Cody Eakin has had the benefit of the doubt from the Dallas Stars organization. The provocative question is, does he deserve it?
Authority isn't earned by ink, or lanyards. It's earned by the process of communication. Not the dictate of it. There's a particularly amusing example of this going on in Montreal. Thanks to a particular trade you may have heard about. When pressed to answer 'why' questions, Montreal GM Marc Bergevin appears content with saying "trust us, we're the authorities". Except Peter Chiarelli was an authority. Should Boston have trusted his authority when he traded Tyler Seguin?