One thing Lavi did was push Poile out of his comfort zone. Before Lavi, Poile would *almost never* trade contributing roster players in a deal. He only would trade picks. Once Lavi came, all the sudden Poile trades for guys like Neal, Johanssen, Subban, while trading away valuable roster players. I won't debate the long term implication of those trades, just an observation that I think Lavi is the main reason Poile got pushed out of his comfort zone in those scenarios.
Lavi was a very abnormal hire for Poile. He usually hires calm, level-headed, "safe" people for jobs (i,e, Trotz)... people like himself. Laviolette didn't fit that mold... he's more volatile, both in personality and results.
The results were good the first two years, though Trotz did win his cup in the time period. But Lavi was the guy needed to push Poile out of his comfort zone.
But the results did not stay. Our roster got more talent, and the results got worse. We've been a non-playoff team for the past 80+ games, with likely the most talented roster we've iced. Laviolette is the epitome of a coach who has a shelf life. Granted, the time on the shelf is usually pretty good.
While Laviolette was an out of the norm hire for Poile, this Hynes guy is Poile crawling back to his comfort zone.