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New Jersey Devils: Will Butcher Injury Could Derail Defense

By Nick Villano

NEWARK, NJ - OCTOBER 16: Will Butcher #8 of the New Jersey Devils is held by Brett Ritchie #25 of the Dallas Stars during the game at Prudential Center on October 16, 2018 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Andy Marlin/NHLI via Getty Images)
NEWARK, NJ - OCTOBER 16: Will Butcher #8 of the New Jersey Devils is held by Brett Ritchie #25 of the Dallas Stars during the game at Prudential Center on October 16, 2018 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Andy Marlin/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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The New Jersey Devils enjoyed another great win against the Dallas Stars, but this one may have come at a price. Defenseman Will Butcher went down with what looked like a shoulder injury.

It was such a wonderful win, but one that clouded in worry. The New Jersey Devils took a 3-0 victory from the Dallas Stars. It’s a win that sent the Devils to 4-0, leaving them as the only undefeated team left in the NHL. Keith Kinkaid has more shutouts this season than he had all of last season. Kyle Palmieri scored another goal and broke a record.

However, all we care about tonight is the status of defenseman Will Butcher. It was a special night for him, as he was facing his former coach at Denver University Jim Montgomery. He recorded an assist on Palmieri’s goal. It could have been more after so many power play opportunities. It was a night of excitement

Then, this happened.

Butcher was sent shoulder first into the boards by Roman Polak, who’s on the Stars to do this sort of thing. Obviously, he’s not trying to hurt him, but those kind of hits will eventually put players on the shelf. It did not look good for Butcher.

It’s way too early to diagnose this, but if it is indeed a broken collarbone or separated shoulder, injuries that could lead to months of recovery, it’s the type of injury that can derail the good vibes the Devils have so far this season.

The pair of Butcher and Ben Lovejoy have some of the best advanced statistics in the league. They routinely post CF% above 75%, and they hold the opposing offense in check on a nightly basis. It’s been just four games, but this was a great sign. If you take Butcher out of the lineup, that changes things drastically.

The Devils would be forced to replace Butcher in the lineup with either Steve Santini or Eric Gryba. Let that sink in for just a minute. The Devils have to replace one of the better young offensive defensemen in the league with two defensemen who have a combined 60 points in their careers. Butcher was on pace to pass that this season, just his second in the league.

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Head coach John Hynes cannot put Santini or Gryba with Lovejoy. It’s asking for trouble. So that means he has to juggle the lines completely, taking away the chemistry Sami Vatanen has with Mirco Mueller, and Damon Severson has developed with Andy Greene.

These are all major issues, but it isn’t even addressing the biggest issue of all. The Devils are going to severely miss Butcher’s presence on the power play. Coming into tonight’s matchup, the Devils power play was scoring on more than 21 percent of their chances. A large majority of those came when Butcher’s line was on the ice. Taking him off means that Vatanen probably takes his place, which hurts the first and second line of the power play.

We can hope all we want, but Hynes not having an update on Butcher is likely not good news. We’ll learn more in the morning, but for now we should be very, very worried.

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