That's an oversimplification at this stage of the rebuild. He's not just being evaluated on wins and losses (which is good news for him) he's also been tasked with development this year. If the team finishes with a better record than last year but every single "core" piece takes a giant step back, would it still be a successful season?
Yes, it's NHL head coaches job to win games, but DJ has found himself in a pretty unique spot this season, where he's (probably) not being held to the same standard as other coaches. He doesn't need to be running TC into the ground game after game, he needs to be doing what's best for his long-term future with the franchise. DJ is gonna get judged by where this team is at in Year 3, not the meaningless wins he can pile up in the meantime.
DJ has to think about DJ first and foremost. If he wants to keep working in the NHL and establish himself as a legitimate head coach he needs as many wins as he can get.
Maybe "job" was not the right word. How about this: new head coaches are heavily incentivised to win as many games as they can so that they keep working as HCs. Eventually he will leave Ottawa and he needs as good a track record as possible to get another HC job.
That being said, he's definitely taking it too far by playing Chabot so much. My point is more that is Dorion's "problem" because he is the manager, Dorion needs to either:
- Tell him to play Chabot less which is a big no-no in terms of etiquette
- Give DJ better players which the better option
Everybody on the bench wants to win. It isn't their job to manage the roster, that's the GM's job.
