New Jersey Devils: Will Butcher Costing Himself A Ton Of Money

New Jersey Devils defenseman Will Butcher is in the last year of his deal. While many people thought the Devils were saving money to give him an extension this offseason, his play so far is costing him a lot of money.

Will Butcher was the surprise of last season. Despite being one of the most highly sought after players to leave his contract with the team that drafted him, he chose to join the New Jersey Devils. He saw an opportunity to play right away, and he played very well. He was so good, he collected 37 votes in the Calder Trophy race.

This season, he seems like a different player. His main job is as the quarterback of the power play. This Devils power play has been anemic for over a month. Since his first two point game against the Pittsburgh Penguins on November 5th, he has just one point in 12 games.

Butcher was a Corsi machine on his line with Ben Lovejoy to start the season. Those two were one of the best pairings in the league according to most advanced stats. Of course, it was a small sample size, but it was still impressive. It seemed that John Hynes finally found a great role for those two, which showed they really evened each other out. Then, Butcher left a game with a shoulder injury. That was back on October 17th. He hasn’t looked the same since.

Things came to a head on Saturday night. Hynes decided to take Butcher out of the lineup. He wasn’t injured, he was actually a healthy scratch.

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Butcher may be going through the dreaded sophomore slump. He was so good last season, he actually tries to up his game and make a big pay day this season. It’s not working out. In fact, Butcher has cost himself a lot of money this season.

Butcher was probably looking at a four-six year deal in the offseason. The Devils want to keep this guy in the organization for as long as possible. That’s still the case, but the Devils may not be as keen on buying some of those unrestricted free agency years.

Butcher was in line to receive a deal close to what Damon Severson signed a few years ago. He signed a six-year deal that escalated over the course of the contract to pay him a total of $25 million. At the end of the day, Severson is getting paid well, but it’s still a good contract for the Devils. He’s young and is proven that last year was fluke.

Butcher, on the other hand, is going into his negotiations on a down note. Well, at least for now. There is plenty of time for him to turn it around. However, if he wants to get that big pay day he needs to play much better. One must remember that the Devils want to give Sami Vatanen and Taylor Hall big contracts this offseason. After that, they have to pay Nico Hischier. Butcher is not making himself a priority if he continues to play this way.

Don’t let this come off as an overreaction. The Devils will do everything they can to re-sign Butcher this offseason. He’s a huge part of the future of this franchise. He just needs to play better. I’d expect him to be back in the lineup when they play the Lightning on Monday night. He likely just needed a little perspective, and nothing brings that to a player like the owner’s box does. This could be the turning point of his season, but as of now he’s costing himself so much money.