Butler has been fine I would say, and I also echo the OP's stance of not liking him at all since I got to see him play in his first 2 months in Calgary. He never seemed to take any steps forward.
Though his passing is still suspect, he has acquitted himself well defensively since Gio went down. Still can't say I am a 'fan', but I can't say he is a problem out there any longer at all, which is great to see.
As for Brodie - he had a couple of stinker games, and has made the occasional mistake out there - but he is a young defender who excels at skating the puck out of trouble and generating some offensive changes, while being pretty stable on the backend. He is only going to get better. I don't mind him at all on the top pairing with Giordano, and feel this is probably where he should stay. Perhaps part of the reason why Giordano has reemerged as such a fantastic 2-way defender is having a partner like Brodie?
Will be interesting to see how the pairings shake down a few games after Giordano returns, and if Butler stays consistently decent back down on the third pairing.
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