Why has no 1OA since the lockout EVER been sent back to the CHL?
If this happens with Wright, then he is not worthy of being 1OA.
Why have so few guys had good seasons young, especially recently? Crosby did great, but KK has the 46th most points as an 18 year old and he clearly shouldn't have gone near the NHL until he was 21 or 22. Hitting the NHL young was a lot more common the further back you go, less structure, less pressure, less to learn. 22 players with 0.75 ppg at 18 with only a few recent guys, including Laine who probably shouldn't have been there, same for Skinner.
You have 56 players over 0.75 ppg at 19, 162 at 0.5 or over. The 56 is 1-2 per year. 162 is 3-4 per year. This draft year is not stellar, so having none wouldn't be a stretch, and, who knows, maybe someone like Aho will emerge.
For Wright, or whoever the habs draft 1OA there is an argument but considering it's not a strong draft, there isn't a generational player, and that lots of guys lost development time to COVID, the argument to have the guy in the NHL immediately isn't great. Best case the guy does OK, but not so well that he worsens the draft pick and prepares for a breakout season, worst case he gets hurt or limits his game. Either way it burns a contract year. Sure, try a few games but send him back at the first sign of struggle or the first game he doesn't play 15 minutes.
I'm not convinced that there is ever any benefit to rushing players. Sure, there may be one or two guys who thrived young, Aho was fine, but we have examples of players who started young and tanked with the habs. What player ended up worse because he spent an extra year or two in the minors? Can we point to anybody who stayed in the minors too long and wasted potential?
Sillinger hasn't had a career yet, so we can't know how if it will help or hurt him.