Headlines

Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Will Butcher

Canucks Notes: Horvat, Pettersson, Kerfoot

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

Trevor Linden joined TSN 1040 yesterday in Vancouver, and spoke on a variety of issues including the pending contract for restricted free agent Bo Horvat. Linden explained that the two sides have discussed contracts everywhere between two and eight years, and that the negotiations are still ongoing.

We’re looking forward to getting Bo under contract. Out of respect for the process I don’t want to say a whole lot, but things have been very positive. We’re moving along and I don’t see any issues.

As Linden explains, negotiations with a player like Horvat were never going to be completed quickly but both he and GM Jim Benning haven’t been worried at all. Addressing the previous reports that eight years was off the table, Linden was non-committal, but did say “anything is a possibility.”

  • Talking about their newest top prospect Elias Pettersson, Linden said that he’s been impressed every time he’s watched him. Pettersson is currently playing for Vaxjo in the European Champions League, and won’t be attending camp for the Canucks. He’ll be given a bigger role in the Swedish Hockey League this year, and could compete for an NHL spot next season.
  • Linden said that the Canucks were indeed after Alex Kerfoot, but mentioned that him being from Vancouver actually could have worked against them. Kerfoot signed in Colorado, citing a good opportunity for him to jump right to the NHL. He also confirmed that the Canucks are not in on Will Butcher or any other NCAA free agents. Butcher is expected to sign this Sunday, and Vancouver has never been involved.
  • Though many believe that Vancouver’s free agent additions of Sam Gagner, Alexander Burmistrov and Michael Del Zotto all could be flipped at some point as the team rebuilds, Linden spoke about how each of them fits a hole that Vancouver had last season. He also was very clear that they didn’t want to just give big roles to their young players, and instead make them earn their opportunity in the NHL.

Snapshots: Blues, Butcher, Canucks

at CDT | by 2 Comments

The St. Louis Blues signed defenseman Colton Parayko to a new five-year, $27.5MM deal earlier this offseason. The 24-year-old understands that more pressure will accompany his larger contract.

“I obviously want to come and be a better player and be a big part of it,” Parayko told Louie Korac of NHL.com. “But at the same time, I don’t want to get outside of my game and try to do things that aren’t part of me. You’ve just got to find a medium that’s going to make the team better and also make you efficient.

“The main goal is to obviously have the best team and hopefully I can help solidify that and just kind of do my job and make it easy for others. I obviously don’t want to get out of my element and get out of things I do best. I’ve got to focus on doing those and try to do that every single night, obviously [be] more consistent and make sure I continue to play good.”

The defenseman finished his second NHL season with four goals and 31 assists in 81 games. The 2013 third-rounder figures to once again team up with Joel Edmundson on the Blues’ second line.

Let’s check out some more notes from around the NHL…

  • We learned earlier today that college free agent Will Butcher will be making his decision this weekend, and Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette tweets that the Penguins aren’t a finalist for the young defenseman. Pittsburgh had previously been connected to Butcher, along with the Sabres, Blue Jackets, Devils, and Golden Knights. The reigning Hobey Baker award winner out of the University of Denver was initially a fifth-round pick by the Avalanche back in 2013.
  • The Canucks might not be finished with free agency, as Matthew Sekeres of TSN 1040 AM tweets that the organization has discussed signing a forward, including veteran Thomas Vanek. The reporter notes that the team has also extended at least a pair of professional try outs. The 33-year-old Vanek split last season with the Red Wings and Panthers, collecting 17 goals and 31 assists in 68 games. We heard yesterday that interest in the free agent winger was beginning to ramp up.
  • In case you missed it, recently bought out Anaheim Ducks defender Simon Despres signed with Russian club Slovan Bratislava earlier today.

Prospect Notes: Butcher, Kerfoot, Kapanen

at CDT | by 2 Comments

Will Butcher will indeed make his decision this weekend, confirming to Mike Morreale of NHL.com that Sunday is the day. In what is turning into quite the story for a player who has done little to prove he’s ready for the NHL, Butcher will “[make his] decision on Sunday with [his] family and agent there.” Morreale confirms that four teams remain in the mix including the Buffalo Sabres and Vegas Golden Knights.

