I am guessing you have not seen him play. He is finally healthy and a legit prospect. The Caps made sure to sign him before the season as he was impressive in camp and a definite risk to re-enter the draft. Also, he has a shot to make Team Canada's WJC team. So, by that logic, and my own eye test, he is way too good to play 3rd pairing AHL minutes. He would bring more value in a trade.
I have seen him play, plenty. I didn't say he was a legit prospect, either. Caps have a habit of giving their draft picks ELC's early so not reading too much into that. I liked his game at camp but it was a really short one, as he was among the first cuts. Nothing there really screams 'too good for Hershey', who are the best team in the AHL and could give a few NHL teams a good run for their money.
Watching him play vs. Juniors is one thing. As it is having a shot making the Canada's WJC team. Those do not guarantee success. Like i mentioned before, i'm glad he's having a great bounce-back season. But his last season was really bad, and there is a really long path to be penciled into a guaranteed top-4 role in the best AHL team. You aren't facing Juniors anymore at that stage, and Hershey isn't really the easiest place for a rookie to win a spot. It's a great developing system but one that makes the prospect earn everything they are given.
Connor McMichael, Aliaksei Protas, Martin Fehervary, Ivan Miroshnichenko, Hendrix Lapierre, Alexander Alexeyev, Alexander Suzdalev, Zac Funk and the recent list goes on. These players all had tremendous success vs. Juniors and some are better, some slightly worse prospects but none of these players were handed the keys to kingdom in Hershey. They each had to earn their roles. I hope Allen eventually makes the Canada's WJC roster because doing well in that tournament and finishing this season strongly would be a great sign towards next season.
I'm glad you are so high on him. Expecting good things from himself myself too but i'd pump the brakes a bit re: his starting role in Hershey.