If he's healthy enough to play they have to play him or buy him out. Both options are not great.
A buyout costs 750k, 2.25, 1.75, 1.75. The cap will go up and we'd have 2 million for a backup. I don't like the idea of 2 million cap gone when Stephenson is up in one season, Theodore is up in two seasons and Eichel in three and Stone, Pietrangelo and Karlsson are all signed through the cap penalty.
Or they use him as a backup to see if he can still perform well enough in that role. They would probably need to trade Martinez or Marchessault.