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Chris Butler

#25 · Defence · St. Louis Blues

Born Oct 27, 1986 in St. Louis, Missouri, USA · 6'1", 196 lb · Shoots left · Drafted 96th overall in 2005 by BUF (round 4)

Compare with a similar player

The defencemen closest to him in points in 2018-19. Pick one to see the two side by side, or choose someone else.

Matt Hunwick BUF · 2 P in 14 GP Chad Ruhwedel PIT · 2 P in 18 GP David Schlemko MTL · 2 P in 18 GP Ian McCoshen FLA · 2 P in 19 GP Dalton Prout CGY · 2 P in 20 GP

Career

Regular season games only. Pick a season to see its game log below. Cap hit is what he counted against the salary cap that season, where it is known.

051015202008-09: 6 points608-092009-10: 21 points2109-102010-11: 9 points910-112011-12: 15 points1511-122012-13: 8 points812-132013-14: 16 points1613-142014-15: 9 points914-152015-16: 0 points015-162016-17: 0 points016-172017-18: 0 points017-182018-19: 2 points218-19

Points by season. The darker bar is the season shown below.

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Cap hit
2008-09 BUF 47 2 4 6 11 18 36 37 0.13
2009-10 BUF 59 1 20 21 -15 22 61 50 0.36
2010-11 BUF 49 2 7 9 8 26 52 38 0.18
2011-12 CGY 68 2 13 15 -9 34 62 70 0.22 $1.25M
2012-13 CGY 44 1 7 8 -10 19 40 53 0.18 $1.25M
2013-14 CGY 82 2 14 16 -23 39 83 68 0.20 $1.7M
2014-15 STL 33 3 6 9 8 23 54 31 0.27 $650K
2015-16 STL 5 0 0 0 -1 4 4 3 0.00 $675K
2016-17 STL 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0.00 $600K
2017-18 STL 6 0 0 0 1 2 2 3 0.00 $650K
2018-19 STL 13 1 1 2 3 0 10 17 0.15 $650K
11 seasons Career 407 14 72 86 -27 187 405 370 0.21

Playoffs

Playoff games only. Pick a season to see that year's bracket.

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP
2010-11 BUF 7 0 1 1 -3 10 6 11 0.14
1 season Playoffs 7 0 1 1 -3 10 6 11 0.14

2018-19 season totals

GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Shooting % Avg TOI
13 1 1 2 3 0 10 17 0.15 10.0 14:02

Contract

$650KCap hitends in 2019, then UFA
$325KCap dollars per point2 points in 13 games
$317KCap dollars per goal above replacement2.1 goals above replacement

His cap hit for the whole season, set against what he did in the regular season. Lower is better value. In a season still being played the cost per point starts high and falls as the games add up.

The contract

Who signed him to it, and when, are not on record. It runs through 2018-19, so this is its last season, after which he is an unrestricted free agent.

Season Cap hit
2018-19 $650K

Each season left on the contract. Only its cap hit and its end are known: how the pay is split by season, and any signing bonus, are not.

Contracts he has signed

Signed Signed by Kind Seasons Years In all Cap hit
2018-19 to 2018-19 $650K
2016-17 to 2017-18 $600K
2015-16 to 2015-16 $675K
2014-15 to 2014-15 $650K
2013-14 to 2013-14 $1.7M
2012-13 to 2012-13 $1.25M
2011-12 to 2012-13 $1.25M

Every contract on record for him, newest first, with the team that signed him to it and the day it was signed. The one covering 2018-19 is marked. An extension is signed while the contract before it is still running, often a year ahead. A row with no team or date is a contract known only by its cap hit, most often one signed since October 2024.

