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Chris Butler

St. Louis Blues Sign Chris Butler

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The run on AHL veterans continues, as the St. Louis Blues have signed Chris Butler to a two-year, two-way contract. Butler was set to become an unrestricted free agent once again.

Now 30, Butler spent almost the entire 2016-17 season in the AHL with the Chicago Wolves after what has been an interesting NHL career. Selected 96th overall by the Buffalo Sabres, Butler showed off his offensive chops at the University of Denver for three years before jumping to the professional ranks. He almost immediately became a big part of the Sabres blueline, all the way up to a trade that took him out west.

Dealt in a package for Robyn Regehr and Ales Kotalik, Butler would spend several years with the Calgary Flames before eventually took a deal with the St. Louis Blues. Since then he’s been working on one-year contracts, making this a nice bit of stability for him and his family for the next couple of years. A veteran of 388 NHL games, Butler could provide some injury insurance for the Blues if they were ever in a jam.

Minor Transactions: Last Day Of The Regular Season

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The Washington Capitals, who have long since clinched the President’s Trophy for the best record in the NHL this season, have next to nothing to play for in their 2016-17 regular season finale. What better use for such a game than to reward a time-tested contributor to the organization. The Capitals announced today that they have recalled Garrett Mitchell, as well as Chandler Stephenson, from the AHL’s Hershey Bears for the last game of the season. Mitchell, the Hersey captain, will make his NHL debut at 25 after being a sixth-round selection of the Capitals back in 2009. Far from an offensive juggernaut, Mitchell is instead a physical two-way forward who makes up for his lack of points by sticking up for the Bears’ younger players and leading by example in his own end. It is a classy move by Washington to give a player who has worked hard for the organization a brief glimpse at NHL life, even though his ceiling appears to be a nothing more than a fourth-line player at this time.

Around the league, the transactions are coming in fast:

  • Washington’s opponent tonight is the Florida Panthers and newly-recalled young goalie Sam Brittain. It remains to be seen if Brittain will make his NHL debut tonight, but he’ll at least be on the bench as Florida announced that the 24-year-old had been promoted from the AHL’s Springfield Thunderbirds for the game. Brittain has played mostly in the ECHL this season and is far from being a regular NHLer any time soon, but will at least get a look at big league action in the season finale.
  • Another goalie getting a rare look at the highest level is the New York Rangers’ Magnus Hellberg. Buried behind all-world keeper Henrik Lundqvist and one of the more reliable backups in the league, Antti Raanta, Hellberg was surely excited to hear that he had been called up from the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack. Hellberg, 26, has never started an NHL game and that won’t change tonight as Raanta gets the call for the Rangers. However, Hellberg has seen the ice three times in his career and has strung together several strong AHL seasons in a row, so gaining some more experience tonight, even from the bench, brings him closer to an NHL future.
  • A goalie headed the other way today is the Montreal Canadiens’ Charlie Lindgren. Despite nothing but success in his few NHL appearances early in his young career, the Habs are set in net with Carey Price and Al Montoya. Lindgren will have to wait for opportunity to strike for a longer stint with the Canadiens, as he’ll head back down to the AHL and the St. John’s Ice Caps alongside defenseman Brett Lernout, the team announced.
  • Another pair headed back to the minors are Winnipeg Jets’ prospects Kyle Connor and Nelson Nogier. Following their season finale yesterday, the Jets decided today to return the duo to the AHL’s Manitoba Moose to get some final play time in this season. While the Jets expected more than five points in 20 games from Connor in his rookie season, after being a Hobey Baker finalist for the University of Michigan last year, expect him to play a major role for Winnipeg in 2017-18.
  • Another player set to take on a major role next year is Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Robert Hagg. Fans can get a preview of the prospect-studded blue line that Philly is likely to roll out in 2017-18 when Hagg makes his NHL debut today. The team announced his recall this morning from the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms, and he will skate alongside the likes of Shayne Gostisbehere and Ivan Provorov tonight and Travis Sanheim and Samuel Morin as well next year in a truly impressive collection of young talent.
  • Across the state, the Pittsburgh Penguins are planning on resting some of their players today – those that aren’t already injured anyway – and have called up a trio of players from the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins to help fill the voids. Oskar Sundqvist and Derrick Pouliot, two names familiar to Penguins fans, will return to the lineup, while Jean-Sebastien Dea will make his NHL debut. A longtime WBS contributor, Dea’s work ethic and consistency has finally earned him his first shot at the pros for a team that is in desperate need of depth that can step up their play.
  • Pittsburgh’s Round One opponent, the Columbus Blue Jackets, are adding some promising young talent of their own in forward Sonny Milano. The team announced that they had promoted the 2014 first-rounder from the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters and that he will get the call today against the Toronto Maple Leafs as the Jackets look to reverse their recent luck before the postseason gets underway. Milano has only skated in three games with Columbus this season, but leads the Monsters in scoring with 46 points in 61 games.
  • The St. Louis Blues announced that they have recalled defenseman Chris Butler from the AHL’s Chicago Wolves. However, Butler’s return to the NHL lineup may be overshadowed by the possibility that Vladimir Sobotka could also make his season debut after a long hiatus from the team while playing in the KHL.
  • With an extremely disappointing season finally over in Dallas, the Stars have moved a slew of players back down to the AHL’s Texas Stars to give them some play time before the end of the season. Forwards Jason Dickinson, Mark McNeill, Gemel Smith, Denis Gurianov, and Remi Elie and defenseman Julius Honka will all head back to Texas, a team that, like its affiliate, has no chance at the playoffs either.

