I think if he is good enough and is not going to hurt the team, give him those 9 games. I think that helps with development seeing firsthand what the NHL is like, and it will encourage him to really prepare himself harder for the season and through the following off-season to make the team. I remember hearing a lot of anecdotes from players who had some games in the regular season and who then got sent back down to junior how grateful they were to be given those games and how much those games made a difference.
If he is not close, however, then I think that giving him 9 games will only hurt the Flames and Honzek himself, as there is nothing worse than a kid being so over his head is simply drowns and loses confidence. I trust the Flames organization to do the right thing.
Conroy has seen it firsthand now. I remember him talking specifically about Baertschi and telling the media that "Maybe Baertschi can be our Jeff Skinner". I guess he saw firsthand the good and the bad for that when it came to Baertschi. I wonder if that changed his mind in any way.
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