David Booth III (MOD Warning Post #123)

[deckercky]

Hmmm interesting, I actually think Stafford is a safer bet than Stewart right now. Stewart completely checked out of STL. I was able to catch some games and he was terrible. Not just invisible, but hard to watch. Stafford is smarter. He doesn't care, but he's smarter.

Anyways, yes, it's that type of swap the team will have to make a call on.

Every other year, Stewart's been a clear first line player. I'd say there's a very good chance he has a great season with the Sedins.

Stafford is what he is. Better than Booth for sure, but not that much of an upgrade, and certainly not worth giving up real assets for him (particularly if it involved paying assets). I wouldn't put Stafford as a clear upgrade on Higgins on the second line.

Stewart is a good gamble - high upside. He can have some uninspiring play, but he still puts up points (important for the Canucks), and when he's on, he's incredibly dangerous. I think he'd have a really inspired season if the Canucks picked him up and gave him a chance with the Sedins, which lets the team balance the overall lineup much more.

 

[WinterEmpire]

For anyone still on the buyout Booth bandwagon...just one question. Who do you propose that the Canucks pick up for 4.25 million on a one year contract to replace him this year? Players of his caliber are gonna go for a hell of a lot more on the open market this year with the rising cap.

 

[stuffradio]

Pretty easy to 'wear the pants' when you make 4+ million dollars a year...

Buy him out.

This guy is a hunter, not a hockey player. He just happened to be pretty good at hockey and got this far. He doesn't care about being the best player he can be, he cares about his paycheck and his next hunting trip. He plays like he doesn't care, respect or even understand the sport. Sick of this guy myself, rather see a roster spot open for a guy that wants to be a hockey player.

Another year is just a waste of everyone's time. He's not getting any better, he doesn't care to.

If he didn't care about hockey, he wouldn't have suggested going to a skating coach to improve his game again. Whatever your current job or career is, if you start thinking about or doing separate hobbies in your off time, you better be fired so you can do what your hobby is. You obviously don't want to be in that job or career if you have other hobbies in your spare time.

If you think Sydney Crosby doesn't have hobbies besides hockey, you're crazy. He just doesn't tweet pictures of them.

 

[Reign Nateo]

Hahaha what the hell? So he's only allowed to think about hockey all the time just because he plays in the NHL?

You do realise the amount of work and dedication it takes to get there right? Not like he just slipped, landed on the ice, and woke up with 20 some goals one day.

Never said he didn't have talent. Just said hockey isn't where his passion lies. If it was, he'd spend the off-season training and rehabbing for the ice rather than hunting. I don't care if he has hobbies, all players get away from the game in the offseason, I do care if hockey isn't the number one passion in his life. If it was, he would have taken 6 months (including the whole offseason) to recover from an ankle injury. He would have developed some hockey sense to go alone with his size and wheels.

That's where the problem lies with me. Booth has always been a north/south player that likes to haul the puck to the net. He attacks the puck and gets it to the net. Doesn't use his teammates but still produced as a 20 goal scorer in Florida. This worked due to pure athleticm and speed. He doesn't have the same ability anymore, yet his game hasn't evolved. He's failed to adapt, because hockey is not his top priority. Still has no idea how to use his teammates. That has resulted in 10 goals and 12 assists for 22 points in his last 2 seasons as a Canuck. 78 games. 10 goals for 4+ million dollars.

We need change and Booth has become stagnant. Guys like Sestito, Zalewski, Shinkaruk, Matthias and Jensen could likely all take his minutes next year and score more than 10 goals. Speculation of course. But there are a lot of depth guys that will be looking for an NHL role. I think the Booth era has run it's course and we should get some new blood in there.

Having said all of that, I don't actually think he'll be bought out. We have cap space and it may not be worth it to the team to swallow this hit if it isn't nessicary. But if I was running the team, he'd be long gone as soon as possible.

 

[Reign Nateo]

For anyone still on the buyout Booth bandwagon...just one question. Who do you propose that the Canucks pick up for 4.25 million on a one year contract to replace him this year? Players of his caliber are gonna go for a hell of a lot more on the open market this year with the rising cap.