Butcher’s agent Brian Bartlett reiterated that the young defenseman is not neccesarily looking for an opportunity to crack the NHL squad out of camp, but that he’ll sign with a team that “really understands and believes in him as a player.” It’s still to be seen who believes in him the most.

  • Alex Kerfoot confirmed to Rick Dhaliwal of News 1130 that the reason he signed with the Colorado Avalanche is that he believes he’s ready for the NHL right away. The Avalanche have little to lose by inserting Kerfoot into the lineup right away, something few other teams can say. The Vancouver-born Kerfoot had some positive things to say about the Canucks offer and new head coach Travis Green, but that eventually it came down to opportunity.
  • Toronto prospect Kasperi Kapanen will wear #24 this season just like his father Sami Kapanen wore for twelve years in the NHL, but as he told Kevin McGran of the Toronto Star he’s just focused on making the Maple Leafs’ lineup. Kapanen turned some heads during a late season call-up and playoff appearance, but will still be fighting for a depth role on the team due to Toronto’s glut of wingers. Nikita Soshnikov and Josh Leivo will be his primary competition fighting for the right wing spot on the fourth line, though Ben Smith and Eric Fehr are also still around as veteran options. Kapanen is waiver-exempt still, and could be forced to start the year with the Toronto Marlies should they not want to stifle his growth as an offensive player with limited playing time.

Latest On Will Butcher

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

In the ongoing saga of Will Butcher, Darren Dreger of TSN reports that the free agent defenseman is still meeting with various teams. Dreger says that Butcher has whittled his list down to three or four clubs, and will make a decision at the beginning of next week at the latest. Yesterday it was confirmed that Butcher had met with the Vegas Golden Knights, and trips to the Buffalo Sabres and New Jersey Devils have also been reported.

It will be interesting to see if other free agent defensemen like Cody Franson and Dennis Wideman get a little more interest once Butcher is off the board. Last year, after Jimmy Vesey signed with the New York Rangers, Brandon Pirri, Jiri Hudler and Dominic Moore all inked contracts within the next ten days.

Butcher’s size and overall defensive game makes him hard to project into a team’s top-4, but his offensive skill and ability to run a powerplay is hard to find on the open market, especially at his age. He’ll be signing a two-year, entry-level contract wherever he ends up.

Will Butcher Visits Vegas Golden Knights

at CDT | by 1 Comment

Reigning Hobey Baker award winner Will Butcher visited the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday according to David Schoen of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, and is still expected to take up to a week to make his decision. The Golden Knights gave Butcher a pitch on where the organization is headed, but according to GM George McPhee the 22-year old defenseman now has to “take a look at [team] facilities and understand the city a little bit to make that final decision.”

McPhee was complimentary towards Butcher’s skill set in his interview with Schoen, saying that the young defender can run a powerplay. Even with more than a dozen defenders under contract for this season, Vegas doesn’t have a pure powerplay quarterback outside of Erik Brannstrom, who won’t be playing in North America this season. While several others have the talent to do so (Nate Schmidt, Colin Miller and Shea Theodore immediately come to mind), Butcher could be offered a spot right away to play to his strengths as a sort of recruiting tactic.

Butcher’s other likely destinations are New Jersey and Buffalo where he’s been linked since becoming a free agent on August 16th, though any number of other teams could enter the sweepstakes. It’s tough to put a projection on Butcher in the NHL, as some believe he’ll fail to reach the point where he can be relied upon at both ends of the rink. That’s clearly worth the risk for the Golden Knights as they look to build instead of compete in their first year.

Will Butcher Expected To Take Another Week To Sign

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

Yesterday Kevin Allen of USA Today reported that it might take up to a week for Hobey Baker winner Will Butcher to make a decision, something that his agent Steve Bartlett confirmed today. Bartlett took to the airwaves to discuss Butcher’s free agency with WGR 550, and told The Instigators that it would be another week before any decision is made. Butcher is taking his time to determine where his future lies, and is willing to sign with a team that doesn’t have an immediate NHL opportunity.

