Speculation: 2017 Hobey Baker winner Will Butcher may go UFA

[Gabe Kupari]

You're not going to get any disagreement from me on the "sakic is a ******" angle.

I'm not sure Butcher will ever be anything more than a bottom-pairing "D".

Local kid, LHD, PPQB, etc.. though and I still don't see how the Avs didn't think he could give guys like Zadorov, Nemeth, and Bigras a push in camp.

How is he local? Hes from the east. I mean im from winnipeg... Thats like saying im local if i went to the university of michigan and my rights were owned by the wings. Im not local.. I just went to school there.

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

Butcher was good on the PP and has a good first pass. But his weaknesses were also very evident in the game as well. His skating is not NHL caliber and his Defensive ability is lacking, he was used almost exclusively in an offensive role and when he found himself in the Defensive zone he struggled.


The guy probably should be in the AHL but the Devils aren't that deep on the back end and I would bet part of the contractual agreement was that he get to the NHL as quick as possible. That was part of the reason why the Avs couldn't sign him.

 

[Blender]

Butcher was good on the PP and has a good first pass. But his weaknesses were also very evident in the game as well. His skating is not NHL caliber and his Defensive ability is lacking, he was used almost exclusively in an offensive role and when he found himself in the Defensive zone he struggled.


The guy probably should be in the AHL but the Devils aren't that deep on the back end and I would bet part of the contractual agreement was that he get to the NHL as quick as possible. That was part of the reason why the Avs couldn't sign him.

[citation needed]

He made the team because he's a legitimate offensive threat and power play quarterback right now. His skating weakness is overblown, but he does need to get faster if he ever hopes to be a regular top 4 defenseman in the league. Obviously he has weaknesses in his own zone. He's going to be used as a power play specialist and given sheltered minutes at 5on5 to develop his defensive game.

 

[bohlmeister]

Not sure why Avs fans need to be so dismissive of him, like Sakic made a great choice. I would bet that Sakic offered him a contract and wanted to have him.

Also, even if Butcher had a 5% chance of making it to the NHL as a PP quarterback only, like Bergeron, the Avs would be foolish not to want that. They are lean on prospects. They don't have a good PP quarterback now. It was foolish to walk away, which I am sure they didn't anyways. Roy didn't like Butcher, let it be known, and it soured the relationship. That is my guess.

None of that changes anything about the player. Good luck to him. He looked good on the PP for Jersey. I would love to have that player on our incompetent team right now.