Definitely wishful thinking. Though I really do believe we're not finishing this season with both of Staal and Holden on the roster unless every single rookie (to the NHL, at least) is bad. I know how AV feels about rookies in general, so having two on the roster at once, let alone the same pairing? Yeah they'd have to be pretty damn amazing.
If anyone can crack the roster early it'll be Bear Gloves though, I feel. He's more of a vet. At least when it comes to pro hockey and playing with men. Whether or not he fits in with AV is a huge (and potentially irritating) question mark. I think it'd also be nice to have another Russian to go with Buchnevich, though he certainly seemed to be fitting in by end of season when we'd see shots of him on the bench laughing it up often.
But yes, Bereglazov has his out-clause so he's not gonna tolerate much, if any, AHL bussing around. Having just won the Gagarin playing top pairing minutes... he'd get a good KHL deal and be welcomed back. Or another NHL team would take him pretty easily and give him a slot I'm sure, if he really wants to play in this league period rather than for specific teams. So I believe JG will at least insist he gets every chance possible. And if Ruff is in charge of D, we'll see his input too. Is Ruff confirmed, by the way? Wikipedia says so but I only see articles saying they WILL hire him, not that it's a done deal.
And I do think Day may get a shot before Graves too, if he has a good showing at camp. That size and speed... Kreider on D. Graves hasn't progressed much, but hasn't regressed either. It's not the McIlrath situation. He's 22 and has better tools/IQ for today's game. I think he does make it eventually, but not now, no.