Really? A guy with injury problems that scored 10 goals in his last 78 games? What would you pay him?

I think there's several guys that could score 10 goals in 78 games with the minutes and oppotunities Booth has been given, for a lot less than 4+ million bucks. Some of them already in our organization.

 

[arttk]

Never said he didn't have talent. Just said hockey isn't where his passion lies. If it was, he'd spend the off-season training and rehabbing for the ice rather than hunting. I don't care if he has hobbies, all players get away from the game in the offseason, I do care if hockey isn't the number one passion in his life. If it was, he would have taken 6 months (including the whole offseason) to recover from an ankle injury. He would have developed some hockey sense to go alone with his size and wheels.

That's where the problem lies with me. Booth has always been a north/south player that likes to haul the puck to the net. He attacks the puck and gets it to the net. Doesn't use his teammates but still produced as a 20 goal scorer in Florida. This worked due to pure athleticm and speed. He doesn't have the same ability anymore, yet his game hasn't evolved. He's failed to adapt, because hockey is not his top priority. Still has no idea how to use his teammates. That has resulted in 10 goals and 12 assists for 22 points in his last 2 seasons as a Canuck. 78 games. 10 goals for 4+ million dollars.

We need change and Booth has become stagnant. Guys like Sestito, Zalewski, Shinkaruk, Matthias and Jensen could likely all take his minutes next year and score more than 10 goals. Speculation of course. But there are a lot of depth guys that will be looking for an NHL role. I think the Booth era has run it's course and we should get some new blood in there.

Having said all of that, I don't actually think he'll be bought out. We have cap space and it may not be worth it to the team to swallow this hit if it isn't nessicary. But if I was running the team, he'd be long gone as soon as possible.

Uh.. do you even pay attention? You can't really do lower body work when your leg is in a cast. Like what Booth has said, he couldn't do any offseason training because he physically couldn't.

It's fine if you don't like the guy, that's your thing, just don't go around making up BS.

 

[Reign Nateo]

If he didn't care about hockey, he wouldn't have suggested going to a skating coach to improve his game again. Whatever your current job or career is, if you start thinking about or doing separate hobbies in your off time, you better be fired so you can do what your hobby is. You obviously don't want to be in that job or career if you have other hobbies in your spare time.

If you think Sydney Crosby doesn't have hobbies besides hockey, you're crazy. He just doesn't tweet pictures of them.

Sure Crosby has hobbies. But his number one focus since he was a toddler is be the best hockey player he can be. I don't see Booth the same way. He would have changed his game and overcome his injuries a lot quicker had he been more focused on hockey in my opinion.

When Booth's knee got shredded he should have learned to use his teammates more and not just tried to drive the net every time with tarnished speed. Yet, he still does. After his majour concussions in Florida he should have learned to keep his head up. He hasn't. To me a sign of not progressing and adapting is not being passionate about being the best you can be at your profession.

It's completley fine if hockey isn't his number one focus in life, I just don't want that state of mind on this team going forward personally.

Again, in my mind he's staying. I just don't like it personally.

 

[deckercky]

We need change and Booth has become stagnant. Guys like Sestito, Zalewski, Shinkaruk, Matthias and Jensen could likely all take his minutes next year and score more than 10 goals. Speculation of course. But there are a lot of depth guys that will be looking for an NHL role. I think the Booth era has run it's course and we should get some new blood in there.

Booth and Matthias aren't competing for the same position, nor is Jensen. Sestito score half of his 10 NHL goals last year, and doesn't have 10 goal potential. Zalewski and Shinkaruk aren't ready, but will be available for call-ups next year as depth (you know...that thing that killed the Canucks this past year). Jensen is top 6 or bust.

The funny thing about your post is that the player you could fill into Booth's position and has the best chance of putting up some points on the third/fourth line...is Booth. He had lost a step, and as his skating came back, so did his overall play. He developed some chemistry with Kassian too, which should help.

Not saying the Canucks need to replace Booth - if next year is a rebuilding year, then going forward his roster spot may be very valuable, though his salary is then irrelevant and he would provide a 4th line that can play real minutes (Booth - Richardson - Sestito would probably put up very good points for a 4th line).

