New Jersey Devils: Will Butcher Adds To Impressive Defense
By Kevin Whalen
The Devils have made it clear that they are going to have plenty of depth on the blue-line this year with trades and signings, but will this create stability or a unit looking for an identity?
The re-signing of Will Butcher on July 31st gave us somewhat of an idea of what our defense is going to be like this year. The possibility of Ty Smith is still unknown to the New Jersey Devils at this point, but one thing that was definite from this signing was that the Devils will not be heading into this year ill-prepared at defense. Last year we saw injuries pile up and the defense suffered immensely because of the lack of depth at the position.
The Butcher signing capped off an offseason of re-signings three defensemen including Connor Carrick and Mirco Mueller. Carrick and Mueller are the depth defenseman for the team with Butcher being a night in and night out staple.
This may be an unpopular opinion right now, but this season will be a launching pad toward a very successful career for Will Butcher. As a player coming out of college, he may take a little longer to come into his own as an elite defenseman. There has been a lot of great defenseman in the NHL that came out of college and took a few years to round into form and Butcher is ahead of some in terms of points thus far in his career.
So where is this defensive unit going? There is the possibility of trading Sami Vatanen because he is set to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of 2020, but that may not yield another defenseman in return. We can’t look at the what if’s right now, but what we can look at is this should be a much-improved group on the blue-line.
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There is much to be debated about the pairings. An argument can be made for a multitude of different lines because all of them bring a different set of skills and mental fortitude. We know P.K. Subban will be on the number-one pairing but with who? As is, one might assume that it would be Vatanen because he’s the next best player on the defense behind Subban. Don’t assume as much. I think it’s time to put Butcher onto a top pair with Subban and see what he can do. His game will elevate playing alongside a Norris Trophy winning player of Subban’s caliber. It could be the launching point.
Then, there is the more unknown part of the unit with rookie Ty Smith. He will make it extremely difficult for the Devils to keep him off the opening night roster. It may be headed that way to start off.
Then there’s the captain in Andy Greene and the young gun Damon Severson. The reason they haven’t been mentioned is that we already know where they stand. With leadership, skill, youth, and depth in one unit, this year has the makings of a very impressive season from the Devils defense. They can contribute in all phases of the game with both offense and defense. Don’t be surprised if they prove to be one of the best in the league. It happens all the time, one year one unit is down and the next year they improve by a wide margin, so it can absolutely happen with a unit like the Devils based on the talent they have alone.