Will Butcher Agrees to Terms with Devils for 2017

[DevsMan84]

2 hours ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

Does he really get much hatred though?  You had some over-the-top overreaction after the first day of FA, but when he snagged Johansson, that seemed to die off very quickly.  I think most Devils fans (especially the reasonable ones) knew that Shero inherited an absolute sh!t-show and that no one could possibly turn this thing around overnight.  It's really hard to imagine that any other GM could've done much more to date...not to mention that if Shero ever decides to dip into the FA market for a higher-tier guy, he can do that without issue...it wasn't so long ago that the Devils were in salary cap hell.   

I really don't know how anyone could complain much about what he's done to date...he's also done a nice job in signing stop-gap types and turning them into picks which he then turned into NHLers.  I think he's shown impressive creativity in what he's done so far.  I'm also impressed with the patience he's shown throughout his process...no quick-fix moves, no uber-red flag signings like Cammalleri (sure, could've worked out fully, but lots of signs pointed to that deal turning out like it ultimately did:  Cam being pretty good, but prone to missing a lot of games, and then declining relatively early into his contract).  Shero has done a solid job, he really has. 

Go into the Devils FB groups for 24 hours and that opinion will change very quickly lol.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

1 minute ago, DevsMan84 said:

Go into the Devils FB groups for 24 hours and that opinion will change very quickly lol.

Sad...what the hell do they want from Shero? 

[DevsMan84]

2 minutes ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

Sad...what the hell do they want from Shero? 

Basically to turn the 2015 Devils into the 2015 Blackhawks inside of 3 years.  They also use the line of "but Lou took the team to the ECF in his first year!" quite often as well.

[Triumph]

41 minutes ago, Daniel said:

Like virtually every other GM, what we think of Shero will ultimately come down to how well his drafts turn out.  It doesn't matter how many shrewd trades he manages to pull off, if the team gets relatively little out of the draft picks he needed to get right, Zacha, McLeod and Hischier, the Devils aren't going anywhere, and he won't last very long.  And on top of all three of those players performing well, he needs one defenseman he's drafted to become at least a top three guy, and one or two non-first round pick forwards to pan out into quality NHLers. 

Next year's draft is full of great defensemen supposedly, so that might be enough for him to be around for the long term.

This isn't really how it should be, though, because while the GM guides the drafting process, he's not really involved past the 1st round (and even then he might not be heavily involved if it's a low pick).  Most of Shero's moves have been good and I don't think most Devils fans realize just how in the toilet this franchise was 2 years ago. 

[Daniel]

1 hour ago, Triumph said:

This isn't really how it should be, though, because while the GM guides the drafting process, he's not really involved past the 1st round (and even then he might not be heavily involved if it's a low pick).  Most of Shero's moves have been good and I don't think most Devils fans realize just how in the toilet this franchise was 2 years ago. 

I agree that you can't really blame drafting on the GM, but no matter how many good moves a GM makes, his team is not going anywhere unless enough draft picks turn out out well, and ultimately, no GM is going to last that long if the team isn't winning, regardless of whether it's really the GM's fault.  So yeah, the Oilers are probably going to win the Cup in the next couple of years, and Chiarella is going to have a job for a long time, despite some pretty terrible moves he's made.  On the other hand, if the Devils do not make the playoffs for the next three years, Shero will get fired, despite all the shrewd moves he's made.  Just the way it goes.

One other thing though, Shero does seem to be more active in who gets drafted more than other GMs, sometimes to his own detriment.  When he was in Pittsburgh, he apparently put the kibosh on drafting Saad over the advice of his scouts. 

[LittleBallofHate]

So Butcher answered some questions this afternoon; a few quotes from NJ.com (since Hynes has been mentioned quite a bit lately in this thread): 

http://www.nj.com/devils/index.ssf/2017/08/why_free_agent_will_butcher_picked_the_devils.html

"How they want to play in New Jersey kind of reminded me of college hockey and coach (Jim) Montgomery a little bit," Butcher said. "So there's comfortably in the systems a little bit and seeing the game the same way, so I think because of coach Hynes and the team's abilities and just the tour in general made the decision to sign with New Jersey."

"I kind of hit it off with coach Hynes," Butcher said. "I think he he's sound hockey mind, a sound coach. It seemed like a great fit with how they want to play and they saw me being a vital role to what they want to do there."

