He just needs reps like most of the young players. DJ wont give it to them until management makes room for them and he is forced into doing it. I dont blame DJ either he is trying to win and needs to trust the players he puts on the ice. Its a catch 22 situation. Eventually though if Dorion has a plan DJ will have no choice to play the Balcers and Browns more than he is comfortable but what is required for them to develop.
Alas before I derail this thread, I dont really think management has a clear and decisive plan thats the true issue. The Reilly trade is a very good example. Until then we likely never truly find out what a player like Balcers is capable of. I personally have always been left wanting more through my viewings but I also dont think he has had the proper opportunity to truly show if he can be a scorer at the NHL level. I am fairly confident based on watching him unless he is playing in the top 6 I dont think he can be a solid contributer in the league.
I agree he needs reps, but I also agree he has to do something with his icetime to earn more.
Its not a good strategy to just hand ice time to players who haven't shown they deserve more.
If he actually is a bonafide top 6 talent, he would have playmaking or finishing ability that would show in flashes until he gets more ice time to show it consistently.
We've always had our top 6 players start on the bottom lines.
Bonk was our third line center before his offense kicked in.
Havlat started on the 4th line. After a month or two of him creating chances he moved up to the 4th line.
Hossa started on the third line with Bonk and arvedson and only got to the 2nd line once he put up 20+ goals.
So yes, he needs more reps.
But no, he doesn't deserve top 6 linemates or ice time until he does stuff with the ice time and players he is playing with.
The other thing to note, is aside from duclair at the top, and a couple guys like Sabourin at the bottom, everyone seems to be of roughly the same offensive ability.
We have like 8-10 forwards who could get 30-40 points depending on the opportunity.
Whether you're on the second line with brown and pageau or on the 4th line with Anisimov and namestnikov, you're playing with two typical 30-40 point players. (Pageau is having an outlier of a season before you respond that he's a 30 goal guy)
So it really doesn't matter where a callup plays in the lineup, youll have similarly talented linemates.