I wonder if parents of players that are not high end have influenced the powers that decide these things? Don't want little Jonny on 3rd line when Ace McGee decides he wants a spot. Or don't like opposing teams bringing in ringers.... sports can bring out awful !@#$ in people.
Didn't the TCoS debate getting hashed and rehashed last year, or the year before.... Everybody is doing it, all the time, everywhere....
It's jumped the shark... move on or get stale.
I suspect there is a trade off between offensive creativity and defensive responsibility that players are dealing with.... hopefully it's a learning curve and the pendulum finds the happy rhythm.