Andrew Gross‏ @AGrossRecord

On conference call, new #NJDevils D Will Butcher cites hitting it off with coach John Hynes, GM Ray Shero as big part of decision.

Devils Insiders‏ @DevilsInsiders  

Butcher says he was at Prudential Center when he was drafted in 2013. When he visited recently with NJ, he & his dad went to where they sat.

Butcher said he models his game after Duncan Keith, Torey Krug, Tobias Enstrom and Andy Greene.

"Last 2 seasons I played the right side...I enjoyed it. I don't have a preference."

New Jersey Devils‏Verified account @NJDevils  

Butcher on learning from #NJDevils captain Andy Greene: Andy can be a great mentor to me. He plays the power play and all situations.

Edited August 28, 2017 by LittleBallofHate

[LittleBallofHate]

Puckdaddy article on how Hynes was a big part of the lure of coming to NJ: 

https://sports.yahoo.com/devils-coach-sold-will-butcher-picking-new-jersey-210004887.html

“The guy knows the game. He has a passion for the game. I’d like to say I have a passion for the game, too,” said Butcher.

In the end, it was Hynes, his system and the franchise’s approach to player development that lured him to the Devils.

“They cater to their guys and help get them ready for the NHL game. Certain things, from taking repetitions to going out one day and taking puck touches,” he said. “It was very appealing for me to talk about that stuff: To take a younger guy like me, 22, just coming into the NHL, and they’re going to put me in places to succeed rather than just throw me into the fire of the NHL.”

[CommonDreads]

Seems like a well spoken, smart kid. I admire that he took the time to find where he has the best fit and where the coaching staff compliments him the most, instead of just flocking to a big name team like Chicago or the Rangers he had teams like NJ, Buffalo, and Vegas in his final 4. Hope he becomes a good one for us, from everything I've heard it sounds like he's a good hockey mind and well spoken kid.

[slasher72]

3 hours ago, DevsMan84 said:

They also use the line of "but Lou took the team to the ECF in his first year!" quite often as well.

 

What a bunch of crap. We're also in this rebuild because of Lou and had it not been for that fluke run in 2012, his post lockout handling of the team would look much worse.

 

I'm very grateful for what Lou did but give it a rest with the Lou worship and Shero hate. Ridiculous. 

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

5 hours ago, DevsMan84 said:

Basically to turn the 2015 Devils into the 2015 Blackhawks inside of 3 years.  They also use the line of "but Lou took the team to the ECF in his first year!" quite often as well.

fvcking morons.  Do those dipsh!ts really think Lou built a winning team that quickly?  The Devils obviously had pieces in place prior to Lou's arrival that were starting to hit their stride.  It also took Lou a while to build on that foundation...and without Lemaire he may never have been here as long as he was.

[Daniel]

18 minutes ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

fvcking morons.  Do those dipsh!ts really think Lou built a winning team that quickly?  The Devils obviously had pieces in place prior to Lou's arrival that were starting to hit their stride.  It also took Lou a while to build on that foundation...and without Lemaire he may never have been here as long as he was.

I'm not on Facebook, but I've heard second hand that there are so-called fans there that are under the impression that Severson is now a UFA or something like that.  So I would not expect them to understand the nuances of Lou's early years, and that they're best ignored as nothing more than people that show up to games and cheer the team on.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Fair point.

[LittleBallofHate]

It's funny how things work in time... Mirco Mueller was drafted same year (they're only a few months apart in age) - San Jose moved up to draft him at 18 overall.  Will was drafted at 123 overall, round 5.  I wonder who most "experts" would now peg as the top prospect between them.  Who would y'all rather have (if you couldn't have both, which we obviously do)?

[Marshall]

17 hours ago, Triumph said:

This isn't really how it should be, though, because while the GM guides the drafting process, he's not really involved past the 1st round (and even then he might not be heavily involved if it's a low pick).  Most of Shero's moves have been good and I don't think most Devils fans realize just how in the toilet this franchise was 2 years ago. 

Agree, but Shero also got to put all his guys in there. So the drafting is certainly his to own even if he's not involved in the day to day nor the actual picking bar the top end guys.

