the whole "doesn't care" analysis is so flawed it's crazy, just like the "lazy" label. Cerebral players are often mislabeled as not caring as much, totally discounting someone like Yakupov who goes 100% all the time and just ends up spinning his wheels with wasted effort and solving nothing. Also, if you have a persistent injury issue, like with Nikitin's back or Whitney's ankles, fans are also quick to label them as lazy which again couldn't be further from the truth. When Nikitin came back from IR he played better, and most people just didn't notice him anymore. I was one of his biggest haters at one point when MacT threw him under the bus, but in hindsight there were several issues where MacT was obviously just lashing out to save his own skin. When he came back I looked at his game closely and he definitely developed into a positive force for Nelson over time.
I'm not a Nikitin fan. However, I am quick to forgive anyone now that we are starting fresh. I also don't much care for any arguments that try to label players as lazy or not caring, whether it be Nikitin or Schultz or anyone. It's just false. The fact that Nikitin wasn't bought out is also telling. We could have saved cap space and real world dollars by buying him out but we didn't. Chiarelli and co must have some idea that he will be a useful player for us.