Be a pro NHL 26

I was just to write  a post that mostly sums this up, but for them (meaning the stockholders), but also I can elaborate slightly here.

Introduce off-ice decisions: what you do in your free time (train, party, rest) should affect performance.
The problem is, if they aren't going to focus on that alone for the year then they aren't going to overhaul the whole system.  A simple fix which should have been made years ago is that if we have to set our training hours every Sunday, then why isn't there a sim to next Sunday option? (I mean without Smoother menus and loading times – less clunky navigation.)

Make agent and coach feedback matter – reward performance, punish poor play
The problem is that there's only one coach interaction which doesn't require a goal in order to have another coach interaction, and that one almost never comes up.  Simplest fix would be team means a point and brand means a goal, but really.  EA is in Vancouver.  You can find plenty of interns who know enough about hockey to think of stuff like, if you want to play like a goon then go bodycheck that one person, or rather than just randomly giving you a challenge, losing you points if you asked for a pass when your shot was worse.

Let players shape a unique identity (e.g., humble leader, flashy superstar, gritty grinder) that actually affects career progression
But really, why does everybody have to be a rebel after we max out all the reputation after the first year  if we play enough games.  Maybe it should take longer.  And if you have no meaningful way of determining what a player's personality is, then maybe just don't bother showing what you label it.  Easiest of fixes, but I know, it's a silly bug, not a gamebreaking one, and you only have a year.

Start in junior leagues, college, or AHL – don’t jump into the NHL 1st line instantly.
This one really matters.  That I can't work on my faceoff stat until after I'm the best player on the team by your stats rather than the way the NHL judges it.  I'd much rather work my way up.  Be center on second line rather than rightwing on first. Also, it took me years (irl) to find out that you can only go up on the PK line by just takeaways vs giveaways so for some reason it's better to got a long shift call then not be the last one who touched the puck.

Improve AI awareness so linemates actually play smart hockey.
If you're playing on easy you should be expected to end up the only goal scorer in the league.  If you're playing on difficult you should have to play your position and get better gradually.  (for the record the closest to a fix is to play on semipro and up their stats manually but more importantly lower yours)

long-term goals: Stanley Cups, All-Star games, awards, even Hall of Fame potential.
Okay, so I didn't include the first part because this (unlike the above aside) is supposed to be a response about alternative quick fixes you could probably do within a year.  It does matter that we have the same conversations at least once every season.  My biography gets re-written every single season.  My coach didn't mention it at all when I broke the league record for points in a season.  It just feels like a really easy job to help an intern figure out how to use the engine.

Mainly I think the issue is that they need a new game every year and this is not where they make their money.  Could be though (at least partly).  That's a different post.