“A coach’s decision is based upon what are your expectations of the player,” Carlyle said. “A minus-3 last night in New Jersey. I’ve instructed him that I don’t expect him to be a perfect hockey player. But I expect that he has to play defense first. And we need people that are going to commit to the system.

“I felt there was some areas that he needed to shore up. I told him so and that’s what goes into a coach’s decision. He’s a good player and he’s going to continue to be a good player. We believe that. This is a learning curve for a young player where you can’t just play the rover game.”