No, you can head back to your posts if you want. It was an excuse. I said he shouldn't be getting under 14 minutes a game. You chastised that (factual) statement by saying that was due to Babcock and now with Keefe things had changed. Well they haven't. You also said that if he plays well he'll get an opportunity, except as a reward for being the best player in the game on Monday he got to sit on the bench the next game.
The whole point of the development plan expressed by Dubas a couple years ago was the idea of the seamless transition. You play the same systems on the Marlies and the Leafs and you ensure prospects are ready when they are brought up so that when they are brought up they are not only ready to stay up but also ready to move seamlessly into the open role. There is no role on the Leafs defense which plays under 2 minutes in the final 25 minutes of the game. This isn't a third pairing role - its a quasi third pairing role. A player is either ready or they not. If they are ready then they should be used appropriately. If they are not then they shouldn't be used. This would have been the equivalent of bringing Nylander up in the spring of 2016, but playing him 7 minutes a game on the fourth line. This in between **** is bad development, a complete waste, and teams that consistently develop really good D don't do this.