Unfortunately, we can't send him to the AHL, because I think that would be best for him. He's physically dominating in the Q, but in the AHL, he won't be able to dominate everyone physically like he does in the Q. It would allow him to focus more offensively, etc.
I think the consensus for everyone is that he is a good third/fourth liner right now, but he has the potential to be better offensive, skating-wise and defensively, so there's no reason to burn one year of his ELC as a 7-10 minute fourth liner.
However, his last remaining hope to stick around is to impress alongside Kovalchuk and Zajac. If he can do that and develop some chemistry (it seems like no one has fit right on that line so far), the Devils may keep him for the year. The only problem is that he has only two games to prove that.