Increasing Difficulty NHL 25

I’ve played many NHL games in the past but this is the first time I’ve done BAP. I’ve played 3/4 of the season on semi pro (every single game), then decided to up it to Pro. The checking has increased substantially, and it’s much more unforgiving in the offensive zone. I’ve considered going back to semi pro to at least finished this season out because going up has created a false positive in my performance if that makes sense. Are there any particular moves or positions that you noticed were more helpful to you when increasing the difficulty?