I’d bet $100 Dvorsky plays less than 10 games for the Blues this season. If he plays 9 or less, his contract slides because he’s a teenager.
I won't say that the slide consideration is irrelevant, but I do think that "what's best for his development" would be more important to the Blues than getting his contract to slide. If (and this is a decent-sized if) we think that NHL games will be better for his development, then I think we'd be content to call him up and burn the ELC year instead of keeping him in the AHL to save the year.
We play 19 games after the trade deadline this year. I wouldn't be shocked to see us burn the year if it meant him getting in that amount (or more) games.
@Majorityof1 makes a good point about what burning a year can do for the next contract. It prevents the player from feeling slighted and it limits the sample the player is drawing from for his extension.
We have a lot of money coming off the books before his ELC ends even if we burn a year this season (Saad, Leddy, Faulk, Krug, Binner). Sliding his ELC would also get Schenn off the books before he's due a raise, but I don't really think that we are in danger of being in a cap crunch for 2027/28 (the first season he could potentially get a raise). Again, I'm not saying the slide consideration is irrelevant. All things being equal, you'd rather delay his next contract. But I don't think it is such an important consideration that we'd avoid playing him in the NHL if we truly thought that was the best thing for him by February or early March.
Edit: I haven't watching anything besides highlights, but I have to say that leading Springfield in goals and points through 13 games is just about the very top of my hopes for the start of his North American pro career.