Pucks and Pitchforks
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5 New Jersey Devils Who Missed Out On Their Chance At Olympics

By Nick Villano

Canada's gold medallists Rick Nash, Pk Subban, Jeff Carter and Sidney Crosby celebrate during the Men's Ice Hockey Medal Ceremony at the Bolshoy Ice Dome during the Sochi Winter Olympics on February 23, 2014. AFP PHOTO / JONATHAN NACKSTRAND (Photo credit should read JONATHAN NACKSTRAND/AFP via Getty Images)
Canada's gold medallists Rick Nash, Pk Subban, Jeff Carter and Sidney Crosby celebrate during the Men's Ice Hockey Medal Ceremony at the Bolshoy Ice Dome during the Sochi Winter Olympics on February 23, 2014. AFP PHOTO / JONATHAN NACKSTRAND (Photo credit should read JONATHAN NACKSTRAND/AFP via Getty Images) /
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New Jersey Devils
Will Butcher #4 of the USA National Junior Team (Photo by Richard T Gagnon/Getty Images) /

Will Butcher- Team USA

This one hurts, but the New Jersey Devils defenseman Will Butcher had a real shot to represent the USA in 2018 as a left-handed defenseman. He was coming off a dominant rookie year right after he had an amazing college career. It looks like the Devils just made one of the best signings in their history.

He absolutely wasn’t a lock, since the USA did have a lot of talent on the back end. Players like Seth Jones, Zach Werenski, Ryan Suter, and Jacob Trouba are better talents than we’ve seen on the blue line in a long time. Butcher wasn’t getting past them, even in his special rookie year. However, he could find a spot as a third-line player and power-play specialist. Butcher’s shot from the point with the man advantage was extremely important to the Devils that season.

Look at Butcher’s stats. He had more than a half-point per game, 23 of his points came on the power play, and it would be smart for the Americans to at least keep him on the roster for his prowess with the man advantage. Even if he was just an extra, it makes a lot of sense to keep him there.

Like we said, it’s far from a formality to have Butcher on the roster, but it makes a lot of sense. With the players teams like Canada and Russia would have put on the ice, going younger is the smart move. Instead of going with someone like Cam Fowler, Butcher provides a very special skill set the Americans don’t necessarily have, although Kevin Shattenkirk would be a similar option.

Butcher isn’t even close to the conversation to make the Olympics roster. He’s regressed for two-straight seasons as the Devils work on his defensive skills. Now, he’s not even getting power play time with the Devils. Damon Severson, P.K. Subban, and Sami Vatanen were ahead of him. He only had 74 minutes of power-play time this season, about half the time of his teammates. For that being his best skill, it’s clearly not good enough for the Devils let alone the USA.

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