At least it was better than at that Challenger, I hope that GP assignment is inevitable next season now, right?
yes he deserves it
Yes, he would deserve it for sure! But realistically, at the moment he neither has a season's best score nor the world standing to be considered for any GP spot next season apart from the Rostelecom host spot. The mistakes at the Warsaw Challenger unfortunately were very costly. But if he continues on his upward trajectory into the next season, he is making a very good case for himself for that Russian host spot.
As for the immediate future, I hope very much that they will give him another international assignment in January. He needs to skate at the international stage to rebuild his reputation and he could still get the tech minimums for Worlds FS (he already has them for the SP) at a Senior B event. With a lights-out skate at the Russian Cup Final, an assignment to post-Olympic Worlds might be within the realms of possibility.