I was pretty apprehensive about the Booth trade. He looks like exactly what this team needed though, hope he can keep it up. When he gets the puck at full speed in the neutral zone, I get quite excited at what might come next. Just an absurdly powerful skater.
Ya, when you've got Kesler and Booth powering through the neutral zone at full tilt it's pretty darn impressive. Both of those guys are extremely difficult to knock off the puck as well; Higgins is just solid as can be. Hopefully they continue to just drive the net...we get enough pure skill goals from the top line, could use some more of the garbage variety around the net (sure would have helped against Boston).
Booth has been a good pickup very early in the season. i think the 6weeks that he was hurt, he has had enough time to study the team's tendencies where certains guys are going to do like kesler/higgins. If the playoffs started today, i'd pick D.booth as the x-factor in a 7 game series. one thing that still bothers me is. he like kesler tends to "puckhog". defensively, mr. booth is getting better. backchecking. thats what a.v wants. if you don't backcheck Your butt will get stapled to the bench the rest of the game.
That turned into Taylor Ellington and half a Steve Bernier.
Still considerably better than Cloutier.
Anyways, I'v always liked Booth, and was really happy when we got him (especially given what we got him for). As long as he stays healthy I think he'll give us good value on his contract.
I was very excited when we got Booth in that trade and he is just getting better every month. He has a stronger net presence than I thought he would which is going to be very important for the playoffs. This guy could really help score some much needed ugly goals in tight games.
I think he really completes that second line. Kesler is the drive and Higgins can complement but Booth completes it. THey are a COPMLETE change up from the Sedins which is nice. If Weber and Suter are playing the Sedins all night and get stuck out there against the 2nd line they wont know what hits them (the converse can be said about pairings matched up against the second unit too!)
His attitude is the icing on the cake.
Also I should note. When he first got here his puck handling was AWFUL but he seems to be fine now (so I guess that was just early season/new team stuff). And he has a SHOT too.
He seems to keep Kesler honest in the offensive zone -
Pure speculation on my part, but he seems like the kind of guy that would also "keep Kesler honest" in terms of his attitude. Kesler can be a pretty sour guy when things aren't going well, but you could tell from the minute the Canucks acquired Booth that Kesler has a lot of respect for him (Kesler is a guy who I think plays better when he has respect for his linemates as players and doesn't expect them to defer to him).
I think personality is something the Canucks really zero in on when building their team, and I think a guy like Booth probably helps keep Kesler on the positive side of the ledger. Burrows seems to do this with Kesler a lot, too, when you see them horsing around in interviews.
It was also the reason I always hoped Bieksa would turn his game around when he was playing so miserably. When a guy is that popular with his teammates, you know there's a reason.
Anyway, people often wildly overrated intangibles, but it is something that's crossed my mind whenever I see Booth's 1000-watt smile that never seems to leave his face.
I'll be honest, I wasn't crazy about the move when it went down. Florida fans seemed so happy to be rid of his contract that it made me a little nervous, but do they honestly think they can get a better player at a better price? Certainly not through Free Agency. From what I've seen, Booth is a legit top 6 forward with tremendous speed, strength and willingness to go to the front of the net. Every indication so far points to a guy that is going to be worth every penny of his 4.25m cap hit.
I'll be very curious to see this supposed cheaper upgrade that the Panthers will be getting over the summer. When I look at the crop of available FA's this summer, I see a lot of guys worse than Booth that are already making 4m+ on their contracts and we all know how stupid FA contracts get.
So, I would say I'm coming around to liking the trade and am appreciating the value that Gillis saw in Booth's contract.
I loved it. I was making some noise about him last June as he seemed like a guy that might be a buy low option with Tallon taking over, but I didn't think it would be as low as it was. When I saw the trade on Twitter I was at the gym and called my buddy immediately. Just a great pick-up.
I was a bit leery about his last season, but he just seemed like a guy with the right toolset for this team. Big body, strong, fitness freak, and faster than blazes. When guys like Leino are getting 4.5 long term, I don't think you even hesitate to add a player of Booth's caliber, bad season or not. On this team he looks like a solid bet to be a 25 goal, 55-65 point second liner who complements Kesler's game and scores dirty goals. He's pretty much exactly what everyone wanted, except he doesn't fight so nobody really looked at it that way.
I've been very impressed with his compete level and he's a much more competent defensive player than everyone in Florida seemed to think he was. Definite steal and almost a miracle trade after that Sturm signing (/barf).
Whenever you can get rid of two aging players with a young power forward, it's a winner. And there's nothing to dislike about Booth so far. It'll be interesting how he does in the playoffs though.
