Once a highly-touted New Jersey Devils prospect, Will Butcher, 29, is taking his game overseas.
Seth Rorabaugh of Tribune-Review Sports reports the defenseman signed a one-year contract with Barys Astana of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).
Since being traded from the Devils to the Buffalo Sabres on July 28, 2021, Butcher struggled to remain a mainstay in the NHL. After appearing in 37 games for the Sabres, he signed with the Dallas Stars as a free agent in the summer of 2022.
The Wisconsin native could not crack the lineup in Dallas and played 65 games for the Texas Stars of the American Hockey League (AHL), where he earned 43 points.
Butcher again got a fresh start when he signed with the Pittsburgh Penguins after signing as a free agent in July 2023. He spent the first part of the 2023-24 season in the AHL with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins before being traded to the Minnesota Wild organization when he completed the campaign with the Iowa Wild.
Butcher appeared in 275 games throughout his NHL career and earned 114 points (16 goals, 98 assists).
With the Barys Astana, he will join former NHLers Nathan Beaulieu and Wade Allison.
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