Confused by PP positions - development proposal

[Tie Montana]

Im confused by PP positions. For example, if i choose 1-3-1 it tells me "C play deepest, RP plays low". Okay, but where does the LP plays? In the middle or the left side? How about LW? Same thing with umbrella "RW plays high", LP is playing Ovechkin position? Where does LW plays in umbrella? I often find myself guessing these PP positions. I get some info while choosing a tactic for sure, but i feel not enough or spesific enough. I saw there have been a posts about this topic earlier aswell. Development proposal - can we have a some kind of preview about PP positions so you dont have to guess and could be always sure about players being in right positions? (Paint example for my idea about preview).

[crusadertsar]

I second this as well! Some kind of preview would be nice. Not just for PP for but for other tactical screens. Most of the time I am reading the descriptions and having hard time visualizing exactly what the instruction is supposed to change.

[#4BobbyOrr]

One thing I’ve noticed and bought up on here before I think is that forwards playing the point never seems to work. Whichever forward is assigned a D spot will have about half the PP production he would have if you put him in one of the three forward positions. So I never put Ovi at left defense, always LW as he doesn’t produce goals at the same rate at LD.

[Tie Montana]

Originally Posted by #4BobbyOrr

One thing I’ve noticed and bought up on here before I think is that forwards playing the point never seems to work. Whichever forward is assigned a D spot will have about half the PP production he would have if you put him in one of the three forward positions. So I never put Ovi at left defense, always LW as he doesn’t produce goals at the same rate at LD.

100% agree.

[wiggleman83]

Exactly! I want to know which dman is quarterbacking an umbrella power play.

[Leafs67]

Definitely agree with this proposal. I think special teams in general could use some changes.

Along with more clarity about the positioning/tactics, I think individual player roles should be changeable across situations. For example, I might want Barkov to be a two-way forward at 5v5, but on the powerplay, maybe I'd rather he be a screener (given the set-up in the OP's picture). The same thing goes for the penalty kill. I might want Barkov to be a two-way forward at 5v5, but when he's on the penalty kill, he can shift his role to being a shadow or something.

This would also help avoid the phenomenon for AI where their best offensive players aren't on the powerplay. For example, I've seen the Edmonton Oilers playing Connor McDavid on their second PP unit because his all-situations role is two-way forward, and instead some third line talent with a playmaker role will be the top unit PP guy.

I also find that ice-time distribution doesn't work. No matter how high I put the second PP unit's ice-time %, they always play significantly less than the first unit. This pretty much forces you to operate with a loaded top unit instead of splitting talent across two units.

[#4BobbyOrr]

Originally Posted by Leafs67

Definitely agree with this proposal. I think special teams in general could use some changes.

Along with more clarity about the positioning/tactics, I think individual player roles should be changeable across situations. For example, I might want Barkov to be a two-way forward at 5v5, but on the powerplay, maybe I'd rather he be a screener (given the set-up in the OP's picture). The same thing goes for the penalty kill. I might want Barkov to be a two-way forward at 5v5, but when he's on the penalty kill, he can shift his role to being a shadow or something.

This would also help avoid the phenomenon for AI where their best offensive players aren't on the powerplay. For example, I've seen the Edmonton Oilers playing Connor McDavid on their second PP unit because his all-situations role is two-way forward, and instead some third line talent with a playmaker role will be the top unit PP guy.

I also find that ice-time distribution doesn't work. No matter how high I put the second PP unit's ice-time %, they always play significantly less than the first unit. This pretty much forces you to operate with a loaded top unit instead of splitting talent across two units.

Completely agree with all of this. The AI decisions on who to use on the PP continues to baffle me, I've seen both McDavid and MacKinnon on the second unit in the middle of their primes before.