I was far from a Berube fan this past Season... and any good points that he may have had were no longer working, or rendered meaningless in the whole... but Gus actually lost his job under Lavy and never regained it under Chief. To me a good sign of his not being able to play regularly in the tougher NHL -- which demands that small players, especially D-Men, play big like Kimmo -- is the simple fact that his rights probably can be obtained for a lower Draft Pick by any of the other Organizations but not a single one of them has made a deal... nor I believe made an offer... I don't believe Hexy would waste the asset and allow it to rot elsewhere.
KHL players can indeed be NHL worthy... and usually those that are and who want to play in the NHL do find an Organization who will at least give them a shot. I respect and by no means begrudge Gus wanting more money and Ice Time, as well as being able to prove his worth... but as well as he has played in the KHL, he still has not proven that the Flyers should jump through hoops... it has been the opposite with Hexy bringing more excess D-Men rather than going after Gus to see if he will return.
Chief may have played other D-Men who people may believe to be inferior to Gus, but IMO it is a matter of what they can offer the Team and what Gus was not able to do... Except for that one brief period at the end of the Season a couple years back, Gus had not played well enough to supplant another player that fits his 'role'... Berube and Hexy may be stubborn and have their favorites and Doghouse occupants but they are smart enough to know that they can't bite their nose off to spite their face... They have to work within the Cap and populate their Team within the Roles in their System.
Your argument would be sound if Gus could convince, by his play and words, another Organization to obtain his rights... If Gus re-signs in the KHL as it appears that he will, it only backs up the Flyers stance that he just is not good enough to be a regular NHL player... I still don't believe that the Flyers are screwing up Gus' NHL Career... nor did they single him out to put the screws to because they like to F' with him... which seems to be what some Gus fans are alluding to. JMO