[GranteedEV]

My two cents: we have nine free games to see what we have, and give Sam an opportunity to figure out what he needs to tighten up. Pick his first game back carefully - when he's 100% healthy and conditioned let him play. If this is a rebuild season, you don't let our playoff chances override his opportunity to showcase himself nor are we putting pressure on him to carry his line. If he looks lost out there after two to nine games, hey, no problem, give him constructive criticism so that he can focus on playing like a pro in the 'O. If he impresses, make the judgement call based on what seems to be the best environment for his development going forward. That might be dominating lesser competition and focusing on his own individual play, or it might be the NHL playoff race and playoffs. Though from a business perspective, at this point it looks like wasting a year of his NHL contract would have to require some flat out dominant, Gaudreau-level rookie play, and as a center it'd probably mean winning faceoffs to go with that.