I'm thinking something along these lines:
OHL to finish the season.
Then one of 2 scenarios:
1) If the Flames are still playing hockey when Kingston is eliminated from the OHL playoffs, Sam gets his cup of coffee then (last couple games of the season or a round or 2 of the playoffs
).
2) If the Flames aren't playing hockey then (long Kingston playoff run coupled with Calgary early exit
) Sam is assigned to Adirondack for what is hopefully a long playoff run, developing chemistry with Baertschi, Poirier and all our other Backburner heroes.
There's a linear progression there that makes more sense than the floated AHL conditioning stint idea. This way Sam's 9 NHL games could be useful at the end of the season if we're involved in a playoff push, and he would have been eased back into playing in his familiar OHL surroundings. As tempting as it is to play with the new shiny toy, I just don't think it's what's best for his development.
If he does stick with the Flames I'd be really excited to watch him. I'm prepared to trust Treliving's decision.