I'm not sure that is the best move, but it may happen. If you look at this season, whenever Domingue came in to take over after a struggling goalie, he didn't do too well.
I think he needs about 1/2 more season (2016/2017) as a regular starter in the A (the other half would be as a backup to a healthy Smith)
That's probably true, but if our AHL team remains a dumpster fire he's better off in whatever role he can get up here. Obviously we hope the situation improves but I'm not optimistic right now.
But the development track of the position is all over the map. There are guys like Schneider and Varlamov who spent a lot of time on their NHL clubs as a backup or 1B at young ages. Might not be a determent in this case here either.