Every season is different. Key players can remain but not necessarily be the same.
Of course every season is different. All players change a bit from year to year. That doesn't make it a 'new team'. We aren't talking about some key players here, or a few key players. We are talking about
all the key players, unless you consider Armia, Hendricks, Enstrom and Matthias key players. In that case we are talking about almost all key players.
The only way it is a 'new team' is if the coach has decided to change the style or systems. Is Maurice trying to say that what we had last year worked too well so he decided to change things up? Somehow I don't think so.
His insistence on keeping his lines and D pairings as near as possible to exactly the same as last year seems to suggest that this is not a 'new team'. Is it identical to last year's team? Obviously not. Does every small change make it a 'new team'? If so, we have a new team every game.
You can disagree if you want. I found it an annoying thing for him to say.