHL. It's literally the exact same thing over and over again. It's become such an annoyance and it literally means nothing. If Madden can do it, then NHL can.
• Revamp Management, Brand, & Teammate Likeability: These hardly mean anything. I have had Management at negative 1,000 before (and this was nearly impossible to achieve) and it meant nothing. I asked for a trade and was told "not at this time". If my likeability is at -1,000 the AI GM should just trade me without me even asking haha. I tried to have a negative effect and it was alot of work.  The game is just set to make your likeability off the charts green. Not every player is the "golden child" of a team.
• Create A Team: I've never understood why we can't create a team and use that team in BAP. When setting up the league we should have some customization. If I want to add a team and move around teams in the division then I should be able to. This isn't a huge perk, but it would be kind of cool to see your BAP player skating with the team you spent some time creating. 
• Powerplay Improvements: I will say that NHL 22 has slightly increased the gameplay, in my opinion but I cannot count the times I have tried to quarterback a PP just to pass the puck to an idiot teammate that either immediately turns it over or shoots from the worst possible spot on the ice. Powerplays are about strategy. Most teams (again, MOST) will cycle the puck and look for good shot opportunities. I feel like on the PP your teammates just either dump the puck for an immediate turn over or skate it in and immediately shoot. I am finding that I have to call for the puck CONSTANTLY on the PP just to get a feel for a real experience since my AI teammates cannot do it. 
• Updated Goal / Stanley Cup Celebrations: This is overdue for too long. Just update the goal/Stanley Cup celebrations already. I have yet to ever see one player celebrate a goal while his teammates just stand in one spot with their hands up. It cannot be difficult to have all players huddle right after the goal. I know sometimes we do see this, but not too often. Also, why can my player STILL not skate with the cup? I know once you hit Captain status you will get the Cup, but let me skate with it manually. Just update it all already.
• Realistic Trades: It never fails. Year after year my team trades our first round pick for again an aging player on a 1 year contract. I have played some seasons with awful teams and we end up with a top 10 pick just to watch them trade it for a terrible player with only 1 year left. Makes absolutely no sense. Trades in this game (AI-wise) are just a free for all. Hardly any of them are evenly done. If my team is finishing bottom 10 we should be trading our first rounder for AT least two lineup players and other picks, not just for someone like Duncan Keith. 
• Add the All-Star Game / Winter Classic: Why is all-star game appearances on my milestone tracker but I never get to play in them? Again, just make it skippable but at least give us the option to play in it. Also if I am on a team with a Winter Classic why can I not play it in BAP? Playing this mode year after year can get boring quick, add something different to break up the mundane seasons. 
• Option to shorten seasons: This honestly may be my biggest request. Playing a full 82 game season is mind numbing. Usually I sim the away games and play the home games or vice versa, but once you hit the first line it can take awhile just to play one game. Let us customize the season length. If I want to play a 56 game season then let me. While this isn't super realistic (minus COVID hockey) it should still be an option for BAP. Games would be more meaningful from the start in my opinion. I can change the playoff format but not the regular season? Makes no sense. 
• Make the overall environment more realistic: Crowds. Update the crowd big time. I know this seems like a minor thing but my God the crowds need to be updated so badly. If my team is ranked 32nd in the league then my stadium should not be sold out for every home game. If I am playing for a smaller market team (Arizona, Florida, Buffalo) then my arena should not be sold out every game. Obviously if we are a top team that wins the cup every few years then sure, but I have played some season with horrible teams and I feel like I am playing in front of a game 7 crowd every home game. It would just add to some immersion to see empty seats for bad playing. Again, a minor adjustment but it would add to the overall feel. Also the actual crowd member characters have been the exact same for years now. 
• If Madden Can Do it, So Can You: I have played "Face Of The Franchise" lately and I cannot believe the same company makes NHL as Madden. Madden definitely has it's faults, but the "Be A Pro" aspect is MUCH better. There's no 1-2 contracts at the end of your current contract..you have 10+. WHY CAN NHL NOT DO THIS. You can skip cutscenes, WHY CAN NHL NOT DO THIS. It is literally the SAME company making the games. NHL has so much work to do to even come close to being a great game. I love hockey so much and I continue to play this game because it's my only option, but for the love of God please attempt to improve this mode moving forward.

I feel like I just rambled for an hour, but I feel these would GREATLY improve the game mode. I just hope that EA is at least considering some BAP overhauling since we have had almost the exact same BAP for years now with just cutscenes added. I also realize EA focuses way more on online play, but offline players still pay for the game so we shouldn't be on the back burner every year. Simple adjustments can make this mode a lot better. I realize that 90% of these will likely never happen because let's face, unless EA makes BAP a micro transactional game mode they aren't going to make it as good as it could be. Maybe if they eventually have paid add on's to BAP we'll see some big improvements but until then it's just a pipedream.