Alright, now I can see the pictures on this link but not the latter one. Not sure what you are referring to re. starfish hands. Are you talking about the hands during his spins? I did notice a change in his hand movements, and was wondering whether that was deliberate?
I am pretty sure he was just following Lori's instructions. He only used star fish hands in POTO which is understandable becasue Phantom was a crazy man.
As I said before, Patrick is not a talented dancer. His skating skills and athleticism are far more impressive than his artitry. Still, he is one of the greatest skaters in this sport. After all, this is figure skating competition, not dance competition. Expressive arms/hands/face should count LESS than expressive feet/blades.