EA doesn't hold an exclusive NHL license (they may with some of their stadium licenses, but that's speculation at best). But, other companies are probably a bit hesitant to try and compete with a juggernaut series. If anything, maybe NHL15 showed 2K or even SCEA (The idea of an NHL game with the awesomeness of The Show makes me happy. But, there would have to be some way to have a cross-platform release) that now they have a chance to jump in and take on Goliath so to speak.
It honestly wouldn't take a lot of changes to make a strong competitive title to go up against EA, but the problem is game companies work based on how much the game can make, and splitting a demographic that's already small can be a gamble. It seems with how much it costs to make a good game, and license everything in sports game, you kind of have to dominate the market, or write the idea off.
SCEA just now got licensing for their apparel and gloves etc, which makes me think they might have been waiting for a while to negotiate what i can only imagine was a pricey deal to get those things in game.
Honestly, if some other company could get NHL licensing, and allow a more customization-friendly game that let the user decide on simulation or arcade play, and offered more in depth editing of players and equipment, I would gladly sacrifice "name brand" gear like Bauer and Nike skates. Sure, they're nice, but i would just as well have some generic skates that i can pick from 10 color options on while editing my player who has a custom face and more than 10 physical attribute features that i can edit over name-brand gear for a few years.
I just want great gameplay, nice graphics, and customization that's easy to implement and share. The rest can fall into place in due time.