Former Devil Holik rips team for recent changes, letting Scott Stevens walk

Out with the old, in with the new is not a philosophy former New Jersey Devils forward Bobby Holik agrees with.

After team president Lou Lamoriello departed Thursday for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Holik shared his opinion on the Devils recent changes, most notably addressing the franchise letting Scott Stevens walk.

"I don't follow hockey, but I follow the world and if you look around the world, the country, everything old is bad or everything traditional is bad,” Holik told Tom Gulitti from Fire and Ice. "No matter where you go, it's being condemned, it's being portrayed as outdated. Everything's got to be forward, forward. The new owners come in and they're like. 'We have to move forward.' The new GM cutting ties. Are you kidding me cutting ties with Scott Stevens?"

Stevens shared co-head coaching duties with Adam Oates from December 2014 until the end of last season, but wasn't offered an assistant's position on new head coach John Hynes' staff, even though he had hoped for a job.

"I'll tell you exactly what happened. Even if Scott Stevens was a part-time adviser, everybody would be scared for their job. Insecurities rule the world or the hockey world," said Holik. "That's why sometimes you can't keep people like that around. That's the way it is in business, in politics. Why would you hire somebody who is qualified, who has done it? So, you just use that as an excuse. It's old, we've got to move forward."

Holik, who retired in 2009, spent 11 seasons with the Devils, amassing 747 points and an obvious opinion about the inner workings of the Devils organization.