That's pretty much my exact story.
I was really thrilled for NHL12. I played the demo and loved it. Got the game, and had fun. There were still issues with the game that had been around for a little while, but they weren't to the point of being a deal breaker, and i still liked the little changed. Then NHL13 came out, and the new skating was more enjoyable, and provided a better experience, but there were still a lot of odd things with it (It seemed to be when things like players taking oddly wide glides into other players, resulting in interference calls because contact=checking animation which flattened the guy every time, or the players kind of spinning in place and not really moving, just unrealistically pivoting and proving impossible to defend) and the goalies had just gotten to the point where nothing seemed to make them really feel real. They added things like the individual limb movement, and the new animations, but the problem was that it was still tied to animations that often would clip together or end up leaving gaps in net coverage, or just not work well (the number of times i had a goalie get hit in the pads, only to have the puck stop, and then have them do that awful animation where they slowly hunch over trying to cover the puck, only to get it roofed past them drove me insane).
Since then EA has shown where their focus seems to lie. It's gradually shifted from the game as a whole, to almost exclusively online content and HUT. Roster updates this year seem to be even slower than usual, which is saying a lot because they were pretty sparse and lacking in accuracy to begin with, but despite that, tons of HUT posts about potential cards to win, and historic players to play with. Things that aren't bad on their own, but when they appear to be at the expense of promised fixes, and accurate rosters featuring
current players, it leaves a really sour taste in your mouth.
I'm waiting until NHL16, but short of a miracle turnaround, I'm guessing NHL14 was the last of the NHL series for me. I occasionally turn it on, and get maybe 2 or 3 games into a GM season with the Revamped rosters/ratings added in. The game plays better, but EA's lack of sliders that really change much, and the same goalie issues still leaves me frustrated after a few games, so i shelve it again for a while.
We'll see what NHL16 brings, but as disappointing as it is to say it, I'm not holding my breath.