MSL, a former star player, Hughes, a former agent, these two clearly think first from the player point of view. In other words they are "pro players" in the sense that they think that if a player is not playing at his best there is an external factor to explain it, that the said player needs outside help, that the responsability of the failure is not in good part on the player himself.
Obviously most of the time the problem is mainly the responsability of the player, lack of effort, lack of concentration, poor preparation between games, poor life hygiene. Also, when many individual players have such deficiencies, it has an impact on the whole team and it affects players that are doing everything the right way. I think that's where tha Habs are right now. Too many paasengers and it affects those that prepare well and give the effort every game.
In the end it comes down to the head coach, and at some point to the GM, and Hughes is unlikely to fire MSL. That's where Gorton should come in and do his job. It's his role, to supervise the GM and protect him from himself. Bergevin's lacked such a supervisor to prevent him from doing his worst mistakes. Now Gorton is there to protect Hughes, so if things are not improving quickly, patience will need to run out, not on Hughes, on MSL. Gorton will have to make a move. It will shake the structure of the oranization, but I think it's needed. They can no longer hide behind the reconstruction excuse. We need to see improvement in the effort and the way this team plays. Now, nobody, coaches, players and GM, feel urgency. Hey, we are in reconstruction, it's the excuse to justify all failures. It has to end quickly. The last resort guy is Gorton.