To be clear, I'm not in favor of rushing him to the NHL or bringing him up now. The only way I want him up later on this year is if he continues taking steps forward and finds a level above his current level of play.
With that said, I really, really, really don't think that the fanbase is going to run him out of town and make him the new whipping boy based on anything he does (or doesn't do) at the NHL level this year (or next year if you're referring to hopes/plans of having him as the 3C out of camp in the fall). Neighbours was an exceedingly incomplete player as a 20 year old through 43 games in 2022/23 and the fanbase in general overlooked tons of his deficiencies in part because of his age. Kyrou wasn't a generalized whipping boy during his first couple NHL stints when he was 20 and 21. Thomas was far from a complete player through 70 games in his D+2 season and he wasn't remotely a whipping boy even in the first half of the season that was an outright disaster. I think the fanbase here in general gives a good amount of leash to rookies when there are obvious holes in their game.
Additionally, while Dvorsky is far from a complete player at this stage of his career, I do think that his current offensive ability will translate to modestly successful NHL production whenever he gets here. I'd expect him to score at a higher rate than the 11 goal, 20-25 point paces that Neighbours/Kyrou had in their first 50ish career NHL games. His shot might be currently better than anyone currently on the roster and he's got the size/strength to not get killed at the NHL level. Our current 3C and 4C are both currently playing at a 7 goal and 20 point pace. Warts and all, I don't believe that Dvorsky would be an overall downgrade from what we currently have. Worse defensively, but with surplus offensive ability to help make the 3rd line somewhat of a threat to score.
Again, this is not a call to bring him up now. I think that the AHL is currently the best place for him to develop and unless he takes a step (or more) in the next 6-8 weeks then I think that will remain true all season. But I don't have any real concerns about the fanbase turning on him based on what he does in the NHL as a rookie. I have seen enough NHL skills to convince me that he won't be an outright disaster of an NHL player (in a limited role) whenever he does get here and I think outright disaster is the line where the fanbase would start to turn on him.
I don't watch nearly as much AHL as you do, but when I have watched I certainly haven't seen a completely invisible or deeply flawed player. He has bad nights and bad shifts for sure, but he has also had more than his fair share of good shifts and good nights. He's not lucking into his production or converting exclusively on plays that won't translate to the NHL. At 19, he is his team's leading scorer in the league that is closest to the NHL in terms of talent and playstyle. For all the 'NHL negative' aspects to his game at the moment, there are absolutely a good amount of 'NHL plus' aspects too. I'm not expecting him to jump into a 3C role and immediately score at a 25 goal, 60 point pace while being an NHL average player off the puck. But I do think that he could come in and play at a 15-20 goal, 40 point pace while being below average but not disastrous off the puck.
I think right now, there is a pretty reasonable chance that on merit, he is better suited to play a 3C role than Sunny or Faksa. I also think that he has the shot to be among the 8 best forward options to put on a PP unit. Because let's face it, the bar for being the 3rd best center and good enough to be the last forward earning PP time on this team is pretty low. We only have 2 centers with 4+ goals and only 6 forwards with 3+ PP points. Barring an acquisition that changes our center depth chart, I would not expect him to riding the pine if he were to be called up and I think that would be a merit decision and not a 'play the prospect' decision.
