Will Butcher sweepstakes begin tomorrow.
I only saw him play in 2 games, but he looked good to me, he isn't getting as much hype as Vesey did last year, but i bet he becomes a better NHL player then Vesey.
With the lack of depth and prospects on def through the pens organization you would think Butcher would at least consider the pens.
I dunno, for as much as I was never sold on Vesey being half as good as the runaway hype train painted him to be, I still think he has what it'd take to be a solid third liner if he learns to adapt better (impressed early on last year and faded absurdly quickly). I just don't see Butcher as having anything more than #6 potential in the NHL with his mobility and defensive concerns.
I want Butcher because he's a free prospect, but let's not pretend that winning the Hobey Baker is even slightly predictive of professional success. Vesey is what happens when people conflate an award given to players being good at a specific level to being predictive of potential. The kid's game has very real flaws that limit his NHL potential, to say nothing of the generally accepted reasoning for him not signing with Colorado being that the Avs didn't show any interest in signing their own draft pick until he had a monster senior season down the road. I'd put Butcher below the other 'free' prospects we've signed the past two off-seasons in terms of potential.
I've been around HFBoards for too many Peter Sejnas and Matt Gilroys to ever hype someone based off of that award again, long before even Vesey showed up
On the bright side if there was a place for Butcher to get the help necessary to improve, it'd be with us (read: Gonchar).