That's how all players are criticized. Desharnais to Shaw to Alzner. He was the best C on the team and got played the most. Management's incompetence got him 6M.
Not quite actually...Desharnais on knocked for his size, being soft, being the coache's pet, etc...
Shaw and Alzner get criticized for the price paid to acquire them.
I very rarely knocked Plekanec for what he did on the ice, I never called him soft...I criticized his usage mostly.
Also, Plekanec stopped being the Habs 'best' center awhile ago, just took folks even longer to realize it.
So no, it's not quite the same.