Voted yes, decent bottom pairing option. I don't feel particularly strongly about Butler though. A few close comparables in terms of offensive and possession numbers would be:
-Brain Strait
-Deryk Engelland
-Nick Grossman
-Andrew Ference
Then a few guys with a little less offense like Rob Scuderi, Nick Schultz, Victor Bartley and Francis Boullion. Not exactly a great list to be on, but he'd be fine playing 3rd pairing minutes. If nothing better is available through free agency (Stralman, Fayne etc) or cap-based trade (Boychuk, McQuaid) then re-signing Butler might be our best option. He's at least (though less physical) a better defenseman than Smid.
|