If the Canucks want to make a splash, then maybe Booth needs to go. I just don't think it's anywhere near a foregone conclusion.

 

[Reign Nateo]

Uh.. do you even pay attention? You can't really do lower body work when your leg is in a cast. Like what Booth has said, he couldn't do any offseason training because he physically couldn't.

It's fine if you don't like the guy, that's your thing, just don't go around making up BS.

“From the time that I was in a boot, I couldn’t walk for six to eight weeks,†he said. “I worked out my upper body and I got really strong up there. But then when I was able to start rehabbing my ankle and start doing a little bit more conditioning, I started doing more agility stuff, balance stuff, biometric stuff.

“That didn’t really start until August, and that was frustrating, because usually I’m doing that stuff in May and just keep building and building. a But it is a long process and I’m still on the upward.â€

At one point during his rehab period, Booth bulked up because he had watched Chicago Blackhawks winger Bryan Bickell in the regular season and playoffs with the Stanley Cup champions. But the Canucks winger soon realized that he and Bickell have different styles.

“I was 237 up there, and I can’t skate when I’m like that,†he said. “I can’t feel the puck. I can’t doing anything. Watching the playoffs and watching Bickell and seeing how good of a season and playoffs he had, I was [thinking] I had to get big, because I was watching him play and he was very effective out there.

“But that’s not my game. I have speed. I still think I can be stronger on the puck without all the extra upper-body weight.â€

A professional athlete should have been ready in 6 months. His recovery was slowed because he decided to become Conan the Barbarian half-way through and then had to correct it. Why would you think it's a good idea to put on a bunch of weight while re-habbing an ankle?

But I'm not going to harp on a guy's recovery routine, not really the point. The point is injuries have slowed him, he's not about to rebound to the 25 year old Booth. If it was up to me I'd part ways with him and give someone else a chance.

 

[Reign Nateo]

Booth and Matthias aren't competing for the same position, nor is Jensen. Sestito score half of his 10 NHL goals last year, and doesn't have 10 goal potential. Zalewski and Shinkaruk aren't ready, but will be available for call-ups next year as depth (you know...that thing that killed the Canucks this past year). Jensen is top 6 or bust.

That's why I put the line "speculation of course." I'm speculating that there are guys in-house that could score 10 goals in 78 games with Booth's minutes and opportunity, I don't think that's much of a stretch. As for Sestito, he played 6-8 minutes a game and no PP, Booth played 12-16 minutes a game. If we swapped that I don't think it's crazy to say Sestito could flirt with 10 freaking goals.

I actually think if Horvat makes the team (I beleive he will) that Matthias and Booth are suddenly in direct competition. Matthias poor on faceoffs and should be a winger. Likely 3rd line... You can fill in the blank there.

But it's not a good argument to talk about roster spots at this point. We have no idea what the team will look like next year. But I think it's fair to say you could find a guy to come in and do what Booth has done in 2 years for a fraction of 4+ million.

The funny thing about your post is that the player you could fill into Booth's position and has the best chance of putting up some points on the third/fourth line...is Booth. He had lost a step, and as his skating came back, so did his overall play. He developed some chemistry with Kassian too, which should help.

Again, we're getting in to player roles for next year which I don't think it advised. He did start to look better, I'll agree, just didn't show enough to me to bring him back. Also, you may have noticed the line "XXXXX looked to develop some chemistry with Kassian too" come up a lot (Schroeder etc.) that has more to do with Kassian's underrated hockey sense than it does those marginal players.

Not saying the Canucks need to replace Booth - if next year is a rebuilding year, then going forward his roster spot may be very valuable, though his salary is then irrelevant and he would provide a 4th line that can play real minutes (Booth - Richardson - Sestito would probably put up very good points for a 4th line).

If the Canucks want to make a splash, then maybe Booth needs to go. I just don't think it's anywhere near a foregone conclusion.

Actually agree with you, if they re-build there's no point, may as well see if he can rebound and net you a pick at the deadline. I actually beleive he stays, just saying that if we're making changes and trying to be a competitive team next year, he'd be first on my chopping block.

