Defenseman Chris Butler has been one of the best surprises of the young 2018-19 season. In two games, he was strong on defense and scored a nice goal against the Chicago Blackhawks. What did he earn for his strong performances? A demotion down to the AHL.
#stlblues Butler has been assigned to San Antonio.
— Jeremy Rutherford (@jprutherford) October 7, 2018
Butler has been sent down to make room for the newly acquired Jakub Jerabek. The new defenseman was added in a late trade just before the season started, but visa issues prevented him from being ready until now.
Jerabek would need to go through waivers if the Blues wanted to send him down to the AHL, so the Blues opted to demote Butler to find out what they have in their new asset. It’s unfortunate given Butler’s steady play, but that’s the nature of the business.
While that’s unfortunate for Butler, he did do enough to prove that the Blues have a nice option on defense in the AHL should the team need to call for help.
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