With a new GM who isn't attached to most of these players, the decision has to be made which parts of the team have to be changed? Were guys like Patrick and Lindblom and the like oversold - they have not yielded results so what is the reason for this? Is the aging veteran core, which before this stretch generally have performed well. We saw how many guys had career years last year. But a veteran group doesn't stay together when they go 7 years running between playoff series wins. It just doesn't. As good as some of the actual players may be, it's not helping anyone if it doesn't result in team success.
When Hextall took over and finally went through with a draft-and-develop plan, that it did not coincide with the prime years of our best players. That was the risk, but it was also not a secret. Hextall being overprotective of all the young players - it wasn't helping Giroux/Voracek/Simmonds/etc. win a Cup in any of the last 4 years. A 12-14 months ago they were a year away from making some absolute determinations as to where we were.
Now, I don't think this thing is getting burned down. If Holmgren and Dave Scott were ok with that, they probably wouldn't have fired Hextall. They might end up in the tank this year, but I'm sure they will be very aggressive in the off-season to retool this team. With that said, with regard to Giroux - and of course keeping in mind his contract, the question at this moment in time that needs to be answered is not who can we get to put with Giroux to make this work. It's going to be if Giroux fits with whoever we bring in. And whether it's right now, in July, in a year, if and when the answer is no, then it's time for him to leave. That's the reality here. As it would/should be for anyone else. As good as Giroux is, and despite him being the captain of the team, this is now 4 coaching changes he's been through. Regardless of however much isn't his fault or which coaches were bad - the fact should be that he's out of rope. He needs to figure out his role in a fresh start this organization is going to have over the next 8 months.