The tourney was being played in North America (Minnesota was the host jurisdiction) and it was Canada's first attempt at putting together a true, national, junior team.

After splitting part of the next season with the Canucks' farm team, the Fredericton Express, Butcher became a staple of the NHL club's defence.

Butcher played an aggressive style and earned a reputation as a classic "needler" who distracted opponents or provoked them into taking penalties.

[6] In 1989, Gerard Gallant of the Detroit Red Wings was suspended five games for retaliating and deliberately attempting to injure Butcher.

[8] In his near-decade and 610 games with the Canucks, Butcher amassed a club-record 1,668 penalty minutes, a mark eventually broken by Gino Odjick.

The Blues traded away Geoff Courtnall, Robert Dirk, Sergio Momesso, Cliff Ronning – who as a group invigorated the Canucks for a number of years and eventually helped their new team advance to the 1994 Stanley Cup Finals.

The Butcher trade (together with a later lopsided deal favoring the Canucks) was regarded by media and fans as one of the top 5 heartbreakers for the St. Louis Blues.

He was named team captain, but a broken left foot cost him the end of the 1991–92 NHL season and the start of the playoffs.

The same year, Butcher scored a rare goal, the game-winner, against the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 3 of the 1993 Norris Division Finals.

Midway through the 1993–94 NHL season, on January 23, 1994, Butcher was one of three St. Louis players traded to the Quebec Nordiques for star defenceman Steve Duchesne.

In 1994, Butcher was moved from Quebec to the Toronto Maple Leafs as part of the multi-player blockbuster trade of Mats Sundin for Wendel Clark.

Butcher played in 897 career NHL games, scoring 48 goals and 158 assists for 206 points, as well as adding 2,302 penalty minutes for the Canucks, Blues, Nordiques, and Maple Leafs.