What kind of an idiot would intentionally elect to lose their 4th best D rather than their 5th best to get an extra 3 games out of a raw rookie in what will likely be a lost season? Jim Benning is such a moron.
Benning has only said that he is not worried about him playing too many games to have protection not be an issue.
That is vastly different than saying he doesn't care about him playing too many games.
It is laughable (almost to the point of absurdity) that so many people here simply assume that him saying the former means that he believes the latter.
What is far, far more likely is that he knows something more about the situation that leads to his lack of worry.
This could simply be that he expects QH not to sign for another week or so after his NCAA season ends, or that he expects him to practice with the team for a week before playing, thus leaving fewer NHL games for him to play, or maybe that a schedule wherein QH sits for various games has already been cooked up. Or that one of the million other simple workarounds has been concocted.
Or even... gasp! That he views the possibility of losing a player as less relevant than the possibility of having QH on the team.
Take care not to spew the "our GM is a moron" rhetoric into such hyperbole. It belongs to a category of argument that only works in moderation.