On Saturday, right after the Canucks beat the Wild 3-2 in OT, the Canucks made a big trade, trading Mikael Samuelsson and Marco Sturm to Florida for David Booth, Steven Reinprecht and Vancouvers 2013 3rd round pick they sent to Florida at last years trade deadline for Higgins. Booth is the real prize for the Canucks and their fans in this deal; Reinprecht was a throw in and Vancouver wanted their 3rd round pick to have the ability to offer offer-sheets to RFA's. Being in Florida, it's surprising that so many Canucks fans knew who Booth is. If you don't know who Booth is, he's most famous for being decapitated by Mike Richards as shown here:
Ugly. This hit, which sidelined Booth for pretty much the rest of the season due to a concussion (duh), has raised a lot of fears among Canucks fans that the Canucks have received damaged goods to the tune of $4.25 million over 4 years (this year and 3 years after). However these same people also overlook the fact that Booth did play a full season last year and posted respectable numbers, 23 goals and 40 points, while playing on a terrible team. There are some concerns about his +/- as his +/- last year was -31. To me +/- is an overrated stat as many things out of a players control can influence a players plus minus such as playing on a terrible team that let in 34 more goals then they scored. Oh hey, that's the Florida Panthers that Booth played on last year. Fact is, he'll be playing on a much better team and will be playing on the same line as a Selke winner, so his +/- should improve drastically and to the hope of the Canucks and their fans, his points should improve drastically as well.
Now for all that has been made about Samuelsson and Sturm getting off to slow starts, Booth hasn't exactly been setting the booth on fire either. Get it? I'm sorry, won't happen again. Anyways, Booth has only one assist and is a -6 to start the season. So temper immediate expectations Canucks fans, it may take a little bit of time before Booth gets his game going.
For all that we've talked about the trade, we haven't talked a whole lot about Booth himself and what he brings to the table. Booth is what I like to call a throwback power forward; he doesn't drop the gloves and doesn't take the body like the power forwards of yore, but he's built like a throwback power forward in the sense that he's not that tall (6'0), but is very solidly built, tipping the scales at about 215lbs. He's a good skater for his build and isn't super fast, but has good speed; probably just below Kesler if not at Kesler's skating level. Even though he's not the most physical guy in the world, he will take the body and at his best will drive hard towards the net. He has a good scoring touch, as evidence of his 30 goal season, and playing on a better team with an All-Star, Selke winner, should boost his overall numbers. Booth is also familiar with Kesler and Higgins, having played with the former when they were in the US development program at age 12 and on the 2004 gold medal, US junior squad and having played with the latter in Florida. Already dubbed the AmEx line, big things are expected from that line.
We have a trade! And it's from our little brother, the Florida Panthers. Why are they are little brother? Because in a family, when the older brother wants something that the little brother has, he takes it while leaving little to nothing in return. Pretty much is exactley the way the Florida-Vancouver trades have gone over the years. Anyways on to the trades:
Vancouver Receives:
LW David Booth
C Steve Reinprecht
2013 3rd round pick
In Booth, the Canucks get what they have been looking for a while now; a top 6 forward to play with Kesler. Booth had a decent year last year, putting up 23 goals and 40 points in 82 games. He was also a -31, but I`ll get into that and more information about Booth here. Reinprecht is just a throw in, as his $2.05 million is just sitting in the minors and Panthers ownership did not want to foot that bill any longer. The Aquilini`s should not be overlooked in this trade. Without their financial support and willingness to pay a player $2.05 million in the minors, this trade would not go through. The 3rd round pick we received is the Canucks 3rd round pick that they sent to Florida for Higgins (another trade with Florida where we pretty much took the player we wanted and left very little in return).
Florida Receives:
RW Mikael Samuelsson LW Marco Sturm
In Samuelsson and Sturm, Florida receive two veteran forwards, who still have the capacity to produce offensively. The problem is that both players are coming off major surgery and neither has looked good at all this season. The bonus to this deal for Florida however is that both players are in the last years of their deal. Dale Tallon will insist that this move was not money motivated and he points to the fact that the Panthers took on $250K in salary. However Booth still has 3 more years at $4.25 million after this season, while, as stated before, Sturm and Samuelsson are both free agents after this season. Plus the fact that they gave up a young top 6 forward for two aging, pending UFA's, this deal screams money for Florida.
