Bullfrog said:
Why should the reason matter? If Johnsson's earned the spot, I don't think the reason for his opportunity should come into play. I get that it does matter to Babcock, but it's pretty tenuous for me.
Let's say you work an office job but come down with some carpal tunnel; they need to call in a temp to fill your position (deadlines, ya know). After a couple of weeks, you're good to go, but sorry, temp's actually pretty good and younger and cheaper, so good luck, pal.
Your cubicle mate sees this, and is like, 'oh, definitely not going to tell them about my eye strain."
We're dealing with people, not robots. Confidence and trust are not exactly tangibles, but they clearly play out on the ice and in the stats (see Marincin).
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What probably happens is Johnsson comes in after a bad game in the playoffs and he'll take it from there.