Projection: Top Six Forward

Tools: Strength, Physicality, Passing

Development Opportunities: Speed, Creativity, Puck Management

A huge hulking winger, Finley Butler has the powerforward build and plays like it, using his large frame to overpower opposing players and battle for the puck. He does not shy away from physical play, something that will certainly give him plenty of fans amongst executives with his already large frame. He uses it to simply separate pucks from players and uses his reach and strength to protect pucks and play keep-away. In addition to his physical game, he has some good puckhandling abilities and can use his long reach to open shooting lanes inside the offensive zone and flashes some genuinely impressive vision with his playmaking skills.

Butler, for all the refined and projectable traits at times can be a bit of a frustrating player with some mishandled pucks and lacking a dynamic element. His footspeed is not always top notch, and is something that he'll need to elevate to gain a separation gear at the OHL level. Of course, he will also be a lot more effective in the future with some added muscle to his large frame but that is something that will come with time.

Finley Butler is a hard player to miss, not just because of his size but he is consistently involving himself in the play. On top of his physical presence, he possesses good playmaking ability that allows him to make passes off the wall and create chances. He also uses his large frame to be an imposing power forward who throws the body and at times, it can get him into trouble at times as he racks up plenty of penalty minutes. Aside from this, he was able to showcase his offensive instances sporadically and despite not registering a point, he showed why he is an intriguing piece of this London squad.

Finley Butler is a hard player to miss, standing 6-foot-5 tall and he uses every inch to his advantage, throwing an arm out to protect the puck or through his physicality along the wall. As a big player he moves well with his feet but also his hands, working around opposing players and driving up the wing and towards the net. His top offensive skill is his playmaking ability, either contributing through the cycle or getting pucks to dangerous areas through a variety of passes in his arsenal.

Butler showed his finishing touch in this one, potting two key goals for the Jr. Knights. Both were from strong off-puck positioning to find open pockets of space and be in advantageous positions to receive a pass and capitalize when he got his moments. Outside of the goals, there were moments where he showed his ability to handle pucks in motion and attack the center lane, but the two tallies were certainly the main moments I noted from Finley.

The towering winger, Finley Butler is 6’4 and plays like it, occupying the netfront on the powerplay, battling with opposing defenders and screening the goalie. He was digging in well on the forecheck, getting under opposing player’s sticks and battling for pucks, using his size. He also showed great puck skills, maneuvering around opponents and dishing it off to his fellow teammates. He helped set up Ryan Salmoni’s game winning goal, powering up the centre and moving around the defence before feeding a cross-crease pass.

The theme of the forwards on this Alliance West squad was swift and impressive handling, and Finley fit well in that bunch. He had some nice moments of using his tactical hands to escape pressure, make plays, all showing a degree of confidence that I like to see in my first few games. He only scored once in a bit of a flukey manner, chopping at a puck near the side of the net, but I liked the ambition to flex his puck skills to dodge and evade pressure across my views.