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Wild unsure of role Will Butcher will play in organization

john shipley, pioneer press
·4 min read

The Wild made a relatively quiet personnel move this week when general manager Bill Guerin sent minor leaguer Maxim Cajkovic to Pittsburgh for former NHL defenseman Will Butcher, a Sun Prairie, Wis., native who was scheduled to play his first game for the Iowa Wild on Saturday night.

Cajkovic, acquired in the deal that brought Pat Maroon here from Tampa Bay, has played most of this season in the ECHL, and Butcher hasn’t played in the NHL since being used sparingly by Buffalo in 2021-22.

Still, it’s a little intriguing.

Butcher was the Hobey Baker winner after his junior season at Denver and made the NHL’s all-rookie team in 2017-18 after amassing five goals and 39 assists for the New Jersey Devils — under head coach John Hynes — and signed a three-year NHL deal.

But Butcher, 29, has never been quite the same since. Why?

“That’s a good question,” Hynes, now the Wild’s head coach, said Saturday. “He played great for us in New Jersey, and then I haven’t seen him play in quite a while.”

Butcher played all of last season with Dallas’ AHL team — his first American League season — and was very good, 6-37—43 in 65 games. He signed a two-way, free-agent deal with Pittsburgh but started the season on the Penguins’ injured non-roster list with a non-disclosed injury. He was released, and after clearing waivers played 14 games with Wilkes-Barre (3-4–7).

Butcher was acquired in the wake of veteran blue liner Jared Spurgeon being lost for the season; he’ll have season-ending hip surgery on Feb. 6, then back surgery about six weeks later. After Saturday’s morning skate at Xcel Energy Center, Hynes was asked if he expected Butcher to join the big league club this season.

“I’m not so sure at this point,” he said. “Right now, obviously, with Spurge being out for the year, it’s to get some depth in the organization, whether that’s to help us or whether it’s to solidify or give Iowa some assistance on the back end.”

Hynes said Butcher, 5-foot-10, 190 pounds, checks all the boxes in terms of character and is “a good offensive defenseman. He’s got good hockey sense, he can move the puck (and has) good instincts on the power play.” But, Hynes added, he hasn’t seen him play in a long time.

“I think that the next step for him is the pace he can play with, and then I would say the ability to defend against speed and bigger players,” Hynes said. “Will’s certainly got some NHL attributes, and has had some good success in the NHL, but sometimes it’s just putting things together as your career continues to move on — to not only be a very effective player in the American Hockey League, but how does that game then translate into the NHL again?”

Ultimately, the coach said, that will be determined by the Wild’s pro scouts. “because they’re seeing him more than a guy like myself would.”

Toeing the line

Entering Saturday’s game against the Anaheim Ducks at the X, center Joel Eriksson Ek leads the Wild with 21 goals and is second in points to Kirill Kaprizov (44) with 39 points. It’s his third straight 20-goal season, with 35 games still to play.

He’s done it by making a home in the opponent’s crease. Eriksson Ek also leads the team with nine power-play goals and, by a large margin, shots on goal — 190 to Kaprizov’s 133. It’s an MO that often gets Eriksson Ek involved in a lot of pushing and shoving, and he takes a lot of cheap hits.

But he’s never been in a fight. Does he ever get angry?

“I think you do, but you don’t want to put your team into a position to maybe take a penalty,” Eriksson Ek said Saturday.

In fact, since his first full season in 2017-18, Eriksson Ek has never received a 5-minute penalty for fighting, and has received one game misconduct — for roughing in a 5-2 victory Oct. 17 at Montreal. In 469 NHL games, he has taken more than one penalty only four times.

“The thing you respect most about him is that he’s an extreme competitor. He gets to those areas of the ice, and he’s effective in those areas of the ice,” Hynes said. “But he goes to the line, but not over the line. And that’s a great quality to have in such a talented player that plays the game the way that he does.”

Injuries

Mats Zuccarello (illness) was expected to play against the Ducks on Saturday, as was goaltender Filip Gustavsson. Both missed practice on Thursday.

Unavailable were goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury (upper body), and forwards Vinni Lettieri (lower body) and Adam Raska (undisclosed). Hynes, however, is hopeful that he’ll have a full roster — minus Spurgeon — when the team returns from break to prepare for a Feb. 7 game at Chicago.

“On track for that,” Hynes said. “No setbacks, so everything’s been good.”

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