Regardless of the hype and innuendo, I am firmly in the camp to play him all season long.
For two reasons;
1) If he has decided to leave (or leaning that way), him having a change of heart and deciding to stick with the Lions has a damn sight better chance of occurring if he is playing regular games in the seniors, gelling with and being an integral part of the playing group and getting wins under our belt, rather than languishing in the ressies
2) It will only serve to increase his trade value if he does choose to leave end of the season, as we know he is very talented and will likely only improve this season with an extended run in the seniors...and the league will almost certainly take notice. Certainly will strengthen the "required key star player" argument if he becomes a focal point of our forward line this season, rather than just another "hyped prospect still largely valued on potential"
If he does leave after all of that, you certainly won't be able to ask the question "what if -". If he spends the majority of the season in the seniors, bags goals, improves and continues growing into that star forward we all think he is destined to become, and the Lions as a team unit grab a bunch more wins this year than last year (so much so that the general consensus by season end is that we are a dramatically improved team and on the up), and he STILL wants to leave....well, see you later. Lobby hard for adequate value in a high draft pick/s, and if clubs try to do the dirty and low-ball us, PSD or GTFO.