More to come throughout the final day of the 2016-17 season

Blues Notes: Coaching, Fabbri, Butler

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The St. Louis Blues find themselves in a unique position this season when it comes to their coaching staff.  Long-time head coach Ken Hitchcock announced during the offseason that he would be retiring at the end of the year and the team hired Mike Yeo as their coach-in-waiting.  Throughout the major North American sports landscape, many teams are hesitant to have a coach in a ‘lame duck’ season with one year left on his contract so it’s particularly noteworthy that St. Louis is openly going with one in Hitchcock this season.

A quick look at the standings would suggest that it seems to be working so far.  The Blues find themselves second in the Central Division with a points percentage over .500.  However, the team has a negative goal differential, have taken a lot of undisciplined penalties, and are currently struggling on the man advantage.  With that in mind, Benjamin Hochman of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch wonders if the Blues should promote Yeo now to the head coaching spot.

Hitchcock’s teams with St. Louis have in part been defined by their size and physicality, something that isn’t the case this year as power forwards David Backes and Troy Brouwer were replaced by faster, more finesse options in David Perron and Nail Yakupov.  So far, the Blues have been hit-or-miss when it comes to playing their desired up-tempo style and that inconsistency – especially on the road – has proven costly as of late.

Given Hitchcock’s track record and the fact that the Blues are currently in a playoff spot, it’s hard to foresee them making the switch behind the bench this quickly.  If their recent struggles continue though, promoting Yeo earlier than anticipated could become an option, especially if GM Doug Armstrong isn’t able to make any substantive changes to the roster beforehand.

More from St. Louis:

  • As Hitchcock continues to shake up the lineup in an effort to get the team going, left winger Robby Fabbri is the most recent forward to be a healthy scratch. The sophomore has struggled lately with just one point in his last ten games and has only four points (1-3-4) on the season.  Fabbri tells Tom Timmermann of the Post-Dispatch that the decision to hit him didn’t come as too much of a surprise: “It’s my first time being scratched ever, so it’s a little bit of a different feeling.  Surprised? No. You start getting a feel from them and a feel from how you think you’re playing, and you know there’s a possibility. Once I saw it, I tried to get over it as soon as possible and move on and get ready for what’s coming up.”  It appears that Fabbri will get back into the lineup tonight and play along Jori Lehtera and Vladimir Tarasenko, reports Chris Pinkert of the team’s official site.
  • The Blues announced that they have re-assigned defenseman Chris Butler to their AHL affiliate in Chicago, just one day after recalling him. As a result, they’re back to just the minimum of six healthy blueliners on the active roster.  Accordingly, it wouldn’t be surprising if Butler or another rearguard was to be brought back up before too long.