 

[Shareefruck]

For anyone still on the buyout Booth bandwagon...just one question. Who do you propose that the Canucks pick up for 4.25 million on a one year contract to replace him this year? Players of his caliber are gonna go for a hell of a lot more on the open market this year with the rising cap.

I'd buyout Booth even if we didn't have anyone lined up to replace him. I'd keep Richardson over Booth at the same price for crying out loud, and there's no way a guy like him is commanding 4 million.

I think the guy's a cancer for a team trying to work within a system and build a team identity. Even if he individually can compete and occassionally contribute, you don't want guys playing like chickens with their heads cut off out there.

 

[arttk]

“From the time that I was in a boot, I couldn’t walk for six to eight weeks,†he said. “I worked out my upper body and I got really strong up there. But then when I was able to start rehabbing my ankle and start doing a little bit more conditioning, I started doing more agility stuff, balance stuff, biometric stuff.

“That didn’t really start until August, and that was frustrating, because usually I’m doing that stuff in May and just keep building and building. a But it is a long process and I’m still on the upward.â€

At one point during his rehab period, Booth bulked up because he had watched Chicago Blackhawks winger Bryan Bickell in the regular season and playoffs with the Stanley Cup champions. But the Canucks winger soon realized that he and Bickell have different styles.

“I was 237 up there, and I can’t skate when I’m like that,†he said. “I can’t feel the puck. I can’t doing anything. Watching the playoffs and watching Bickell and seeing how good of a season and playoffs he had, I was [thinking] I had to get big, because I was watching him play and he was very effective out there.

“But that’s not my game. I have speed. I still think I can be stronger on the puck without all the extra upper-body weight.â€

A professional athlete should have been ready in 6 months. His recovery was slowed because he decided to become Conan the Barbarian half-way through and then had to correct it. Why would you think it's a good idea to put on a bunch of weight while re-habbing an ankle?

But I'm not going to harp on a guy's recovery routine, not really the point. The point is injuries have slowed him, he's not about to rebound to the 25 year old Booth. If it was up to me I'd part ways with him and give someone else a chance.

Being a professional athlete doesn't magically make your body heal faster. He couldn't work on his lower body until August so he pretty much had 1 month and a half month to get his skating and all that stuff ready for training camp. I don't think it's a stretch to suggest that it would take a much longer time to get back into his peak condition considering that muscles go through entropy when they don't get used for a couple of months.

You can call him stupid for bulking up like that but then that happens to a lot of players too, Sopel did that awhile ago, Hansen did it this year.

Anyhow, the point is you were criticizing him for not spending his offseason training and rehabbing and all of a sudden, you are just shifting to uhh he was training the wrong things. Comeon.

 

[Reign Nateo]

Being a professional athlete doesn't magically make your body heal faster. He couldn't work on his lower body until August so he pretty much had 1 month and a half month to get his skating and all that stuff ready for training camp. I don't think it's a stretch to suggest that it would take a much longer time to get back into his peak condition considering that muscles go through entropy when they don't get used for a couple of months.

You can call him stupid for bulking up like that but then that happens to a lot of players too, Sopel did that awhile ago, Hansen did it this year.

Anyhow, the point is you were criticizing him for not spending his offseason training and rehabbing and all of a sudden, you are just shifting to uhh he was training the wrong things. Comeon.

There's no sugar coating it. And no shift. My point was he was doing the wrong things from the beginging. Bulking up when you're rehabbing an ankle should be considered the wrong thing. This is belabouring a very small point however. He could have been smarter about rehabbing that injury and been ready in time for the season. Willing to give him a pass on that one, but not on all the other warts that have emerged since he got here.

This is the NHL. Produce or get out of the way. He's had more than enough opportunity.

 

[Reign Nateo]

I think the guy's a cancer for a team trying to work within a system and build a team identity. Even if he individually can compete and occassionally contribute, you don't want guys playing like chickens with their heads cut off out there.

My thoughts as well. He just has no clue out there most of the time. He's more like an NFL running back than an NHL winger. No plan, just drive the net and hope for the best. It gets old and is easily neutralized, especially when wear and tear become a factor.