Bartlett also said that Butcher would have to sign a three-year entry-level contract, though that seems like a simple mistake. Because of Butcher’s age (22), he’ll be required to sign a two-year ELC and will become a restricted free agent in the summer of 2019. That shortened ELC is important, as Butcher will want to have NHL experience by the time he’s negotiating his next contract.

The undersized defenseman is an offensive threat, but there are still doubts about his ability to contribute consistently at the NHL level. His greatest attribute, quarterbacking a powerplay, is a much different animal at the professional level when everything speeds up. Wherever he signs it will be interesting to follow his career to see if he can make the same impact as some of the other recent NCAA free agents.

Snapshots: Butcher, Beauchemin, Rampage

at CDT | by 4 Comments

Will Butcher is still taking things slow in regards to his first professional destination, as Kevin Allen of USA Today reports that he’ll soon narrow down his list of teams from 12 to three or four. Those teams will each get a personal visit, after which he’ll make a decision. Allen suggests the process could take “a week or so.”

Butcher has been connected to the Blue Jackets, Devils, Golden Knights, Penguins, over the past week and some speculation that he’d already met with the Buffalo Sabres. The reigning Hobey Baker trophy winner is arguably the most interesting NCAA free agent on the market this summer, and could find an NHL opportunity right away.

  • Francois Beauchemin is going back to the Anaheim Ducks, and in a conference call this afternoon told Eric Stephens of the Orange County Register that he was prepared to retire before the team reached out. He had turned down interest from several other teams which he had no history with, but was “thrilled” that Anaheim expressed interest. Beauchemin thinks it is likely that 2017-18 is his final season in the NHL.
  • The San Antonio Rampage have signed a pair of veteran minor leaguers, inking goaltender Sam Brittain and defenseman Josh Atkinson to AHL deals. Brittain was a fourth-round pick of the Florida Panthers 2010 but has yet to make it to the NHL. He spent last season split between the Springfield Thunderbirds (AHL) and Manchester Monarchs (ECHL), and became a Group VI unrestricted free agent this summer. Atkinson has spent almost all of his professional career in the ECHL, but got a two-game chance in the AHL with the Chicago Wolves after scoring 50 points in 66 games last season. The offensive explosion was a new development for Atkinson, who didn’t register more than 16 points in a single season at the University of Alaska.

Alex Kerfoot Expected To Sign Soon

at CDT | by 1 Comment

12:35pm: Larry Brooks of the New York Post is reporting that the Rangers are still in the mix, and that agent J.P. Barry expects a decision from Kerfoot before Wednesday.

10:16am: Several NCAA draft picks became unrestricted free agents last week when their teams failed to sign them by the deadline, and one of the most interesting ones was Alex Kerfoot. A fifth-round pick by New Jersey, Kerfoot completed his four year at Harvard instead of starting his professional career and like former teammate Jimmy Vesey last summer is now on the radar of several teams around the league.

Rick Dhaliwal of News 1130 in Vancouver reports that Kerfoot should make a decision soon on is future and that his hometown Canucks are still in the running. Kerfoot met with Vancouver last week but wasn’t ruling out any team that was after his services. The playmaking center is already 23, and could make an impact at the NHL level at some point this season. Though undersized, his tenacity and high-end offensive skill could result in a long professional career.

Dhaliwal also reports that the Canucks never did reach out to fellow NCAA free agent Will Butcher. Butcher certainly has a market after not signing with the Colorado Avalanche, but his Hobey Baker trophy as the nation’s best college player hasn’t resulted in the sort of frenzy Vesey created last year.

