I think despite the fact that I'm not his biggest fan, Ernie has made the right call with putting his trust in Brockie.
He has proven in past seasons that he is capable of leading the scoring charts in this league, and the one thing he really needs to do it is confidence.
Making sure Brockie knows that he's the number one man, will give him all that confidence and belief to go out and hopefully score some goals early in the season.
If Brockie wasn't given his chance, then it's unlikely to me that he would easily recover, and with his contract expiring at the end of the season (I think) then this is Ernie giving him the chance to prove he can work in his system. With the number of cuts Ernie has made to previous players, it would be naive for anyone to think Brockie will get an extension unless he proves himself this year.