It sure feels like Krejci may not be back. They're pursuing centers (Dvorak, Getzlaf...), they're letting the situation (Krejci's status) drag on while feeding us the same "story" as last year with Chara.
At the very least, it seems like Krejci is not Plan A. I think Plan A was to move Coyle up and acquire Garland.
I think folks are forgetting how good Coyle was when he had a 2nd line talent on his wing. The Mojo-Coyle-Heinen line was better than Krejci's line in the 2019 playoffs and drew the tougher matchups. And in the following season, Coyle had stretches where he looked really strong (37pts in 70 games) despite not playing with any actual NHL'ers.
I'm not saying Coyle is better than Krejci, but I am saying a line of Hall-Coyle-Garland could have been as good as a line of Hall-Krejci-Smith. They both have two play-drivers and one grinder. The Coyle version would have been younger and it had a legit "heavy" on it who can control the walls and get inside on big defenses, something the Krejci version lacks.
I guess I'm saying I'm not throwing in the towel if they move on from Krejci (or Krejci moves on from Boston). I think Coyle can be an effective 2C, if he's used like Steve Rucchin on the Kariya-Rucchin-Selanne line. I also think that's what Sweeney envisioned when he signed Coyle, and that lineup structure (speed & skill on the wings, size & strength in the middle) is how he wants to model this team going forward.