2018-19 analytics

Rating

+2.1Goals above replacementsix goals are worth about one win
+0.3Wins above replacementgoals above replacement divided by six
+1.4Goals above averagethe five parts below added up
Even-strength offence+0.3Even-strength defence+0.7Power play0.0Penalty kill+0.1Penalties+0.3

The goals he added to his team's goal difference, compared with a spare-part player given the same ice time. Each part is measured against the league, so zero is an average skater. A full season is about two-thirds the player and one-third chance. He has played fewer than 20 games, too few to be ranked. Before 2023-24 the NHL timed events less exactly, and differently from rink to rink, so expected goals for this season are rougher than for recent ones.

-2-1012342010-112012-132014-152016-172018-19Goals above replacementGoals above replacement, by season

On the ice

What happened at five-on-five while he was on the ice. What these numbers mean

54.2Corsi for %162 attempts for, 137 against
+5.8CF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
59.2Expected goals for %8.0 expected for, 5.5 against
+9.7xGF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
55.8Fenwick for %unblocked attempts
63.6Goals for %7 for, 4 against
102.8PDO7.7% shooting + 95.1% saves
31Attempts takenhis own shot attempts

These are left plain: he has not been on the ice enough to be ranked. That takes at least 200 shot attempts with him out there, about six or seven games, and a quarter of what the busiest skater has. Over a game or two these numbers are mostly chance.

Who he played with

Defence pairGPTimeCF%xGF%Goals
Chris Butler · Vince Dunn1173:5355.765.72-1
Jay Bouwmeester · Chris Butler933:3148.152.22-0
Chris Butler · Jordan Schmaltz329:0457.165.51-1
Chris Butler · Colton Parayko1020:0844.144.62-0

The pairs he spent the most time in at five-on-five, with the team's share of the shot attempts and expected goals, and the goals for and against, while they were out. The two shares are coloured as above, against the league's pairs that played a fair amount together. Hover over one for its percentile.

Chances and finishing

Expected goals adds up how likely each of his shots was to go in, judged by where it came from, what kind of shot it was and whether it was a rebound. All situations, leaving out shots at an empty net. Before 2023-24 the NHL timed events less exactly, and differently from rink to rink, so expected goals for this season are rougher than for recent ones.

1Goalsnot counting empty-netters
0.3Expected goalsfrom 20 unblocked attempts
+0.7Goals above expectedgoals minus expected goals
Chances created 0.11 expected goals per 60 minutes8th
Shot quality 1.6% chance per attempt1st
Finishing +0.7 goals above expected70thOne season of finishing is mostly luck.

Each bar shows the share of defencemen he is ahead of, among the 244 who played 300 minutes or more this season.

00.20.40.60.81Goals 1Expected 0.3

His goals and his expected goals as the season went on. When the goals line pulls away above, he is scoring more than his chances were worth; below, less.

Where he shot from

Every attempt he took this season, in all situations, attacking the net on the right. There is a dot for each attempt, bigger for a better chance. "Show as heat map" shades the ice by where the attempts came from. Click a goal for its details.

Game log

Date Opponent Result G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits TOI
Feb 23, 2019 vs BOS W 2-1 (SO) 0 0 0 -1 0 1 4 11:41
Dec 27, 2018 vs BUF W 4-1 0 0 0 2 0 1 1 17:21
Dec 22, 2018 @ CGY W 3-1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 10:13
Dec 20, 2018 @ VAN L 1-5 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 11:39
Dec 18, 2018 @ EDM W 4-1 0 0 0 -1 0 1 2 11:42
Dec 16, 2018 vs CGY L 2-7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 17:25
Dec 14, 2018 vs COL W 4-3 (OT) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 15:19
Dec 11, 2018 vs FLA W 4-3 0 0 0 2 0 1 1 10:48
Dec 9, 2018 vs VAN L 1-6 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 17:40
Dec 7, 2018 @ WPG W 1-0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 10:58
Dec 5, 2018 vs EDM L 2-3 (SO) 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 14:59
Oct 6, 2018 vs CHI L 4-5 (OT) 1 0 1 0 0 4 2 17:15
Oct 4, 2018 vs WPG L 1-5 0 0 0 -1 0 0 2 15:30