 

[F A N]

The problem with Booth is that he doesn't train properly. If left alone Booth would overtrain. Then there are the off-ice activities. It's sort of like Linden. Once Linden got into cycling he was no longer the same player. The body needs rest and it's impossible to train and do the activities Booth likes to do. You got to think that all the hunting activities (where he has to be motionless or squatting for long periods of time) takes a toll on his body and joints. It's why catchers can't catch a full season and have a long career.

 

[deckercky]

The hilarious thing about your post is that you posted an article about Booth spending the summer attempting to improve himself to be more useful for the team, which doesn't follow closely with your "he doesn't care about hockey - he just wants to hunt" argument.

He's a player at a cross-roads, and he tried to adapt his game. He realised that wasn't going to work, and was coming off surgery, and it showed in his play through most of the season.

But your arguments that he doesn't care are null and void.

 

[DennisReynolds]

The problem with Booth is that he doesn't train properly. If left alone Booth would overtrain. Then there are the off-ice activities. It's sort of like Linden. Once Linden got into cycling he was no longer the same player. The body needs rest and it's impossible to train and do the activities Booth likes to do. You got to think that all the hunting activities (where he has to be motionless or squatting for long periods of time) takes a toll on his body and joints. It's why catchers can't catch a full season and have a long career.

And how do you know what Booth's training is?

 

[Tiranis]

And how do you know what Booth's training is?

Pretty sure that the management of this team has already commented re: the fact that Booth overtrains his upper body in the summer. He's a fitness freak, he just doesn't go about it the right way.

 

[BobbyJazzLegs]

Wow. So many Gary Roberts' all up in here.

 

[Reign Nateo]

Wow. So many Gary Roberts' all up in here.

I don't think you have to be Gary Roberts to understand that adding a bunch of weight when you're supposed to be rehabbing an ankle doesn't make a lot of sense.

 

[BobbyJazzLegs]

I don't think you have to be Gary Roberts to understand that adding a bunch of weight when you're supposed to be rehabbing an ankle doesn't make a lot of sense.

Why the hell not? How often do you hear about players needing to put on size? All the god dam time.

Boother just found out once he started skating that it wasn't the best for his style of game. If it was so painfully obvious that too much upper body work is crippling to every hockey player, the team (every team) would have pretty emphatic guidelines to follow (despite the legalities).

Just because you're rehabbing a specific injury, doesn't mean you have to stop training other body parts. Nor should it.

 

[timw33]

Why the hell not? How often do you hear about players needing to put on size? All the god dam time.

Boother just found out once he started skating that it wasn't the best for his style of game. If it was so painfully obvious that too much upper body work is crippling to every hockey player, the team (every team) would have pretty emphatic guidelines to follow (despite the legalities).

Just because you're rehabbing a specific injury, doesn't mean you have to stop training other body parts. Nor should it.

You realize your ankle helps support your entire body weight? And if you are heavier it could be tougher on the ankle to heal up correctly?

 

[blendini]

Trade for pick or buy out Booth -his money is needed to get Niskanen. PMD/PPQB is the position most needed on this team.

Let the team's UFAs walk and re-sign Tanev and Kassian.

Any $ left over, go get Vbata.

Sedins Bur/Jensen
Vrbata Kes Bur/Jensen
Higgins Horvat/Gaunce Kassian
Matthias Richardson Hansen
Sestito


Hamhuis Bieksa
Edler Niskanen
Garrison Tanev
Corrado

 

[deckercky]

Trade for pick or buy out Booth -his money is needed to get Niskanen. PMD/PPQB is the position most needed on this team.

I don't mind the idea of Niskanen if he could be had for $4M cap hit or so.

 

[wavaxa2]

For anyone still on the buyout Booth bandwagon...just one question. Who do you propose that the Canucks pick up for 4.25 million on a one year contract to replace him this year? Players of his caliber are gonna go for a hell of a lot more on the open market this year with the rising cap.

Why the stipulation that it has to be a one year contract, or that the extra cap space all goes toward one and only one player? I'd rather have two decent third/fourth line guys providing depth for two million per year than waste that money on a worthless scrub like Booth.