David Booth Jersey Card

Earlier today, the Toronto Maple Leafs solidified their second line by signing David Booth to an affordable 1-year contract; just a couple of days ago, I had suggested they try someone else who is often asked and expected to play as a power-forward, Guillaume Latendresse, but Booth fills the same type of role (and has the same history of concussions).

David Booth's time with the Vancouver Canucks may well be considered unsuccessful to say the least, what with just 26 goals and 51 points in 164 points, but keep in mind he came in mid-season after a trade with the Florida Panthers, with whom he'd spent all of his career with until that point; the second year was the lock-out, and the third brought in a new head coach in John Tortorella, who completely changed the style and make-up of the team. That makes for a lot of change in very little time.

His career-high for goals (31) and points (60) may no longer be attainable, because I don't think he can warrant top-line minutes like he used to in Florida, if only because talented new rookies have come in each year since 2008-09, but I still stand by what I said about him last March:

(He) would be an ideal second-liner on a playoff-quality team, and a luxury third-liner with powerplay and penalty-killing time on a stacked Stanley Cup contender like the Chicago Blackhawks or Anaheim Ducks (though possibly a first-liner on the stacked-at-center Pittsburgh Penguins).

Meaning I can see him reaching the 45-50-point plateau, ideally with more than 20 goals, perhaps 25.

Here is a card that dates back to his heyday, showing him wearing the Panthers' white (away) uniform, with the aletrnate captain's 'A':

It's from Upper Deck's 2009-10 Series 1 set, and is card #GJ-DA of the UD Game Jersey sub-set, with a black game-worn jersey swatch (though the white uniform contains no black apart from the dreaded piping).