Speculation: Will Butcher

TBF1972

Registered User
May 19, 2018
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Yup. The play-in round and Arizona beating Nashville dropped the pick from 9th (Rossi) to 18th (Mercer).
actually i am fine with mercer. no reason to complain. i would probably have opted for askarov at #9.
 

TBF1972

Registered User
May 19, 2018
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Merkley is still a magic bean. Let me know when he plays a full season in the NHL before you make him out to be something he isn't.

This goes back to the discourse about Hall as well. Look at how much he improved Arizona :shakehead
if merkley is a magic bean, isn't newhook also a magic bean?
 

BKarchitect

Registered User
Oct 12, 2017
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Kansas City, MO
Butcher is a specialist. He needs regular PP time and and incredibly sheltered and low third pairing even strength minutes to be effective. His small size and poor skating just kill him at this level. The Devils squeezed every drop out of him his rookie season.

He can be useful but you have to have a specific need for a specialist and most good teams just don’t. Even the Devils - you see their blueline improving. Ty Smith and Vatanen back make Butchers PP skill redundant. Murray and Kulikov have been surprisingly pleasant options who offer far more security at even strength.

Maybe he can get back to more of his rookie season showing if a team with a really bad blueline and PP trades for him and gives him that kind of role. But from a Devils standpoint I’d say he’s probably a good guy to keep around as depth - considering he is likely to not garner much in a trade...unless you want to flip him for a similar type of asset up front.
 

Skinnyjimmy08

WorldTraveler
Mar 30, 2012
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What the heck happened to him? Admittedly I don't watch many Devils games but I remember the hype when he was a rookie and also looking back at his stats as a rookie was UNREAL
 

Smitty426

Registered User
Jun 25, 2006
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Jersey
What the heck happened to him? Admittedly I don't watch many Devils games but I remember the hype when he was a rookie and also looking back at his stats as a rookie was UNREAL
I feel in his 2nd yr they tried to grow his d zone starts and it did not work. Hynes was not a good coach to start this guys career. Get him back to where he's successful, tougher now bc of the o minded d men on this team now
Butcher is better than Tennyson everyday but we're not there yet.
Play him or trade him, imo
 
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MichaelJ

Registered User
May 20, 2013
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What about Butcher for Cholowski. Cholo being much younger & cheaper etc. Both probably need a change of scenery. Both LD, PP/PMD.

Would Detroit have any young RHD they’d part with? Current roster and organization seems alright on the left side (can obviously always use more) but the right is very thin by comparison.
 

Ghost of Ethan Hunt

The Official Ghost of Space Ghosts Monkey
Jun 23, 2018
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Would Detroit have any young RHD they’d part with? Current roster and organization seems alright on the left side (can obviously always use more) but the right is very thin by comparison.
RD that are NHL ready? Only Gustav Lindstrom fits the bill. Strong defensively/positionally, good size, decent skater & 1st pass, should be a solid #5 in the future, ceiling is #4 @ Peak. He looked good in his cup of coffee last yr., quietly effective #6a/#5b. Probably close in value, but I doubt the Wings wanna trade him. We do have Stecher who's played pretty well so far, cheap 2 yr deal, likely gets taken in ED, if not Givani Smith. Tuomisto is in Denver rn, he's not 100% NHL'er yet.
 
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MichaelJ

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May 20, 2013
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RD that are NHL ready? Only Gustav Lindstrom fits the bill. Strong defensively/positionally, good size, decent skater & 1st pass, should be a solid #5 in the future, ceiling is #4 @ Peak. He looked good in his cup of coffee last yr., quietly effective #6a/#5b. Probably close in value, but I doubt the Wings wanna trade him. We do have Stecher who's played pretty well so far, cheap 2 yr deal, likely gets taken in ED, if not Givani Smith. Tuomisto is in Denver rn, he's not 100% NHL'er yet.

Lindstrom sounds like a fit...too bad it also sounds like he’s unavailable.
 

HBK27

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Aug 5, 2005
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Unless the Devils are 100% convinced they are going to expose Subban in the expansion draft (which I'd be fine with), then they should just hold onto Butcher as he's the only other candidate for them to expose that meets the requirements on defense. Maybe they even work out a deal with Seattle to take Butcher in the expansion draft if the cost isn't too high instead of losing a young forward.
 

KovalSNIPE

Registered User
Feb 9, 2011
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Younger, near NHL ready RHD would be my goal. We have so many LHD in the system with Walsh being the only young RHD with true NHL potential that comes to mind.

Severson and Walsh are the only long term guys I could see so we still need the top pairing potential guy.
 
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goonybird

Young boy expert
Jul 9, 2015
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Devils are gonna have an open LD spot when Murray is on IR due to his ongoing struggles with leprosy
 

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