The Florida Panthers have invited former forward David Booth to camp on a professional try out. The 30-year-old left wing spent last season playing with the Toronto Maple Leafs, where he scored 7 goals and 13 points in 59 games.
Booth was a second round pick of the Panthers (53rd overall) in 2004. He spent the first five seasons of his NHL career with the Cats before he was traded less than a month into year six to the Vancouver Canucks, along with Steven Reinprecht, for Mikael Samuelsson and Marco Sturm.
The speedy winger’s best season as Panther came in 2008-09, when he scored a career-best 31 goals and 29 assists in 72 games. Booth suffered a serious concussion (the second of his career) early in the 2009-10 when he was hit by Philadelphia Flyers forward Mike Richards. He returned the next season to play all 82 games and bagged a team-high 23 goals.
Booth, a favorite among Panther fans, will be looking to travel the same hard road fellow veteran forward Brad Boyes did a couple of seasons ago. Boyes turned a strong 2014 training camp into a two-year stint with the Cats.
Our own Shane O’Donnell had this to say on the news:
I have to admit, without even checking any of his statistics over the past couple of seasons, I want David Booth to make the Panthers. From what I saw of his play in Toronto last season, he’s still a guy who can skate, hit, and play succeed in a bottom-six role.
Also, how great would it be to see him back in South Florida? I don’t know about you, but I would be up in the stands, yelling “Booooooooooooth” every time the 30-year-old forward touched the puck.
The Detroit, MI native has scored 120 goals and 111 assist in 502 NHL games. Welcome back, David.