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Canucks, Panthers make four-player swap

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Written by Mike Cook

Saturday, October 22, 2011 20:49

Blanked in consecutive games following a decent start, the Panthers may have been looking to make a change. In a rare early-season big deal, they found a trading partner in the Vancouver Canucks.

The Vancouver Canucks have traded Mikael Samuelsson and Marco Sturm to the Florida Panthers for center Steve Reinprecht, left wing David Booth and a third-round draft pick in 2013.

Booth, who has one assist in six games this season, scored 23 goals last season and added 17 assists for the Panthers. He’ll likely play on the second line in Vancouver.

Reinprecht was 4-6-10 in 29 games with the Panthers last season, but the 35-year-old was playing in the AHL this season.

Entering Saturday night, Florida had been shutout in two straight games and was in need of a change.

"A lot of things come into play," Florida GM Dale Tallon said. "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."

Vancouver General Manager Mike Gillis is excited about what he is receiving in Booth.

“I think he gives us an opportunity to have a top-six forward and a left wing to play with Ryan Kesler,” Gillis said. “We were looking to get a little bit younger and a little bit quicker.”

Booth is expected to play left wing on the Canucks second line with Kesler in the middle and Chris Higgins shifting from the left to the right wing.

“I think we’ll welcome David with open arms,” Higgins told The Vancouver Province. “I played with him in Florida a bit and he kind of reminds me of Kes with the way he can skate and how powerful he is. I think he’ll be a great addition to the team because he’s a powerful, powerful skater and has a real strong body. He wins a lot of battles and has phenomenal speed with a great wrist shot. I think he’ll find his role on this team pretty quickly.”

Gillis said Reinprecht will report to AHL Chicago.

Samuelsson had one goal and two assists this year for the Canucks, but did not play Thursday against Nashville because, according to the Vancouver Sun he was too sore to play. Samuelsson underwent sports hernia/adductor surgery last spring. He had practiced fully with the team Wednesday

“Mikael is getting a maintenance day,” explained Canucks coach Alain Vigneault. “He was 100 percent during training camp and for the first couple of days but lately he's been feeling just a little bit stiff. So we're going to keep him off.”

Sturm, signed as a free agent in the off-season, hoped to revitalize his career in the Pacific Northwest, but he was scoreless in six games. Now, he’ll have an opportunity on South Beach.

"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,” Tallon said. “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."