Hoffman will get the 2nd seat at Suzuki, being as Hopper and Hopkins are good mates, and Hopkins has a clause in his contract which gives him the right to choose his team mate
I think Hopkins has the right approve his team mate, which is slightly differently to choosing a team mate. But, yeah, Hopkins has made no bones about wanting Hoffman. Time will tell...
As for the theory that winning WSBK next year on the Honda is a jumping board to a MotoGP ride, I can already hear the media saying "Toseland had it easy on the bike developed into a winner by Vermeulen", etc., etc. This perplexes me.