I'd like to think it's not the latter. I'd sure hope these guys don't enjoy losing and that would be motivation enough to play well.
Guys that we counted on to take scoring roles aren't doing it this year. Last year they played in the shadows of Zajac, Stafford, Spirko, Oshie, Toews, etc. so it was maybe easier to see their "potential" on the 3rd and 4th lines. Now that they're the focus of the team it's a different story. This lends me to believe they either haven't made the progression from year 1 to year 2, or they aren't as good as we think they are. Maybe they've just been put into this role too quickly?
We also have an issue with sub-par veteran leadership. When I say sub-par I'm not talking about hard-working, inspirational types, but more to the effect of 20+ goal-scoring, 1.0 PPG type. This team has relied on underclassmen for too much of the scoring burden over the past few years. That's what is making the early departures so difficult to overcome. It's great to get the blue-chip guys, but we need to have some players that will develop into scoring threats as seniors and not just muckers and grinders.