They should have fired Keefe during the season to ride the new coach bump + to not give Berube time to f*** everything up.
I think the problem is they really honestly don't care that much, they lack pride in themselves and the team. That's why they lose to zamboni drivers, that's why they lose to the isles, that's why they kept getting pumped in the playoffs. They just don't care that much.
These 3 games illustrated how rotten the core is as a whole.
Columbus has one of the worst rosters in post lockout history and they manage to lose 6-2. Ok the excuses flood in "1 game" aka the nonsense we heard when they lost to a middle aged non athlete, whatever. The next game is a massive opportunity to put the hurt on a mediocre team that is your coach's former team, they get pumped. "B-but it's only 2 games." They have TWO leads vs the team that eliminated them in the playoffs that they blow and then their captain manages to completely flub it in OT.
New coach/new D/new lines/new captain made zero difference because the core itself sucks, they're just so talented that them sucking is a bit different than a team with no talent sucking.
That is why players like Matthews/Marner experience such a massive dropoff in the playoffs, it just doesn't matter that much to them and when people elevate their compete/effort level, theirs stays the same or drops off.