I wonder how much that strategy is informed by the experience with Shinkaruk coming off injury last year, and how long it took him to really get going, and now carry through to this year with that full offseason of work?
Cassels being a guy with a foot issue, and with skating already being the likely biggest obstacle to Pro success for him, and coming off that very long season and short summer to begin with, i suppose it might be a pretty sound strategy to let him get himself prepared before really throwing him to the wolves. Though it's probably going to be a bit strange, basically inserting him mid-season, when the league is humming along at full game speed and he's basically just starting out.
Will be interesting to follow and see how it pans out.