Speculation: Booth Buyout

cc

Registered User
Feb 28, 2002
9,570
1,449
Great post. The one knock at this point would be that he's injury prone, but his most recent injury isn't something that's reoccurred. That could've happened to anyone.

I think the knock on him is more that he's not showing enough to earn his cap hit/salary and people have run out of patience for him to do so.
 

Jyrki

Benning has been purged! VANmen!
May 24, 2011
13,156
2,088
溫哥華
I really don't think we are good cap-wise there, even with Ballard and Luongo gone. You have to account for the raises Burrows and Edler got

WIthout Ballard and Luongo, we get have 12M left with a lineup of:

Sedins-Burrows
X - Kesler - Booth
Higgins - Schroeder - Hansen
Weise - X - Kassian

Edler - Garrison
Hamhuis - Bieksa
X - X

Schneider
X

Suppose we re-sign:

-Roy @ 4.5M
-Raymond @ 2.5M
-Tanev @ 2M

And let Lapierre walk, we get 3M to spend on a 4th line center, bottom pairing LD and backup. Yeah, we're cutting too tight still unless GMMG can work some magic with Roy or Tanev or simply trade Booth, then hope Kassian/Schroeder take the next step.
 

Yossarian54

Registered User
Oct 12, 2011
1,585
45
Perth, WA
All arguments about Booth's usefulness aside (I quite like him), it seems yes, if we re-sign Roy, Booth needs to go. There's really no other way you can do it salary wise (Lu and Ballard would be gone as well). That's a big IF however.
 

GrogZilla

Registered User
Mar 31, 2013
367
6
I'd really like to see Booth & Kesler both healthy & together for a year, see if they can develop the chemistry that was expected when the deal was made for Booth.

I'm sure Gillis wants to give Booth a chance to make that deal look good.

I think he'll be here next year if Gillis can find a way to make it work.
 

serge2k

Registered User
Sep 16, 2006
15,116
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I think the knock on him is more that he's not showing enough to earn his cap hit/salary and people have run out of patience for him to do so.

People have stupid expectations for him.

Only real issue is he can't stay healthy. Bad luck injuries, but even so can't keep paying a guy 4+ million to miss large chunks of the season. Especially with Kesler already prone to doing so.
 

Bourne Endeavor

Registered User
Apr 6, 2009
37,287
5,297
Montreal, Quebec
I disagree with all of this. I don't think the guy has ever had a fair chance. Last year he starts getting into his groove only to get kneed by Kevin Porter, and never had a chance to get up to speed afterwards, not to mention playing with a Kesler with only one arm. This year he gets a freak groin injury and a freak ankle injury, in between which he plays like an absolute champ and against all odds no pucks go in for him. Give him one full, healthy season, and I think everyone changes their tune.

Additonally, he's the perfect fit for the 2nd line. The point of the 2nd line, the reason it's good, is that it is capable of taking on the opponents' top line so that the Sedins don't have to deal with them. The reason the Sedins aren't scoring as much right now is precisely because they're facing the other team's best players - coming out ahead in AT ALL in that matchup is a win. Booth is one of the best possession players in the league even when he's not scoring, Kesler is a premier defensive forward, and when playing with them, Higgins also excels in that area of the game. Facing them basically means you don't have the puck the majority of the time.

It gets even better for this short period because you have two offensively talented lines - the Roy line and the Sedin line - that can demolish the other team's bottom 9, while the Kesler line shuts down their big guns possession-wise. Booth facilitates this. Unfortunately, he and Kes are hurt so we don't get to see it, at least not until the playoffs.

This would be fine were he making 2.5-3M per. Then by all means, we can and should take a chance of his injuries just being flukes and he will bounce back. Alas, when you are getting over $4M, consistent productivity is an absolute necessity. Right now we are struggling to score goals and with the addition of Roy, it would be moronic to watch someone who actually can help us walk away to keep Booth, who never seems to stay healthy long enough for it to matter.
 

MikeK

Registered User
Nov 10, 2008
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Earth
People have stupid expectations for him.

Only real issue is he can't stay healthy. Bad luck injuries, but even so can't keep paying a guy 4+ million to miss large chunks of the season. Especially with Kesler already prone to doing so.

Bang on, Serge. I actually think he brings a nice element to the lineup. Just not at his $4.5M cap hit and certainly not at the amount of games he misses due to injury. I don't even think he's worth $2M to be honest. What is the point of having a guy on your team eating up a roster spot and cap space if he can't stay healthy. Makes no sense to me. Time to cut him loose. At least it cost us nothing of value to acquire him.
 

Virtanen2Horvat

BoHorvat53
Nov 29, 2011
8,288
2
Vancouver
I wonder if they should use him for a top 6 forward trade? if not they should buy him out or even give him a chance again cause he hasn't really been given a chance.

