Strangelove wrote:Booth is not defensively minded but he’s not afraid to drive to the net and go to the dirty areas. His GPG numbers have always been solid, even last season when his PP time was reduced (exactly where you would want your second-liner numbers to be). He’s not the smartest guy in town and with the cap going down (percentage of cap is a factor) he suddenly becomes more overpaid, yes.
But for the time being Booth fills a need on the 2nd line. The jury is still out on how overpaid he is. So what to do? Well we play the hell out of him in a shortened season and trade him in the summer IF he doesn’t perform up to snuff and IF we have a better option. No need to buy him out, he’s a proven net-crashing second-line goal-scorer… there are always teams looking for those. The fact he’s overpaid brings his trade value way down in this day & age, but hey no need for a buyout imo.
For now, especially with Kesler out, we’re going to need this goal-scorer on the 2nd line.
Here's some comparative stuff I found on Booth. This info might speak to Booth's all around game and value to the team rather than a rudimentary "he needs to score 55 points and be more physical".
367 forwards played 40+ games last season. Booth was 84th in goals scored per every 60 minutes of ice time amongst these 367. He scored at this rate despite little time on the 1st powerplay unit, a gimp for a centre from February on and a knee injury mid-season. He also played 125 fewer minutes on the powerplay last season than the season before in Florida.
There are 90 forwards in the league that play on a first line - so Booth scored goals at a first line rate. Guys that scored at a lesser rate included Kopitar, Backes, Kane, Brad Richards, Mikko Koivu, Clowe, Doan, Lecavalier, Carter, Selanne, Elias, St Louis, Bergeron. $4.5 M in this context looks like good value.
Booth had the 4th best even strength scoring chance differential on the team last year behind the Sedins and Higgins. And he did that in only 56 games. Can't do that if you are not defensively strong.
In terms of puck possession, zone starts and competition faced - Booth matched up very closely with Alfredsson, Ladd, Horton, Justin Williams, Taylor Hall and Kunitz. They all make between $4.8M and $3.7 M.
I can see why people get frustrated with Booth. But it appears to mainly stem from a misunderstanding of what he brings to the team and misguided comparables. We shouldn't rant about our apples for not being oranges.