[Crisis]

Here is the NHL Tonight segment about Butcher.  Alex Tanguay speaks very highly of his intelligence and feel for the position.  I don't know how inflated it is or if all this ability can translate well to the NHL but I'd be lying if I said it didn't get me really excited to see him in a Devils uniform (no matter how bad you think they are 7..).  I didn't know too much about him going into this summer so it was also a nice profile on the kid.

https://streamable.com/h4p1s

[msweet]

I think they are hoping he will learn under Andy Greene and eventually be his replacement.

[CommonDreads]

Butcher will wear #8 for the Devils

 

[EdgeControl]

13 more days to weigh ins,  gonna be a great camp this year

[NJDfan1711]

4 hours ago, Marshall said:

Agree, but Shero also got to put all his guys in there. So the drafting is certainly his to own even if he's not involved in the day to day nor the actual picking bar the top end guys.

I was going to say the same thing.  A GM may not bear all of the responsibility, whether's blame or praise, but he gets 90% of it.  He's definitely involved in making the decisions -- maybe not all of them, but absolutely the important ones, and even on the little stuff, it's his staff making the decisions, which for the most part, he appointed, so one way or another it all goes up the ladder to him and falls on his shoulders.

[DevsMan84]

17 hours ago, Daniel said:

I'm not on Facebook, but I've heard second hand that there are so-called fans there that are under the impression that Severson is now a UFA or something like that.  So I would not expect them to understand the nuances of Lou's early years, and that they're best ignored as nothing more than people that show up to games and cheer the team on.

A lot of the Lou apologists are a different breed than the crowd you are describing.  The Severson is a UFA crowd are basically high school and college-aged idiots.  The Lou apologists are mostly an older crowd who were around during the good years in the 90's and early 2000's and basically believe that he could do no wrong since he won 3 cups in 9 years.  These are the same people who are STH since the 80's/90's and are there most games and follow the team pretty closely.

[mfitz804]

48 minutes ago, DevsMan84 said:

A lot of the Lou apologists are a different breed than the crowd you are describing.  The Severson is a UFA crowd are basically high school and college-aged idiots.  The Lou apologists are mostly an older crowd who were around during the good years in the 90's and early 2000's and basically believe that he could do no wrong since he won 3 cups in 9 years.  These are the same people who are STH since the 80's/90's and are there most games and follow the team pretty closely.

1) I'm a little annoyed Severson's deal isn't done. 

2) During the 90's and early 2000's, Lou could do no wrong! That changed. 

3) Being a season ticket holder doesn't mean you know jack sh!t about hockey. In some instances I suspect it means you have lots of money, lots of free time, and you enjoy overpaying for beer. At least I have observed that on a few occasions. No offense to you STH's in here, you guys probably know your stuff

[yort44]

If you want to know how bad some of the STH are, just go to a meet the players event and watch how many of them ask "who are you?" to guys like Andy Greene (witnessed that last year).   I'm hoping (for credibility sake) that many of these meet the players event tickets are given away by the STH to friends and relatives and are not indicative of their hockey acumen.  

 

Edited August 29, 2017 by yort44

['7']

5 hours ago, CommonDreads said:

Butcher will wear #8 for the Devils

 

A Butcher jersey and a butchered jersey.

[mfitz804]

1 hour ago, yort44 said:

If you want to know how bad some of the STH are, just go to a meet the players event and watch how many of them ask "who are you?" to guys like Andy Greene (witnessed that last year).   I'm hoping (for credibility sake) that many of these meet the players event tickets are given away by the STH to friends and relatives and are not indicative of their hockey acumen.  

 

Last season, I saw was a guy arguing that he should get a free cup of cheese dip for his pretzel because he was a STH. He didn't just suggest it once, he was persistently making a case for free cheese. He did not get it (in several ways), and I am guessing I could have named off like 10 players and he would have had no idea who they are. 

[Satans Hockey]

2 hours ago, yort44 said:

If you want to know how bad some of the STH are, just go to a meet the players event and watch how many of them ask "who are you?" to guys like Andy Greene (witnessed that last year).   I'm hoping (for credibility sake) that many of these meet the players event tickets are given away by the STH to friends and relatives and are not indicative of their hockey acumen.  

 

There's always been stupid fans, only difference now is social media gives them a platform to be seen and heard a lot more.