Winner:
Whenever a trade happens, the short-term winner is whoever gets the best player player in the deal. The long-term winner can't be decided until a year or two down the road. However we are talking short term and in this deal the Canucks got the best player. Some may argue that Samuelsson is the best player in the deal, but that's just their stupid talking. Booth, like Samuelsson, is also a former 30 goal scorer and he did it on a very bad team, while Samuelsson did it while playing with Kesler and the Sedins. Booth is also 8 years younger then Samuelsson and is also much more mobile then Samuelsson, who, along with Sturm, showed the kind of speed you would expect out of the Roger Neilson statue outside of Rogers Arena. So the short-term winner is the Vancouver Canucks
Yes, opening night is just a little more then a day away, so lets get prepared for the season ahead of us shall we? The Canucks
Can the Canucks go back to the Stanley Cup Finals and win?
Yes they can, however one could argue that this team is not as talented as the team from last year. Ehrhoff's absence leaves a considerable hole on the back end as the Canucks do not posses another defenseman of Ehrhoff's offensive prowess. Edler could become that defenseman, but that is a big "if." There are still questions about the second line and if Hodgson and Sturm are the answers to the problem. However this is still a very talented team and as long as the team is healthy heading into the playoffs, another shot at the Cup is definitely not out of the question.
Can Alex Edler take that next step and become an elite defenseman?
The last couple of years, Canucks fans and management have seen glimpses of dominance from Edler, however those moments are too few and far between. Not to say every time he's not dominant he's been brutal, but he's been average far too many times. At his best Edler is the Canucks best defenseman and it's not even close. He has all the tools to become an elite defenseman in this league, he just has to be more consistent and we could have the elite defenseman we have been longing so long for.
Can Luongo solve his post season issues?
The golden question for every Canucks fan is "Can Luongo be the goalie he is in the regular season in the post season?" Now I have long been a Luongo supporter, but even I will admit that Luongo is too inconsistent in the post season (however I am no where even near to those who blame everything on him). For whatever reason he has too many lapses in concentration that lead to untimely goals and it sometimes costs the team. For the Canucks to win the Cup, Luongo needs to be at the top of his game the entire playoffs; he needs to be great. No pressure bro.
NHL Awards Predictions Art Ross: Evgeni Malkin Hart: Evgeni Malkin Ted Lindsey: Evgeni Malkin Vezina: Henrik Lundqvist Norris: Shea Weber Calder: Brandon Saad Lady Byng: Who cares...... fine, Datsyuk Selke: Pavel Datsyuk Jack Adams: Dan Bylsma Rocket Richard: Steven Stamkos
NHL Team Predictions Presidents Trophy: San Jose Sharks Western Champions: Vancouver Canucks Eastern Champions: Washington Captials Stanley Cup Champions: Vancouver Canucks (who else am I really going to pick?)
Random Stuff Overachieving Team: Ottawa Senators Underachieving Team: Detroit Red Wings Biggest Free Agent Bust: Ilya Bryzgalov First Coach Fired: Joe Sacco
On Tuesday, the Canucks claimed winger Dale Weise off of waivers from the New York Rangers. Weise was New Yorks 4th round pick in the 2008 NHL entry draft and has played in 10 NHL games, accumulating 0 points and 19 PIM. Coming into training camp, Weise was expected to fight for a 4th line job on the Rangers and was apparently putting up a very good fight. That's why many around the Rangers organization were surprised when the Rangers put Weise on waivers because many thought he would stick with the big club and many also knew that there was no way Weise was going to make it through waivers. Larry Brooks, he of the New York Post and main guy who covers the Rangers, was also very confused at the move and went to his twitter account to express his confusion:
"Can't make sense of the Weise move following a very good camp...."
Weise is advertised as a good fighter who can skate and has good hockey sense. In his brief stint with the big club last season, he had 3 fights, one of which was with Dan Carcillo who at the time was playing for Philadelphia, but now resides in Chicago which should make that rivalry all the more juicier. However Weise's biggest claim to fame is his infamous incident with a Gatorade bottle:
Good stuff. Almost at the same time that the Canucks picked Weise off of waivers, they placed Victor Oreskivich on waivers. Oreskivich was a frusturating player in the sense that he always appeared to be doing a lot, but in reality was doing very little. He would take big runs at guys and make a loud noise when he hit the boards, but 8 out of 10 times, he would miss the guy. He was also at the ire of many Canucks fans and Tony Gallagher when he did nothing about the Bruins manhandling of the Sedins during the Cup Finals. Throw in a not so good pre-season, and Oreskivich is now heading to the Wolves.
