You bring up some really good points in this article but I have to disagree with a few of them.
The game probably does value cheap contracts too much, however it's not as bad as you're making it out to be because the NHL (since the salary cap) places huge value on cheap contracts. I'm pretty sure every team that has won the cup since the lockout has had atleast one or maybe two players that have been a huge part of the team on cheap ELC's. There's no way that teams like Pittsburgh or Chicago could put together the teams they did without cheap ELC's.
I was screwing around last night and traded Kaberle to Atlanta for a 1st round pick and Bergfors (I think that's his name - the guy that Jersey traded for Kovalchuk). He's a low 80's overall with B potential. I doubt the Leafs could get that much for Kabby in real life and Bergfors is a cost controlled player I'm pretty sure. Maybe the real problem is that the game doesn't value draft picks enough...because almost nobody is throwing those around in the new NHL.
Every team in the CHL is allowed to carry 3 20 year old (or overage) players. Technically, I'm pretty sure Eberle is eligible to play in the juniors. On that note, I agree that it would be nice to be able to stick them in the AHL.
Anyway, I don't think BEaGM is as bad as you're making it. The SIM engine needs work, but that always seems to be the case with every sports game as of late. The max experience thing sucks as well, but the rest of it I can deal with and still have a lot of fun with the game and the mode.