Maybe Tip hasn't seen these stats, because we all know +/- and possession stats are all knowing/telling. Obviously Duclair should have more TOI because it would help our D and Offense both! Tip sure is dumb
Okay. If his advanced stats looks good, his a actual statistics look good, and the eyeball test looks good, then what incentive is there not to play him? When he's on the ice with Domi and Hanzal, they absolutely dominate possession for almost entire shifts at a time.
Since you're so concerned about our defense, have you ever heard of the concept of defending through possession? Basically if we control the puck for the entire shift, it's kind of hard for the other team to score.
An example of a line playing this style, despite not consisting of traditional two-way players, was Whitney-Hanzal-Vrbata. Whitney and Vrbata were more in the mold of finesse players, as opposed to grinding, defensive forwards such as Vern Fiddler or Boyd Gordon, however they were damn near tops in the NHL in plus/minus and goals against during their time together, because they spent most of their shifts controlling the puck, in the opponent's zone.