It appears to me that the current plan is to break Wolf into the NHL gradually at first, and promote him full-time (assuming he doesn't blow it badly) when an opportunity comes to move out one of the other goalies.
If he plays some games in the AHL and some in the NHL, at least he's playing, which is far better than sitting on the bench as the backup, and infinitely better than being the #3 guy who sits in the press box and doesn't even get his own net in practice.
The Flames desperately need quality goaltending this year, and they have three shots at getting it. If they waive or demote either Markstrom or Vladar to make room for Wolf, they'll have only two. I don't think anybody can say with any confidence which of those three goalies is going to earn the starter's job this year. Since Wolf is the only one of the three who doesn't have to clear waivers, he's the only one who can get whatever benefit there is from playing AHL games.
I suspect a lot of teams, when their starting goalie is on a hot streak, would like to send their backup down to the AHL to get a couple of games in and scrape off the rust; but the waiver rules don't allow it. It's an advantage, not a disadvantage, to have that option.
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