With the college hockey season coming to a close, the NCAA has named Will Butcher the recipient of the Hobey Baker award. Butcher was selected by Colorado in the 2013 draft, but he has recently stated that he may not want to sign with them. It’s rumored that if the Panthers do hire Jim Montgomery, Butcher would follow suit and sign with the Cats.
Butcher is a defenseman for Denver University, and at 5’10 and 190 pounds, he is a small, speedy, puck moving defenseman that would suit the Panthers very well. Not to mention he’s left-handed, meaning he is exactly what the Panthers need; a left-handed, young, fast, puck-moving, offensive defenseman.
The Hobey Baker winner has put up very solid numbers for the pioneers in his tenure there, especially the last 2 years. In 2015-16 he posted 9 goals and 23 assists, resulting in 32 points in 39 games, and in 2016-17, he posted 7 goals and 30 assists, resulting in 43 games, along with being named captain for his senior season.
Aside from winning the Hobey Baker this past season, he was also awarded the Best Offensive Defenseman award and the Player of the Year award. And as mentioned earlier, Butcher was awarded the captaincy before the ‘16-’17 season after being an assistant captain for his first 3 years.
Previously, he played for the US National Team, the Dubuque Fighting Saints of the USHL, and the Madison Capitals for both the U16 league, and the U18 league. And like he did at Denver, he put up very solid numbers.
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Butcher was selected by the Colorado Avalanche in the fifth round, 123rd overall in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, just 121 picks after Aleksander Barkov. He signed an entry-level deal with Colorado but chose to play at Denver to finish out his college career. But with the Avalanche performing very poorly the last few seasons, and the big question that is their head coaching situation, he stated that he probably won’t want to re-sign with them come July 1st.
He will become a free agent on August 15th, eligible to sign with any NHL team. But with Jim Montgomery being linked heavily to the Panthers’ head coach gig, Butcher has implied that he would want to sign with Florida if Montgomery is selected as new coach. Not to mention, two of his teammates at DU are already a part of the Panthers’ system in the team superstar Henrik Borgstrom and starting goalie Evan Cowley.