With his team coming off back-to-back shutout losses, Florida Panthers GM Dale Tallon decided it was time for a shakeup.
The Panthers sent left wing David Booth, center Steve Reinprecht and a third-round pick in 2013 to the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday in exchange for veteran forwards Mikael Samuelsson and Marco Sturm.
"A lot of things come into play," Tallon said of the trade, which was
announced a few minutes before the Panthers' home game against the New York Islanders
and not long after the Canucks' 3-2 OT win against Minnesota in
Vancouver. "We're in the performance business, and I was not happy with
our team's performance, especially the last two games. I wasn't going to
sit still and let this fester and I want to send a message and I want
to make changes and I want to get better.
"We felt as far as an organization we get two top NHL players and it
allows David to rekindle his career and go to a winning team in
Vancouver and regain the touch that he had in previous years."
Booth, 26, had no goals and just one assist in six games this season
with Florida, which came into Saturday night having lost 3-0 to
Washington and Buffalo in its last two games. He played 82 games with
the Panthers in 2010-11 recording 23 goals and 40 points, along with 26
penalty minutes and a minus-31 rating. In 309 career games with Florida,
Booth has 87 goals and 167 points, with 127 penalty minutes.
The 6-foot, 212-pound winger was selected in the second round (No. 53) by the Panthers in the 2004 Entry Draft.
Booth, a Detroit native, was a member of the 2004 U.S. team that won the
World Junior Championship team. His best season came in 2008-09, when
he scored 31 goals. But he missed most of 2009-10 with a concussion
after an open-ice hit by then-Philadelphia Flyers center Mike Richards.
"I think he's sad. It's not easy. I like him a lot, he's a great
person," Tallon said. "Those are tough decisions you have to make. We
have to move on. He's going to a great organization, a great team and
has a good chance to help them get to where they want to go."
Booth and Vancouver center Ryan Kesler played together in minor hockey in the Detroit area.
"Ryan knows him very well. He's scored over 30 goals in the league
before and he's 26 years old," Canucks GM Mikr Gillis said. "We think if
we can get him here and get him moving in the right direction he'll
embrace it."
With Mason Raymond
still sidelined with an injury sustained during the Stanley Cup Final,
Booth figures to get plenty of time on one of Vancouver's top two lines.
Tallon said he's not worried about whether Booth will get a jump-start
from the trade.
"I don't know if he does or not," Tallon said, "but I felt that we had
to make some changes here based on the performances in the last couple
of games."
Booth has three seasons remaining after this one on a contract that pays $4.25 million per season, according to CapGeek.com.
Reinprecht, 35, was 4-6-10 in 29 games with Florida and 4-9-13 in 18
games for Adler Mannheim of the German Elite League in 2010-11. In 663
career NHL games Reinprecht has 140 goals, 382 points and 186 penalty
minutes. The Edmonton native also has 10 goals and 20 points in 50
playoff games -- he was a member of the Colorado Avalanche team that won the Stanley Cup. Reinprecht was waived before the season and has been playing with San Antonio of the AHL.
Sturm, a 33-year-old native of Germany, was scoreless in six games with
the Canucks this season. The seven-time 20-goal scorer signed with the
Canucks during the summer after splitting last season between Los
Angeles and Washington. He has 239 goals and 482 points in 896 career
games.
Samuelsson, who turns 35 on Dec. 23, has 1 goal and 3 points in six
games in 2011-12, his third season with the Canucks. He had 3 goals and 9
points in 37 games with the Panthers in 2003-04, then spent four
seasons with Detroit and was a member of the Wings' 2008 Stanley Cup
champions. He has 135 goals and 314 points in 621 regular-season games.
"They're two useful, NHL top-notch people that can play," Tallon said of
Sturm and Samuelsson, both of whom are on the final year of their
contracts. "They're solid defensively and offensively.
"Samuelsson won a Cup in Detroit and is coming off back-to-back 50-point
seasons. He's a real useful player. He can play the point on the power
play and has size and a big shot that we sorely need. Sturm gives us a
player that can kill penalties. He's scored 20 or more goals seven times
in his career, and it just gives us more options and more depth in the
organization."
Gillis said Sturm and Samuelsson "were the players that Florida wanted."
"You have to work with the other side to try and come up with a match,"
he said. "We were looking to try to get a little bit younger and a
little bit quicker."
Quelle: nhl.com