Afternoon Notes: Flyers, Panarin, Butcher

at CDT | by 3 Comments

Even though the Philadelphia Flyers picked second overall in the 2017 draft, they weren’t that bad of a team. The Flyers actually finished the season with a 33-39-10 record, good enough for 88 points. Eleven teams finished worse in the standings than the Flyers. So, while the team wasn’t at the bottom of the Eastern Conference, the team did make some changes. They got a little younger, trading away 25-goal scorer Brayden Schenn for struggling Jori Lehtera, a 2017 first-round pick and a conditional first-round pick in 2018, they let defenseman Michael Del Zotto walk and they swapped goaltenders, replacing veteran Steve Mason with Brian Elliott. They also drafted second-overall pick Nolan Patrick in the draft this year.

However, Philly.com’s Sam Donnellon writes that it will be very difficult to measure in which direction the team will go this year. Even with many of their veterans returning, there are too many unknowns, including the defense could have two or more rookie defensemen, both Patrick and top prospect Oskar Lindblom could make the team out of training camp and their goaltending still looks to be less than stellar. Some of those points could be positives as Lindblom and Patrick could have big first seasons or Elliott could have a comeback season.

The scribe writes that a lot of the teams success or lack thereof will fall on third-year coach Dave Hakstol, who must figure out how to fit all the pieces together while developing the team’s emerging youth.

  • In an interview with Artemi Panarin in a Russian newspaper, SB Nation’s Dave Melton got a translated copy, in which he states he was surprised to be traded from Chicago, but is eager to move on to Columbus and hopes for an even bigger role with the Blue Jackets. The fact that multiple players have said they would like to play alongside him including Alexander Wennberg, is what Panarin says is exciting about the move. “That’s why I see this trade as a springboard and not a pitfall.”
  • While likely meaningless, Denver Post’s Mike Chambers tweeted a picture of unrestricted free agent defenseman and Hobey Baker Award winner Will Butcher at Denver International Airport on Friday, carrying a bag with the Buffalo Sabres logo on it. Chambers suggests that his first visit was to Buffalo. The Sabres, Vegas Golden Knights, Columbus Blue Jackets and the New Jersey Devils have been reported to have reached out to the free agent out of the University of Denver.

Atlantic Notes: Butcher, Phaneuf, Rask

at CDT | by 1 Comment

While at the moment there are 10-12 teams interested in the services of free agent blueliner Will Butcher, the Canadiens are not among them, his agent Brian Bartlett told TVA Sports’ Louis-Andre Lariviere.  After turning over their top three defenders on the left side this summer, Montreal had previously been speculated on as a potential landing place.

Bartlett indicated that the plan is to whittle the list down to a shortlist of three or four teams and then Butcher will visit those cities.  He hopes to have a contract in place for the Hobey Baker Award winner by the end of next week.

The Blue Jackets, Devils, Golden Knights, Penguins, and Sabres are among the teams that are known to have shown interest while the Blackhawks, Maple Leafs, Flyers, Red Wings, and Sharks are ones that at least previously have yet to get involved in discussions.  Bartlett added that there are a few Canadian-based teams that have expressed an interest in Butcher although he declined to specify which ones.

Other notes from the Atlantic:

  • Although part of the reason that the Senators were entertaining offers for blueliner Dion Phaneuf prior to expansion was so that they could protect Marc Methot, Ottawa is still open to dealing the veteran defender, Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch noted in a radio interview with TSN 1200. Phaneuf still has four years left on his contract with a $7MM cap hit with a no-move clause and Garrioch adds that he doesn’t expect a trade to happen.  The Kings had some interest in the 32-year-old earlier in the summer but were asking Ottawa to take an onerous contract (believed to be winger Marian Gaborik) in return.
  • The Bruins would like to scale back the workload for goaltender Tuukka Rask this season, GM Don Sweeney admitted to Kevin Paul Dupont of the Boston Globe. Rask has played at least 64 games in each of the past three seasons and has shown signs of being banged up at the end of those.  Sweeney would like to see Boston’s backup play somewhere around 25 games in a perfect world but backup Anton Khudobin and prospect Zane McIntyre both struggled with their consistency in 2016-17 and if that carries over into this coming season, it may be difficult to give Rask the type of rest they’d like.

Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

scroll to top