Confirmed with Link: Devils Re-Sign Butcher (3 years, $3.73M AAV)

JimEIV

Registered User
Feb 19, 2003
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As of right now I'd be surprised if Smith get's a look on the PP.

But that speaks to a bit of the redundancy on defense. Greene's going to play 4 minutes on the PK, while Smith and Butcher, who both would likely do well on the PP, may get only limited minutes there combined.

That would seriously be a terrible thing for him not to see any PP time. By all accounts his ability to run a PP is one of his best attributes.
 

devilsblood

Registered User
Mar 10, 2010
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That would seriously be a terrible thing for him not to see any PP time. By all accounts his ability to run a PP is one of his best attributes.
Terrible is an overstatement, him not getting pp time is not going to majorly curtail his development, but yeah, it would be a spot where you would like to see him get some play.
 

JimEIV

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Feb 19, 2003
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Terrible is an overstatement, him not getting pp time is not going to majorly curtail his development, but yeah, it would be a spot where you would like to see him get some play.
I don't think it is an overstatement at all...Imagine if Will Butcher got no PP time his rookie season...Half his points and 300 minutes of playing time would be gone....Severson? Severson would have lost 7 of his 17 points in 51 games and 160 minutes of his 1120 playing time. You are taking away a significant portion of time and opportunity

EDIT: But this all goes to the theme that I keep pushing...This defense is poorly constructed...To much sweet and not enough savory.
 

Blackjack

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Feb 13, 2003
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I don't think it is an overstatement at all...Imagine if Will Butcher got no PP time his rookie season...Half his points and 300 minutes of playing time would be gone....Severson? Severson would have lost 7 of his 17 points in 51 games and 160 minutes of his 1120 playing time. You are taking away a significant portion of time and opportunity

Butcher signed here as a UFA in large part because he assumed (correctly) that he would have more opportunity here than he would in Colorado.

Ty Smith will not be the first worthy prospect stuck behind a proven veteran. He will certainly get his chances on the power play, and if he outperforms Butcher in the role, he will get the job. I'd be surprised if that happens though, as Butcher is excellent on the power play. Even if he's not one of the top two options, Smith will still get power play opportunities.
 

NjDevsRR

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A1A9401F-C8BB-42FA-A9D9-3AC7312F4D65.gif
 

Triumph

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Oct 2, 2007
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The future of the NHL is a 4F1D power play. You only need 2 defensemen who can operate a power play. I don't think it's a very important position, nor do I think points represent anything close to a D's value in that role.
 

AfroThunder396

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Jan 8, 2006
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Smith will inevitably get a chance on the power play due to injuries and penalties and whatnot. I don't think he should be starting there when you already have excellent PP defensemen Subban and Butcher, a forward in Palmieri who often plays point, and two pretty good offensive D in Severson and Vatanen.

I would probably expect something like:

Hall-Hishier-Simmonds
Butcher-Subban
(It's pretty obvious Simmonds will be a net front presence on the PP)

Gusev-Zajac-Hughes
Palmieri-Severson
(Zajac will certainly be getting PP time given his faceoff ability, and he's consistently produced on the PP)

Two right handed point shots on that 2nd unit, but Palms will want to be on his off side anyway for one timers. So I guess you could swap Severson with Smith if you wanted to.
 

R8Devs

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Nov 20, 2010
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Don't want two d-men on the PP especially PP1.

Simmonds
Gusev/Palmieri-Hischier-Hall
Subban

Zajac/Wood
Gusev/Palmieri-(Zacha/Zajac)-Hughes
Butcher
 
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Triumph

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Oct 2, 2007
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Switch Hischier and Hughes - Hischier was not very good on PP1 last season and I don't think that will be a strength of his. But yeah, that's mostly how I envision it going too.
 

njdevils1982

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Sep 8, 2006
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Smith will inevitably get a chance on the power play due to injuries and penalties and whatnot. I don't think he should be starting there when you already have excellent PP defensemen Subban and Butcher, a forward in Palmieri who often plays point, and two pretty good offensive D in Severson and Vatanen.

I would probably expect something like:

Hall-Hishier-Simmonds
Butcher-Subban
(It's pretty obvious Simmonds will be a net front presence on the PP)

Gusev-Zajac-Hughes
Palmieri-Severson
(Zajac will certainly be getting PP time given his faceoff ability, and he's consistently produced on the PP)

Two right handed point shots on that 2nd unit, but Palms will want to be on his off side anyway for one timers. So I guess you could swap Severson with Smith if you wanted to.

hell yes……quietly led the league last season!

Face-off stats- 2018-19 regular season - 2018 - Puckbase
 

R8Devs

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Switch Hischier and Hughes - Hischier was not very good on PP1 last season and I don't think that will be a strength of his. But yeah, that's mostly how I envision it going too.
yeah I could see that happening but I was just doing that because this way Hughes can still play on the half-wall. We'll probably see different variations of it and Bratt will probably get a chance too at some point
 

Triumph

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Oct 2, 2007
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yeah I could see that happening but I was just doing that because this way Hughes can still play on the half-wall. We'll probably see different variations of it and Bratt will probably get a chance too at some point

With Gusev and Simmonds here, the Devils could run the PP on the left-wing half-wall like Philadelphia does. A ton of options open, plus Dell.ow did more writing about the power play than anyone else so he surely has some ideas - I'm hoping Kowalsky is amenable to some different ideas.
 
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mtnet

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Oct 31, 2014
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Good for Butchie, nice to know he's in the mid-term plans despite being somewhat underrated due to being small and not the fastest fella. In other regards though he's been a solid addition that I'd like having on board for a bit.

He's not a defenseman where I find myself holding my breath when the puck is on his stick for fear he might do something really stupid. He has the occasional mishap but that's par for the course.
 

Devils731

Registered User
Jun 23, 2008
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Good deal. Glad to have Butcher wrapped up for a few years.

To add onto the PP conversation, I think Butcher is likely the 4th best PP defenseman on the team behind Subban, Severson, and probably Smith.
 

RSeen

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Oct 26, 2011
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It is going to be interesting to see what happens on the PP. With Subban, Smith, Vatanen, Severson all having legit claims to PP time...

Especially interested in how they handle Smith. I couldn't imagine this staff not working him onto the PP somehow? They have traditionally given rookies a lot of opportunities. We'll see.
Subban is probably a lock for the top PP spot, which I'd think will be 4F 1D.

I'd prefer if we run 4F 1D on the second unit as well, but I could see 3F 2D. Either way I suspect Butcher and Severson will have the leg up to get those spots in that order. Even then we have Vatenen after that.

I could very well see Smith get limited looks on the PP and be put in a position to put focus on 5 on 5 play.

Regardless, I like the contract. I don't expect Butcher to put up more than 40 points if he doesn't get on the top PP unit, which should lower his expected AAV once his contract ends.
 

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