Yeah we are in new territory with all of this. Things we wouldn't have thought an ownership group wouldn't have ok'd in the past they have under Trotz.
Frankly I think its more of a coaching issue than with Trotz right now. I think Brunette is trying to force a style of hockey he just doesn't have the players for.
Coaches don't generally change their styles much outside of minor tweaks and adjustments. It's a big component of why new coach bumps happen is that it'll afford a new style/paradigm. GM and coach have to be in the same page, which was failing near the end of Ppile's tenure and seems to also be going on under Trotz.
Buying a very stationary, very expensive forward for a coach that wants to play a pressing, uptempo style is a miss on Trotz's part. Continuing to have a gaping hole at 2C is on Trotz. Having only two defensemen that can transition the puck for such a system is also a big miss by Trotz. Signing a goalie long-term that has increasingly struggled with giving up transition goals is also questionable.
TLDR, I think there's plenty of places to slot blame at the moment
We also are doing a terrible job of being in front of and going to the net in general this season. Very few of our shots have any form of traffic or anyone to grab a rebound.
Been a huge issue going back to the loss of Hornqvist. We don't acquire players that are willing to fill this role and we don't instill it in them either.