I think Trotz is a big part of the problem. But I agree that without Kuzy and OV playing at an all star level, which they are not, this team is not that good. Our draft picks the last 2-3 years have been subpar and we have not made any great trades either.
We've made one good trade, when we flipped Brouwer for Oshie. We've made two solid signings, Niskanen and Williams. Other than that, I agree with you, the Caps destroyed the league last year because we had 3 All-Star forwards and the best goalie in the league.
Here's the thing. Trotz is partially right on this one. Some players on the team right now aren't scoring because they're not working hard enough.
Ovi was scoring at his usual 50 goal pace because he was going to the net to get deflections and rebounds. Now he's on the perimeter and not making an effort to carry the play, so he's been kept scoreless in the past 2 games. Kuzy is not scoring because something is wrong between his ears, and as a result he's not working to get his points. He was a hound on the puck last year, now he's just floating around and forcing passes.
The others guys like Burakovsky or Sanford aren't scoring, but it's not because they're not trying. They're just lost, and
it's Trotz's job to get them back on track.
I'll tell you what, Trotz is a dinosaur when it comes to coaching offense. That's why your typical grinders like Beagle, Chimera or Ward were able to succeed in his system. He can't coach an Alex Ovechkin or a Evgeny Kuznetsov in the offensive zone. Kuzy and Ovi under Trotz have been scoring thanks to their natural brilliance offensively. Kuznetsov doing his trick passes and Ovechkin hammering one timers has nothing to do with Trotz's coaching, but it allowed us to destroy the league last year.
Guess what, other teams have adapted to us and are now neutralising our stars. Yes, they should try harder but we need to go back either to a speed game or a full on physical game. We can't continue to be this half-assed physical/skill hybrid team.
We need an identity.