[GM Infernos]

One thing I've noticed since I started playing this series a few years ago, is the issues regarding the Offensive Defenseman playstyle in the 2D sim engine. I haven't verified if the same issue persists in the classic sim mode or not, but put simply, Point Shoots, Quarterbackers, and most defensemen playing the puck from the blue line suffer from a few hickups when it comes to the way the game elects to play them. Below I'll outline a few examples, as well as give my suggestion on the fixes.

Currently, OffD are lumped into the same "playset" as all other defensemen, you'll see this in sim where they will always carry the puck deep in their zone, pass to a forward, and plod their way up to the blue line with robot-like compliance. Even if you do everything in your power, tilt all the sliders to attacking and aggressive play, make them the best rushing defenseman possible, they will still avoid crossing the red line with the puck like the plague. The second, and what I think to be most cumbersome issue with defenseman in general is their blue line shot ability. Disproportionately point shots will be blocked near to the defenseman or far away from the net. There is little to no chance for a rebound, deflection, or bouch-bomb that makes its way through traffic to find the net. This is entirely unrealistic to actual hockey, and why I think point totals, especially for defensemen, are so far off of the league averages every year.

The key to remediating this is pretty simple, break up defenseman playstyles in the engine to have more variance. I'm not sure of the nitty-gritty of the engine and how it makes players move, but what I'd like to see is each major role(Two-Way D, Offensive D, Defensive D) have its own movement style. Two-Way D will act almost like an up and down forward, sticking to their side of the ice while still pinching in to drive play deeper in both zones. Offensive Defensemen will act almost like another forward, with the full range of motion that that entails. Let a Cale Makar-like actually dip and dive around checks to try and drive the net, let a Quinn Hughes carry the puck from the goal line back up to and around the blue line. Finally, the Defensive Defenseman carries the same movement set as now, largely avoiding being stuck with the puck, and not wanting to do more than just hold the blue line and fire wristers.

The second fix comes down to the way the game handles shot blocking and shots in general. I think more shots need to get through traffic, and more shots need to have the opportunity to be tipped and rebounded. A secondary issue to this is the lack of presence screening forwards have around the net. Anecdotally, I find that they usually play close to, but not in front of, the net, and thus can't get in position to screen the tendy or provide a deflection.

Let me know what you all think of these changes!