Blues Notes: Fabbri, Hutton, Gunnarsson

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After scratching former first-overall pick Nail Yakupov for three straight games, St. Louis Blues head coach Ken Hitchcock will now sit down another highly regarded forward according to Lou Korac of NHL.com. Yakupov will dress tonight in place of Robby Fabbri, the Blues’ first-round pick from 2014. Hitchcock explained his decision (via Korac):

You have to make a decision whether you want to be in the group of 14, or you want to stay in that top 9 or 10.

It’s all connected to tenacity…goals and assists I don’t look at.

This will be the first time in his (albeit short) career that Fabbri will be a healthy scratch, after having a successful rookie campaign last season. The 20-year old scored 18 goals and 37 points playing most of the year as a teenager and looked like a future star in the league. Though this obviously doesn’t mean much for Fabbri’s future, sitting him in the press box is a strong message that they need more from him; he’s currently sitting on just four points in 14 games.

  • The team announced that Carter Hutton will be in net tonight when they take on the Nashville Predators, his old team. Hutton spent the past three seasons with the club, recording a 33-23-12 record and strong .910 save percentage. After the Blues dealt Brian Elliott to the Flames this summer, they were in need of a backup to Jake Allen and Hutton fit the bill perfectly. The 30-year old took a little longer to develop, but is now showing his worth; he’s carrying a .926 through four games.
  • The Blues have recalled Chris Butler for tonight’s game due to some lingering injuries on the back end. As Korac reports, it’s just precautionary should anyone not be able to go after the warmups. Hitchcock singled out Carl Gunnarsson as the most noticable injury. Butler has played eleven games for the Chicago Wolves of the AHL this season, recording two points and eight penalty minutes.

Minor Transactions: 7/2/16

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Here is where we’ll keep track of today’s minor transactions:

  • St. Louis announced a total of nine signings, mostly players who will play for their AHL affiliate in Chicago.  Most prominently among them is D Chris Butler, who re-signed a one year contract; financial terms were not disclosed.  Butler played in just five games with the Blues last season but has played a total of 387 NHL games in his career.
  • Buffalo has signed C Derek Grant to a two-way contract, according to TSN’s Darren Dreger.  Grant played in 15 games with Calgary last season, recording one assist while averaging 10:53 per game.  He also recorded 26 goals in only 37 games with AHL Stockton last year.
  • The Canadiens signed D Philip Samuelsson to a one year, two-way deal, according to a team release.  Samuelsson spent most of last season with Arizona’s AHL affiliate in Springfield but suited up for four games with the Coyotes in 2015-16.  Montreal also announced they have signed winger Chris Terry to a one year, two-way deal.  Terry had eight goals and three assists in 68 games with Carolina last season.
  • Winnipeg announced the re-signing of D Julien Melchiori and G Jamie Phillips to two year, two-way contracts.  Melchiori would earn $625K at the NHL level while Phillips would get $675,000 in the NHL.
  • The Predators announced that they have inked C Trevor Smith to a two year, two-way deal.  The deal carries a cap hit of $612K at the NHL and guarantees him $475K over the two seasons according to General Fanager.  He last played in the NHL with Toronto in 2014-15 and spent last year with Bern of the NLA.
  • In a separate release, the Preds also have signed winger Harry Zolnierczyk to a one year, two-way contract.  He’ll earn $575K in the NHL and $150K in the AHL.  Zolnierczyk played in 24 games with Anaheim’s AHL affiliate last year as well as suiting up for one game with the Ducks.
  • Edmonton’s has signed D Ethan Bear to a three year, entry level deal according to their Twitter account.  Bear was the Oilers’ 5th round pick (124th overall) in 2015 and spent last season with the Seattle Thunderbirds of the WHL.
  • James Mirtle of TSN tells us that the Maple Leafs have signed D Justin Holl to a three-year entry level deal, following his strong season for their AHL affiliate last season.  Holl put up 21 points in just 60 games on the AHL’s best regular season team.
  • After extending their new number one goaltender, the Lightning have re-signed AHL netminder Kristers Gudlevskis to a two-way deal. The 23-year old made his NHL debut last season, starting one game for Tampa Bay where he allowed one goal on 32 shots.

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