Will Butcher, the Hobey Baker Award-winning defenseman from the University of Denver, will begin speaking with at least three NHL teams Wednesday when he intends to become an unrestricted free agent, according to a source.

The New Jersey Devils, Buffalo Sabres and expansion Vegas Golden Knights have interest in Butcher, 22, who captained DU to the NCAA championship in April.

The Avalanche, which selected Butcher in the fifth round of the 2013 NHL draft, has exclusive negotiation rights with the player through 10 p.m. MDT on Tuesday. A college player has four years to sign with the team that drafts him, or he becomes an unrestricted free agent Aug. 16 of his fourth year. Related Articles September 18, 2020 Avalanche re-signs former DU star Logan O’Connor on two-year contract

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According to Butcher in April, the Avalanche offered him his entry-level contract days after the Pioneers returned from Chicago with the national championship, but he declined to sign, saying he wanted to explore his options.

Butcher could hold a grudge against the Avalanche. At the 2015 NCAA Frozen Four in Tampa, Fla., Butcher confirmed the Avalanche told his agent the team had no interest in signing him. At the time, Butcher was a junior and a first-team All-American, but Colorado coach and vice president Patrick Roy wasn’t keen on undersized defensemen. Butcher is listed at 5-foot-10 and 186 pounds.

“I’m just going about my business at DU, being the captain next year,” Butcher told The Denver Post in June 2016, about the Avs dismissing him. “They’re doing their business how they want to do it. And I’m doing mine.”

Roy resigned last August, and the Avalanche showed heavy interest in Butcher throughout last season, with general manager Joe Sakic and members of his staff scouting most DU home games. The Avalanche finished with a league-low 48 points, by far the fewest in the club’s 21 seasons in Colorado.

On April 8, hours before DU took the ice for the national championship game against Minnesota Duluth in Chicago, Sakic told The Post he coveted Butcher.

“As soon as they’re done, he’ll have a contract offer,” Sakic said. “We hope to sign him. He’s had a tremendous year. Since the moment we drafted him, four years in college, he’s gotten better every year and he’s obviously hot, the Hobey Baker winner, and hopefully they can win the championship and we can sign him and have him be part of the organization.”

There’s still a chance Butcher eventually circles back to Colorado, but only after the player visits other interested teams.