I think in all major pro sports that the coaches have lost control because of the high dollar/long term contracts. Once the team decides to make the commitment to the player then the coach has to adapt. As Fleury said, in his first years in the league the players only got one or two year contracts and they either bought into the coaches system or got buried in the minors. Once free agency hit sports, beginning with baseball, the power switched from the teams to the players.
Iginla isn't the first player to utilize his power and won't be the last. Look at OV, Sid, Patrick Roy and others like them. I greatly admire teams where the owners commit to the coaches and staff and basically tell the players to fit in or move on, i.e. Pittsburgh Steelers, Nashville Predators etc. Buffalo Sabres used to follow this also but the new owner fell in line with being a "Players Owner" and the team has sucked since, because the coach/GM have no real authority anymore.
I think you are going to see any decent top 6 player now getting 5-6 year contracts as RFA's instead of teams doing the correct thing and signing these supposed star players to a reasonable 2nd term contract (really like how Montreal held their ground with Subban, and they will pay in the future but they didn't overpay for now).
The Sutters are some of the only old school hockey people left, where they expect the players to play the system and if they don't then they will cut back the players ice time. This will eventually lead them to being fired but they won't change their beliefs, like them or not.
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