Yep. Since the Habs always give us a hard time and they fill their roster with speedy little guys, everyone thinks that we have to mimic them to be successful. Chiarelli has gone down that route to a degree, and all it gets us is a mishmash roster that doesn't know what its identity is.
Look at the roster that won the cup. I'd only use the term "fast" to describe four members of that team: Marchand, Paille, Seguin, and a pre-knee injury Peverly. Guys like Krejci and Bergeron aren't pluggers, but they play a slow-paced cerebral game. The team had just as many guys who were flat-out slow (Lucic, Horton, Recchi, Thornton).
Speed is fine, but it alone is not the key to victory or the only way to beat Montreal or whoever the boogeyman is this year. In fact, I'd be much more confident in a roster of slower players who know what their strength is and are all committed to it than a roster of half physical big guys and a small speedster thrown in on each line to try to force a balance, because it doesn't work out.
Here is Hickman in an interview explaining his game. 
