Will Butcher, sneaky upside

[Jouko-Pouko]

I wonder a bit if signing Butcher puts pressure on Severson (RFA) to sign at a lower price.
NJ's D stinks, but they do have five NHL contracts (Green, Lovejoy, Moore, Prout, and M.Mueller).
Steven Santini is more than ready to play NHL-time as a gritty stay-home D.
And then you've got Severson, currently RFA.

So... I wouldn't say Butcher is a lock for the team.
He's certainly got way better long-term upside then all these guys, but, developmentally, is coming straight to the NHL what is best for him??? I don't know.

I think Butcher's Schultz/Vesey-ish situation puts him more on our radar... and we want to forecast great things for him.
But, look at Vesey, he was Hobey-level, comes out of Harvard... and puts up just 11a and -13 in 80gp with NYR.

I've only seen spot highlights of Butcher, but I'd be inclined that one year in the AHL as the lead PP1 D-man would do him more good than a direct jump to the NHL.
Its one thing for a college/jr kid to make the jump to the NHL playing wing (easiest position in hockey)... but defense, mercy, that's a tough transition.
I can't name too many players that made a NCAA-to-NHL jump smoothly... defensively, Ghost is one to look at... and he got turned inside-out for his first year & half with PHI (defensively speaking).

You make very good points but on the other hand, D-men haven't won the Hobey Baker very often, so we don't have too many comparables for Butcher. The last three D-men who won it (Jordan Leopold, Matt Carle and Matt Gilroy) did make the jump straight from college to the NHL but of course all of them are from some time back already.

From more recent players who didn't win the Hobey Baker, we've seen guys like Troy Stecher, Charlie McAvoy, Matt Benning, Noah Hanifin and Colton Parayko make the jump directly or almost directly (a few AHL games) from college to the NHL, so it isn't really impossible for Butcher to do the same.

As I've said before, it wouldn't shock me if he spends most of the season in the AHL and it wouldn't hurt his long-term development one bit. But it's also very much possible some sort of guarantees were made before he signed with the Devils, and being familiar with playing on the right side helps his chances since he's mostly just playing against Santini for the final roster spot, and Santini can be sent down without waivers. Prout is nothing more than a #7D in my books, so he doesn't really affect the situation.

[Belexus75]

He is 100% going to make the team, question is how they use him. He will start as bottom six, maybe the 7th man, but could play his way into top 4.

so he is going to start at forward, then sit on the bench and then maybe he will crack top 4 interesting path...

[The Black Panther]

Mike Reilly?

[glorybe23]

You also have to wonder if Shero sold Butcher on NHL playing time this season to tip the scales in him signing with them.

[The Black Panther]

You also have to wonder if Shero sold Butcher on NHL playing time this season to tip the scales in him signing with them.

Agree with this

[Pengwin7]

Butcher apparently hit it off with the NJ coach (John Hynes).
I'd also guess, like Vesey, he felt this particular location was his best shot for success.
[Surely, Butcher - being in Denver - was very familar with the rumbling of the COL organization & depth chart.]

As an offensive defenseman, a guy is mostly looking for a place where he'd get to run a PP1 or PP2 unit.
Barrie/EJ both run those roles for COL.
NJ is, by far, the most offensively D-starved team in the NHL.

I think Butcher (like Vesey) made a good decision...
I'm just not sure he's that good (or even better than Severson - who I'm not big on).

[chuckcouples]

Butcher should put up numbers similar to Mike Reilly in Minnesota. They are similar defenseman. Butcher may be given more of a chance to make the opening night roster in New Jersey than Reilly was in Minnesota but I would temper my expectations for the upcoming season or two.

[Axeman33]

Butcher should do better than Reilly. Reilly can barely crack the Minny lineup. Butcher has no where near the traffic in front of him for prime minutes compared to Reilly.

In college they may have been similar but I like Butcher a lot more in Jersey than Reilly in Minny.

[Polecon]

I can unequivocally say there is stuff on The Atheltic that I can't get anywhere else for free. There is stuff on DKPS that I can't get anywhere else for free. And I'm more than willing to drink 2 less coffees a month to get it.

I unequivocally second this. Athletic is expanding nicely and attracting some of the best writers from major centres to do focused work on teams - from prospects through minor leagues, advanced stats, system analysis to game breakdowns. Just getting access to Justin Bourne's work is worth the price of admission, let alone Custance, Dellow, Portzline, and now Pronman