Well, Flames can't keep looking at Breen as 'down the road' for much longer. He needs to play. If he passes, great. He is a very steady presence out there on the Heat, and he plays tough. Definitely an asset for them down there.
At this point, you just have to risk it. He has not been good. Maybe he needs more playing time to just 'settle-in' and get his nevers/rust out of the game before you can really judge him fairly, or maybe his game just doesn't translate to the NHL. Regardless on which side of the fence you sit on, you can't just keep benching him. You have to risk losing him.
If the Flames think there was a reasonable chance of him getting picked off of waivers, they would probably have made a trade with whatever team is interested for a small price. Most waiver-fodder players (outside of the initial mass exodus at the start of every season) are guys that teams feel are either no risk at passing, or they want that player to get claimed. Teams usually have a pretty good read on those chances.
Hopefully he does clear, as he does add to the Heat. Maybe if he clears, plays a lot of games on the Heat, and comes up again for another sniff this season, some of the rust and nerves are worked out.
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