Will Butcher has signed a new contract with the New Jersey Devils.

Why 3 years and take him to UFA instead of 2 year bridge...

Good AAV but odd term...

Probably would have cost more per year then.

Not quite the bridge deal that was anticipated… while AAV is good, term is not

Their counting on him bouncing back

Devils are still unsure if he will be a great defender for years to come, or if he's already peaked.

I would say both. He's likely going to be a great defender for years to come, but what you see is more than likely what you're going to get. He didn't necessarily "peak", but he's not going to get a crazy amount better (however I do think he will get a little bit better in the fundamental areas). He cant be a #1 dman but he can be a good #2/#3 dman.

Who is he gonna play with?? Subban or Severson??

Probably Severson

Good. I feared he would get too much term and not live up to the deal

Vatanen - Subban
Butcher - Severson
Smith - Greene
-
Mueller - Carrick

I start to like our defense

Opponents are going to love that first pairing, pretty much all offense and not great defense. The Rangers will be able to walk all over them.

My version:

Greene - Severson
Butcher - Subban
Smith - Vatanen
Mueller

Most of his point production comes via the PP. He'll now be off the first unit and playing less than 15 mins. per game. This is an overpayment as I've watched every minute of every game of his career.

No. Greene is still 20+ minutes per game. Easily top 4 D. Butcher is 3rd pair and battling with Meuller for ice time. Trust me on this one. Vatanen is much better at 5on5 than Butcher and Greene is still the team's best defensive player.

Should have gone 2 years instead of 3

Would've preferred 2 years, but the AAV is decent. He likely slots in the 3rd pairing for now, but he could slot into the 2nd sometime (especially depending on what they do with Vatanen next year).

Now looks like they've got their D all sorted. Might look something like:

Greene - Subban
Vatanen - Severson
Butcher - Carrick

Smith - Mueller - Smith may end up slotting into the 3rd over Carrick, depending on his development.

I'm also glad that, if they had to sign a contract that brings him into UFA to get a fair AAV, that they didn't sign him to too many years. I've liked his game so far, but he's a 2nd/3rd pairing guy with only 2 years under his belt so far.

Greene should not be playing on the first pair and he shouldn't have been there for the past 2 years. He should be used as a 3rd pairing specialty guy on the PK and a mentor for the young guys. His advanced metrics are atrocious at even strength, it's clear to see that he should not be playing 20+ minutes per night.

Who is better defensively on the left side? Obviously not Butcher. Vatanen is solid, and could be paired w/ Subban, but either way Greene is top 2 LHD on the team. I'm not saying he necessarily should be, but he will be. Wait and see if you don't believe me. know his numbers are bad, but he plays every single night against the opponent's top line on a team that's finished bottom 5 in the NHL for the better part of the last 7 seasons. Butcher was protected 5on5 in both seasons and matched up against other teams depth players. Butcher is a PP specialist w/ little defensive upside.

A lot depends on How quickly Ty Smith makes the jump to the NHL. They're both offensive LHD's.

I think that the entire reason that they gave him 3 years is that they aren't sure that they don't want him to walk as a UFA.

Greene way outscored Butcher 5on5 last season, by almost a 2:1 margin if I remember correctly. Greene was also a better +/- despite playing the tough minutes.

I think this is an over pay. But defense is at a premium.
I don't think he's that good, especially in his own end. The less he's sheltered the more it shows.
I've never really been a fan of paying defensive players when you have to shelter them. It ends up turning out bad sooner or later.