EDIT: A healthy playoff team

Sedin-Sedin-Burrows
Higgins-Kesler-Booth} Possibility that Roy and Kesler could play together. So that would mean Booth on the third.
Raymond-Roy-Hansen}
Pinnizzotto-Lapierre-Weise
 

Virtanen2Horvat

BoHorvat53
Nov 29, 2011
8,288
2
Vancouver
We should Buyout Ballard and trade Lou this summer then re-sign Roy hopefully and get a top 6 forward and buyout Booth if necessary but hopefully Booth can prove his self next year and become a 2nd liner that can score 25-30 goals.
 

MikeK

Registered User
Nov 10, 2008
10,606
4,058
Earth
We should Buyout Ballard and trade Lou this summer then re-sign Roy hopefully and get a top 6 forward and buyout Booth if necessary but hopefully Booth can prove his self next year and become a 2nd liner that can score 25-30 goals.

I am of the opinion that Ballard is tradable and at the very least would get claimed of waivers.
 

Cocoa Crisp

Registered User
Mar 8, 2006
2,820
0
NYC
I think he has some trade value to a team in need of top6 talent and lost out on free agency. Not a big return, maybe a low 2014 pick and an iffy prospect, but Booth still has some value. And who knows, maybe he returns for the playoffs and has a good showing alongside Kes and Roy. Then his value rises and we have a better chance of signing Roy. Win-win in that case.
 

Wheatley

We Rabite You
Sep 24, 2010
2,230
0
We should Buyout Ballard and trade Lou this summer then re-sign Roy hopefully and get a top 6 forward and buyout Booth if necessary but hopefully Booth can prove his self next year and become a 2nd liner that can score 25-30 goals.

Enough with the buyout talk. These guys are tradable as long as we don't ask for much back.
 

DustyMartellaughs

Flashing the leather.
Jun 12, 2009
4,953
1,246
Dawson Creek, BC
There should be a special place on HF for the whipping boys done good. Wasn't Bieksa useless and a bad contract and about to be traded at one point? Burrows was a fourth liner with no hands, Kesler would never crack the top 6, even I thought that Raymond was done after last season but he bounced back big time this year.

Booth has had some tough luck since coming here, but I would be willing to keep him around because when he is on his game he is one of the best skating power forwards in the game, and no one can ever say that he is a perimeter player. He goes where it hurts, and that has unfortunately lead to injuries but I would rather have that than another Pyatt or Bernier.

Hopefully next year he will stay healthy for a good stretch of games and the fans can see what we really have in him. Letting him go for nothing would be terrible asset management.

This X 1000. I shudder to think what this team would look like if the GM had indeed traded every player the fanbase wanted run out of town.
Not ready to give up quite yet on Booth or Edler. Ebbett? Barker? Sure. But not guys who have a proven skill set and are simply underachieving.
 

Nona Di Giuseppe

Registered User
Jul 14, 2009
4,903
2,429
Coquitlam
I disagree with all of this. I don't think the guy has ever had a fair chance. Last year he starts getting into his groove only to get kneed by Kevin Porter, and never had a chance to get up to speed afterwards, not to mention playing with a Kesler with only one arm. This year he gets a freak groin injury and a freak ankle injury, in between which he plays like an absolute champ and against all odds no pucks go in for him. Give him one full, healthy season, and I think everyone changes their tune.

Additonally, he's the perfect fit for the 2nd line. The point of the 2nd line, the reason it's good, is that it is capable of taking on the opponents' top line so that the Sedins don't have to deal with them. The reason the Sedins aren't scoring as much right now is precisely because they're facing the other team's best players - coming out ahead in AT ALL in that matchup is a win. Booth is one of the best possession players in the league even when he's not scoring, Kesler is a premier defensive forward, and when playing with them, Higgins also excels in that area of the game. Facing them basically means you don't have the puck the majority of the time.

It gets even better for this short period because you have two offensively talented lines - the Roy line and the Sedin line - that can demolish the other team's bottom 9, while the Kesler line shuts down their big guns possession-wise. Booth facilitates this. Unfortunately, he and Kes are hurt so we don't get to see it, at least not until the playoffs.

this
 

Shareefruck

Registered User
Apr 2, 2005
28,875
3,570
Vancouver, BC
If Booth gets back in time to play a simple 4th line role with a strong, healthy team in front of him, that would be friggen awesome.
 

Tanevian*

Guest
Great post. The one knock at this point would be that he's injury prone, but his most recent injury isn't something that's reoccurred. That could've happened to anyone.

Groins and ankles on hockey players are important. I have got nothing against Booth at all, but sometimes you need to look forward. Add to this a concussion history and $4.2M is too much for a guy who looked great with no results.

Maybe God hates sport hunters?
 

SgtToody

Registered User
Mar 16, 2013
1,215
30
Laughable that we should only trade our unproductive/least-wanted pieces and expect even fools gold in return. Carolina put jussi jokiness on waivers - to clear hiss salary - and still couldn't find a taker. Buy out Booth ASAP and trade/keep Ballard because he has minimum but some value; his contract makes it unlikely that he'll return anything of interest, unless we want an untenable contract in return, like Malone...
 

604

Registered User
Nov 1, 2011
7,279
1,486
Can we trade a 3rd or something to get a team to eat 50% of his cap hit?
 

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