Trade block

@SchulzEricT This has been a problem for many years. I think it has got much worse this year due to the change they made in regards to your team status (buyer, seller, etc..)

I'm not sure why they feel like they need to have every team blowup their roster or prospect pool based on the current standings, especially our team.  And whatever you do, always select "keep current trade block" before the deadline or it will be really bad. 

I don't even do the trade deadline; I make all my trades a day or two before if I feel the need to make a move... which I usually don't. But if I *do* need to address a depth position, or want to add a high pick in the upcoming draft and am willing to move a talented 2nd tier prospect for it, I'll do it the day prior to the deadline.
I have CPU trades off because no trades is much more realistic than the trades the AI GMs make. Oh well.

Not a bad idea to turn trades off as they are especially terrible this year. I always save 2 days before the deadline and then go in and make my moves. I then revert back to that save file, make the trades from the deadline on those 2 days before and save. Then I sim over the deadline, reverting back as many times as needed so that there aren't so many brain dead deals. It takes a lot longer (usually 10 - 15 sims) but I can get it to where it is tolerable. I've done the same thing before the draft and resign period for the last few years as well. 

I appreciate the dedication to do that; I'll do that with stuff like that during the season (if I don't have a game, I'll save then reload if a player gets 4+ points; sometimes I'll let 'em get away with it, it can happen from time to time, but 99% of the time I'll quit out and reload to get more realistic point totals), and occasionally during the restricted free agency period because sometimes teams' decisions are BAFFLING.

But for trades... I'll just let teams do what they do during the draft, and make moves in free agency. They make too many mistakes there as it is. Oh well.

Just to piggyback from another discussion on here, but I think this is exactly why it would be cool if someone involved would come on here for a discussion on franchise mode. Since scouting was introduced a few years ago, there have been a few minor, but very positive changes each year to make it more realistic and give us different options. As far as I can tell there were zero improvements made to coaching and chemistry this year despite it being far from perfect. Is the coaching system then working how the developers envisioned it, and if so why not explain to us the reasoning for it and maybe let us explain our reasoning for why it doesn’t work? The same goes with AI GM’s, there haven’t been any changes over the years to improve how they assemble and run their teams. I can understand that it must be extremely difficult to program these AI GM’s, but this year they have managed to make them worse so it would be cool to know why. Is having more of a fantasy mode where there are countless trades and signings whether they make sense or not what is wanted more out of the player base or people with influence?

@SkylerJames13 I know we will probably never get an answer, but that’s why I ask if all this is by design? The AI GM’s have not really improved over the years (maybe slightly) but they also have never been worse than the previous years. Also, people do play this game for months before release and I would have to guess the deadline acted the same then as it does now, so that tells me this is intended. Again, if that’s the case cool, but like scoring and the draft class quality, give us settings so everybody who buys this game can enjoy it more. I am all for making the game more difficult, but giving us so much randomness with the coaching system and then taking away the edit player feature when you have made TWF’s useless in your Top 6 and countless players with the wrong player types does not make the mode harder, just more frustrating. I cannot recall anytime someone has suggested that as a way to challenge us more when there are so many other ways to cheese the game that have been present for years that could have been improved to add more of a challenge.

@LordDecland I don’t believe any changes will be made to coaching or chemistry this year. No changes were made from NHL 20 and I don’t think it’s something that can be just patched and will need quite a bit of work. I just hope they don’t leave it like this for 22 as it’s become more frustrating this year. I don’t even think giving us the ability to edit our own players will completely solve the problem as it seems to really affect cpu teams as well. This adds to the problem of poor AI GM logic and how they are performing too. Again, without having any input from EA this is just based on my own observations and assumptions. You reference the amount of customization that 2K offers, and while it sounds unreal, I don’t expect it out of this franchise. I’m ok with that as long as they offer enough customization and variation to allow everybody to enjoy the game how they want to or at the very least don’t have the additions/changes negatively affect the mode. I’m one of the few it seems that is actually enjoying the game and try to keep things constructive in hopes of improvement while continuing to give my (probably unwanted) suggestions on how to make the mode better.