I don't know about these things but in general I agree that Couture has not been a good captain. I was actually looking forward to seeing him as captain but he has not been able to lead by example on the ice. Nor does he seem to be a good leader in the locker room.
Not happy with how Boughner has been either. He has taken some steps that none of our other coaches have taken like reducing ice-time of certain vets and benching them but the results have just not been there.
Next season will hopefully be a fresh start with both a new captain and coach.
I wouldn’t blame HCBB - a lot of the lack of success here is personnel driven. I think he has more or less achieved expectations given what he has. I suspect a more “results” oriented coach, with a much more, ahem abrasive personality, such as Gallant or Torts could milk slightly higher short term performance at the expense of long term stability. I am not sure that is the right strategic play either, if we are facing a 3+ year refresh built around culture and young talent. If DW is desperate, it could be a good mid-season adjustment.
That being said, I think DW positioned this team for a sell off at the deadline. So I don’t think anyone is surprised by the current results. Sorenson, Nieto, Donato, Dubnyk are all gonna be worth something as depth pieces to a contender - while Marleau, Noesen and Claessen all have the potential to at least return a late pick in the right situation.
Simek has long been the underrated corner stone of our defense. He eats minutes and keeps the aging core from shouldering too large a burden. With him gone, Vlasic and Ferraro are both going to be above 23+ minutes a night, as HCBB rides his ton 5 as best he can. Expect to see a return of Vlasic - Karlsson and Ferraro - Burns. That Kevin + Middleton or whomever third pair will likely eat a combined 20-25 minutes per night with Kevin being 10-15 and the replacement someone like 8-12. Either way, it’s not a good look for a team that desperately needs to reduce GAA.