Defence · #4

Will Butcher

New Jersey Devils

Buffalo Sabres(traded during the season)

Age: 31
Shoots: Left
Height: 178 cm
Weight: 88 kg
Born: Sun Prairie, USA
Draft: 2013, round 5, #123 (COL)

Career · 2017–18 to 2021–22

Games: 275
Goals: 16
Points: 114
TOI per game: 17:39
xGF% (5v5): 50.8%
Goals above expected: −4.2

ShowAll teams New Jersey Devils Buffalo Sabres

Season by season

The regular-season line for each season, with the total, by team for traded players.


2017–18	NJD	81	5	39	44	+1	16:04	88	5.7%	23	6.0	57.0%
2018–19	NJD	78	4	26	30	−17	19:16	108	3.7%	14	6.8	52.0%
2019–20	NJD	56	4	17	21	−8	17:55	62	6.5%	1	3.7	47.5%
2020–21	NJD	23	1	10	11	−3	19:02	37	2.7%	2	1.3	42.8%
2021–22	BUF	37	2	6	8	−10	16:29	35	5.7%	2	2.5	45.2%
Total	2 teams	275	16	98	114	−37	17:39	330	4.8%	42	20.2	50.8%

Form

Rolling averages smooth out single games so the trend shows.

Form, ten-game rolling

Points and individual expected goals per game (left scale), averaged over the previous ten games. Ice time is on the second chart.

Points per gameixG per gameTOI per game (minutes)

Player card

Model-based

How 2017–18 to 2021–22 compares with everyone else at the position over the same seasons, and the players with the most similar profile.

Overall rating

1st pair

76th percentile among qualified defencemen, blending scoring 30%, play-driving 50%, usage 20%.

1st pair
2nd pair
3rd pair
Extra / AHL

Scoring

2nd pair

Goals /600.2058th pct
Assists /601.2194th pct
ixG /600.2574th pct
Shots /604.0844th pct

Play-driving

1st pair

xGF% (5v5)50.8%67th pct
CF% (5v5)49.8%57th pct
Relative xGF%+4.395th pct
xGA /60 (lower is better)2.4361st pct

Usage

3rd pair

TOI per game17:3950th pct
PP time share39.9%84th pct
PK time share2.4%5th pct
Quality of competition23.6%31st pct

Percentiles among defencemen with 200+ minutes at 5-on-5 and 20+ games. Ratings rank each column's average percentile among the same players and read it as a role on a depth chart (how).

Most similar players this season

Finishing

Model-based

Did the goals match the chances?

Goals against expected goals

Cumulative goals (solid) and individual xG (dashed) through the season. The gap is finishing: above the dashed line, the player scored more than an average shooter would from the same chances.

−4.2 goals above expected

Goals above expected, everyone at the same position with 20+ games

Speed and tracking

From the NHL's EDGE tracking system (2021–22 on): skating speed, shot speed, distance and zone time, for the selected seasons and then every tracked season, to show improvement or decline.

Tracking data (NHL EDGE)

Values from the NHL's puck and player tracking, with the NHL's own league percentile for each. Missing values mean the player wasn't tracked enough.

Tracking

Top skating speed32.9 km/h14th pct
Speed bursts over 20 mph733rd pct
Hardest shot146.1 km/h41st pct
Distance skated145 km42nd pct
Offensive-zone time41.1%47th pct

Tracking, season by season

Each season against the other defencemen that season with 20+ games. A season in progress appears once half its games are played, as provisional: season bests only grow. Bursts and distance are per 60 minutes of ice time, so seasons with fewer games still compare. Percentiles are on these rates, so they can differ from the NHL's, which are on season totals.

This playerMedian defencemanMiddle half (25th–75th percentile)Hollow dot: too few games to rank, or a season in progress (*, dashed). Dotted line: no NHL games that season.

Top skating speed

32.9 km/h3rd pct

2021–22 only

Bursts over 20 mph per 60

0.721st pct

2021–22 only

Distance skated per 60

14.3 km92nd pct

2021–22 only

Hardest shot

146.1 km/h25th pct

2021–22 only

Offensive-zone time

41.1%47th pct

2021–22 only