And keep in mind that OrcaSlicer already used Bambu Network Plugin to communicate with their printers. (It prompted you to download this on install of OrcaSlicer if you picked one of their printers.)
The move to Connect means that OrcaSlicer needs to send the print data to Connect via a protocol handler instead of to the plugin. Connect will then send it on to the printer itself, and from what I've seen it'll do that over LAN. (But I can't test because my printer doesn't support this yet.) I see this as akin to a print driver vs. printer-specific support built into an app. Not a bad thing at all, if done right.
The plugin already did (very minimal) auth via the Access Code and can do it with the printer and Bambu Network Plugin completely isolated from the internet. (I've done this.) So I'd like to know specifics of what's changing here.