New Jersey Devils: Where Will Butcher Fits On Defense
The New Jersey Devils are looking like they might have a decent defense next year and Will Butcher should be a big part of it.
The New Jersey Devils are going to have at least three more years of Will Butcher. He has been great offensively for the Devils since signing as a college free agent out of University of Denver. He has helped impact this team in a positive way and now he will be afforded the opportunity to grow with this team moving forward.
So with this team ready to carry eight defensemen, where does Butcher fit into all that when everybody is healthy? You would assume that P.K. Subban, Damon Severson, Andy Greene, and Sami Vatanen are locks. Then, Will Butcher is almost a lock. That leaves Connor Carrick, Mirco Mueller, and the rookie Ty Smith to fill the final spot. In a perfect world, Smith takes the next step and earns a job as an everyday defenseman. His ceiling is to not only be an everyday defenseman, but a very good one that changes games.
Butcher is going to get power-play time at different points, but the Devils also have Subban, Severson, and Vatanen who are all also capable of taking power-play time themselves.. Having a lot of guys who can contribute is not a bad thing, it is just up to coach John Hynes to decide who gets what minutes. He probably isn’t going to be out there much shorthanded. At even strength, he is likely on the bottom pair, but that is just because there are some other guys ahead of him.
Butcher has the talent in his the attacking zone to be a high-volume point producer. That is what makes him so important to this team going forward, and it is good that the Devils got him to a friendly deal with some term on it. They also avoided arbitration, which means that the chemistry wasn’t hurt at all. Winning the Will Butcher sweepstakes two summers ago was great for the present and future of this team.
Related Story. July was a successful month for the New Jersey Devils. light
It will also be fun to see him play with some very good forwards at both even strength and on the power play. Taylor Hall, Nico Hischier, and Jack Hughes amongst others will all benefit from having a few guys on the blue line who can be skilled enough to get them the puck up the ice. This has the potential to be a team that can score some goals and a good balance of defenseman and forwards is the key and Butcher is going to be right in the middle of that.