Because Horvat accepted losing. Horvat most nights was out there playing it safe and never once brought any physicality/toughness. Nights when we were down 4-1 or 5-1 he could have fought and sent the team a message or at least presented a nasty side. Instead, he would just go out for a skate and then say postgame "we weren't good enough tonight". All post game interviews sounded the same for 5 losing seasons.
Players see the guy at the top and if they see him padding his stats, playing soft/not standing up for teammates and cheating the game what do you think they will do? Once ownership got rid of the problem our mindset of "losing is acceptable" changed to losing won't be tolerated any longer. There is a reason management put their money on JT Miller and not Horvat. They knew JT was the real leader in that room. Whether he ends up with the "C"or not, Miller will still be a vocal player that will drag the team into the fight. Something Horvat showed he wasn't capable of doing.