Unable to change jersey number NHL 22 BAP

I stayed away from EA NHL since 2017, because I couldn't see the value in a new copy everywhere, minus new rosters and trades and such. I was trying goalie mode, and it was terrible difficult to play, because there was no setting to make it more likely for the CPU to hit the goalie, meaning you had to be absolutely perfect in most situations to make the stop. The CPU would always squeak out a win, even if you shut them out for 2 1/2 periods. I tried 5 years and no improvements to help make goalie competitive to play like you can do with the player sliders, so I thought why keep spending money.

On to the topic though, I borrowed my daughter's copy of the newest iteration of EA Sports NHL, and this problem with numbers is still there. I don't know if you change the number if it actually will begin at the start of the following season, but I do know that right now the number system is not working, nor was it since the last time I was playing BAP either. I pick a number and I go to my preferred team and the game just picked another number. Now here's the thing, there's no one on the team using the number I chose, but still it won't let me use it. I know I can't change it so I start over and build a new BAP and choose a new number.

Again it's one that no one is using on my team, nor is it retired, just like the previous one. But still when I get to my team, it's given me another number. I can't believe after 5 years, this complaint about numbers is still just as largely talked about and requested as before. Not really making feel like buying my own copy of the game or buying next years version, when this little thing cannot be sorted out. 

I have no idea why I can't use my numbers on the team. I know it's because they're not available, but I just can't figure out why. No one has used my first choice number on my team since 2003. And no one has used my second choice of number on the team since 2019. It just doesn't make sense.