Confirmed with Link: Will Butcher signs with Devils

[MadDevil]

He's probably the first call up when somebody gets hurt.

 

[Bleedred]

He's probably the first call up when somebody gets hurt.

Probably, in the case he isn't on the opening night roster.

I'd rather have Prout as the 7th defenseman (and permanently sitting in the scratchbox) than have Santini and Butcher alternating between the #6 and #7.

 

[Emperoreddy]

Could be the extra too

 

[MadDevil]

I'd rather he play in the AHL than sit as the #7. Unless they just want to rotate him and Mueller at the beginning, but I'm not sure that really does either of them any good.

 

[Cult of Hynes]

Any scouting reports on him?

Okay defense, good offense (passing / vision). Not an explosive skater or powerful one. Smooth skater, IMO, and moves well laterally. But his size is an issue since he isn't an amazing skater in the sense of being fast and powerful.

I'm not sure he fits on the NHL roster right now. He probably doesn't, unless Santini were to play in the AHL, there's an injury, or we waive Prout and carry Severson, Greene, Mueller, Santini, Moore, Lovejoy, Butcher.

I think he might be like Auvitu right now, who I thought wasn't bad last year. He could be one of those guys who can transition out of the D-zone, but not rack up a whole lot of points. Better than the trash that can't do that.

Santini is RD, Butcher is LD. Soooooo idk how him being on the NHL roster would impact that. If anything it would be more of an issue for Mueller.


I like the signing. Free asset, see how he does. If he can become something even if just a PP specialist, that is great. If not, nothing is lost.

 

[NJDevs26]

I'd prefer this guy to Muller too but that'd be a pretty bad use of a second-round pick if he beats him out for a spot in the top six lol

 

[TheUnseenHand]

Kerfoot for Butcher. OK.

 

[Devils731]

santini is rd, butcher is ld. Soooooo idk how him being on the nhl roster would impact that. If anything it would be more of an issue for mueller.

 

[Devils731]

 

[VoidCreature]

Think we should be a little more excited. Several different sources calling him a blue-chipper with elite skating. Sportsnet compared him to Vesey, Kevin Hayes, and Justin Schultz. Pretty good players, I think.

 

[NiedsKicks]

If there's one thing we could use from our defense, it's EVERYTHING! Honestly though it'd be so nice to get a little offensive help from the back end. Looking forward to seeing him develop in Jersey.

 

[VoidCreature]

Mike seems to think it's a big deal.

 

[Devils731]

 

[HenriquesJawLine]

Think we should be a little more excited. Several different sources calling him a blue-chipper with elite skating. Sportsnet compared him to Vesey, Kevin Hayes, and Justin Schultz. Pretty good players, I think.

I'd be happy with Troy Stecher

 

[VoidCreature]

Some highlights:

 

[Ripshot 43]

Have a Snickers

This should be a new meme

 

[SpeakingOfTheDevils]

Morreale's comments are encouraging. The offensive/PP acumen is a welcome addition, and hopefully he can round his game out to a point where he's above John Moore level.

Regardless, free stuff is sick.

 

[Missionhockey]

Pretty similar to Greene in both height and weight. Has been compared to Markov, I wonder how favorably he compares to Greene at the same age? Greene seems to be the perfect mentor for this kid.

 

[jkrdevil]

Mike seems to think it's a big deal.

Beware it's August...there is little to talk about. These smaller deals can get overhyped a bit

 

[HBK27]

Think we should be a little more excited. Several different sources calling him a blue-chipper with elite skating. Sportsnet compared him to Vesey, Kevin Hayes, and Justin Schultz. Pretty good players, I think.

I think we should as well...too many people (not necessarily on this board) writing him off as a bottom pairing d-man at best, but I've also seen other reports saying he could be top-4. Regardless, he was the most sought after college UFA this year, was a former 5th round pick that put up good numbers since being drafted, and we've seen plenty of undrafted players (see: Greene, Andy) go on to have a lot of success in the NHL, so why not Butcher?

 

[Devils731]

I think we should as well...too many people (not necessarily on this board) writing him off as a bottom pairing d-man at best, but I've also seen other reports saying he could be top-4. Regardless, he was the most sought after college UFA this year, was a former 5th round pick that put up good numbers since being drafted, and we've seen plenty of undrafted players (see: Greene, Andy) go on to have a lot of success in the NHL, so why not Butcher?

And defenseman and hard to judge. Some grow late and some come out of nowhere. The more players with some sort of chance you have the better. It's more likely to get lucky with a defenseman than a forward.

 

[Billdo]

Sportsnet compared him to Vesey, Kevin Hayes, and Justin Schultz. Pretty good players, I think.

They all also bailed on the teams that drafted them, just like Butcher.

 

[mike30]

any idea what number he will wear ?

im gonna say he will double the 4 and go with 8.

 

[NJDevs26]

Beware it's August...there is little to talk about. These smaller deals can get overhyped a bit

Well more to the point Butcher was the best of the college FA's THIS year, including Kerfoot. But does that mean he compares to Vesey/Schultz/Hayes who were hyped a bit more in other years? I dunno. Hopefully he turns into a better player than any of them.

The term free asset is way overused on this board to the point it's a meme but there's certainly no downside to signing him.

 

[HBK27]

They all also bailed on the teams that drafted them, just like Butcher.

I'm assuming they were comparing him to other notable college UFA's.

I hate that players can bail on teams after 4 years as well, but at least Butcher had a bit of a reason as (from what I understand) he wanted to sign with the Avs after his junior year, but was told they had no interest in signing him.

Would like to see the NHL do something to clean up that rule, but doesn't look like anything will be done anytime soon.