New Jersey Devils: Will Butcher Needs To Get Healthy By Any Means Necessary

New Jersey Devils defenseman Will Butcher has looked like a different player after leaving a game earlier this season with a shoulder injury. It’s clear there is still something wrong, and the Devils need to get him healthy.

Last night, the New Jersey Devils lost to what was the worst team in the Eastern Conference. They never really looked good, but they had a chance to win all until one play. They were on the power play, and Will Butcher was holding the puck on the blue line. Then, things took a turn.

Butcher tried to make a pass, but hit Luke Glendening‘s stick, which caused a two on one. He eventually took a shot that trickled away from Cory Schneider, and Justin Abdelkader cleaned it up for the go-ahead goal.

This wasn’t the first mistake for Will Butcher. In fact, ever since he left the game against the Dallas Stars with a shoulder injury, he just hasn’t been the same. He’s made major mistakes that kill the Devils late in games. We liked to blame a lot of his issues on the injury to Ben Lovejoy that forced him to play with Eric Gryba. However, it seems like Butcher might be the problem.

Butcher went from having some of the best advanced statistics in the league, to being well below average. His Corsi For % is down to 46.72. His relative xGF% sits at -5.93. We know these stats can be confusing, but basically it shows Butcher is well below average this early in the season.

More from Pucks and Pitchforks

• Should New Jersey Devils Try Load Management With Vitek Vanecek?
• New Jersey Devils Will Prove That Last Year Wasn’t A Fluke
• New Jersey Devils: Luke Hughes’ Playmaking Will Outshine His Mistakes
• New Jersey Devils: Chase Stillman’s Performance Causes Concern
• Can Devils Fans Separate Zach Parise Heartbreak From Achievements?

So, the question becomes, how do the Devils fix this? Butcher needs to fix whatever is wrong with him, because he is an incredibly important part of this team.

Prior to hurting his shoulder, Butcher had three assists in four games. Since then, he has two assists in six games. That’s an issue, as his most impactful feature is creating offense.

The Devils need to sit Butcher until he gets right. I know it sounds insane, but it must be done. The Devils have kept Russian defenseman Yegor Yakovlev for a reason. He can provide the same offensive game that Butcher did. He had a point per game in Binghamton. He could control the first power play.

That would give Butcher time to truly recover. We can’t find any other reason why Butcher is playing so badly. He has to be hurt. Give him time to to get fully healthy. Let him sit for a game or two, or more if necessary. We need Butcher at full health for months more than we need a partially healthy Butcher right now.