Massive upgrade on Mason Raymond, I'm sure Booth can manage more than 2 goals in 24 playoff games and he'll be laying on the ice 1/10th the time Raymond will.
I'll be honest, I wasn't crazy about the move when it went down. Florida fans seemed so happy to be rid of his contract that it made me a little nervous, but do they honestly think they can get a better player at a better price? Certainly not through Free Agency. From what I've seen, Booth is a legit top 6 forward with tremendous speed, strength and willingness to go to the front of the net. Every indication so far points to a guy that is going to be worth every penny of his 4.25m cap hit.
I'll be very curious to see this supposed cheaper upgrade that the Panthers will be getting over the summer. When I look at the crop of available FA's this summer, I see a lot of guys worse than Booth that are already making 4m+ on their contracts and we all know how stupid FA contracts get.
So, I would say I'm coming around to liking the trade and am appreciating the value that Gillis saw in Booth's contract.
I think it had as much to do with Reinprechts(sp?) contract as anything else. Florida does not seem to be the kind of team that is going to be able to eat that kind of salary in the minors. I think Tallon backed himself into a corner (again) thinking that he could move him at some point and when that didn't happen, he had to get creative. Much like the Ehrhoff deal with Lukowich(sp?) we really benefitted from our owners willingness to eat a contract imo.
I'll be honest, I wasn't crazy about the move when it went down. Florida fans seemed so happy to be rid of his contract that it made me a little nervous, but do they honestly think they can get a better player at a better price? Certainly not through Free Agency. From what I've seen, Booth is a legit top 6 forward with tremendous speed, strength and willingness to go to the front of the net. Every indication so far points to a guy that is going to be worth every penny of his 4.25m cap hit.
I'll be very curious to see this supposed cheaper upgrade that the Panthers will be getting over the summer. When I look at the crop of available FA's this summer, I see a lot of guys worse than Booth that are already making 4m+ on their contracts and we all know how stupid FA contracts get.
So, I would say I'm coming around to liking the trade and am appreciating the value that Gillis saw in Booth's contract.
the mystery behind the booth trade: Traditional hockey stats suggested he was a bad player. Modern hockey stats suggest he was a very good possession player who was getting burned by the bounces and poor goaltending.
The Canucks are a smart, modern team who can recognize these things. Is Florida? I don't think so. They put together a good team this year, but, well, they also waived Grabner...
What I think is telling is Gillis was very enthusiastic with getting him playing with Kesler and Higgins right away. They had a really good idea of what Booth would bring to Kesler's line and it looks like its paying off.
Our transition games looks a lot more mangled than it used to be, that's for sure. We get stuck in our own zone far too often. The team is capable of doing it better, so the hope is that they will be at their best come April through June.
I couldn't disagree more. There is talent all over the league, intangibles are what make the difference imo.
Doing a psyche profile on the best players will tell you all you need to know about what makes them more successful then others with comparable physical abilities+hockey sense. We can't do that so instead the ignorant call those personality qualities 'intangible' and tart up as something mystical.
And that's not even factoring things like line mates who possess complimentary skill sets.
I couldn't disagree more. There is talent all over the league, intangibles are what make the difference imo.
Exactly. Look at Toews in the Olympics. He was a man on a mission. The special thing about Toews is he can elevate his game without trying too much. He is able to contain himself and still see the ice. Unlike, Kesler, who is still good but you see that sometimes his efforts stop him from seeing the ice and his teammates. This is a special trait I've only seen in clutch star players such as Sakic. Hopefully Hodgson can show this in the playoffs
I love his attitude. Honestly, i wasn't familiar with Booth before he came here, but it did not take long for me to become a fan. Chalk up another success for Gillis. That second line has a whole new fresh dynamic. Have to give props to Higgins as well, might not be scoring a ton, but i respect the work ethic. Booth as well.
Exactly. Look at Toews in the Olympics. He was a man on a mission. The special thing about Toews is he can elevate his game without trying too much. He is able to contain himself and still see the ice. Unlike, Kesler, who is still good but you see that sometimes his efforts stop him from seeing the ice and his teammates. This is a special trait I've only seen in clutch star players such as Sakic. Hopefully Hodgson can show this in the playoffs
Was Kesler not a man on a mission in the series against Nashville? Between Toews and Kesler, Toews is simply more skilled. But Kesler has had a history of elevating his game (when healthy) in key games. He might not always put up the points offensively in big games but the other parts of Kesler's game such as his defensive play and physical intensit is rarely missing in key games (when healthy).
