David Booth Traded To Canucks; Marco Sturm, Mikael Samuelsson Headed To Panthers

In a huge trade that's not often seen at this time of the season, the Vancouver Canucks have acquired David Booth, Steve Reinprecht and a third round pick from the Florida Panthers in exchange for Mikael Samuelsson and Marco Sturm. 

Booth, 26, is without doubt the centerpiece of the deal. He hasn't necessarily been the same player since suffering two concussions during the 2009-10 season, but the potential is there for him to still be a fantastic player in the NHL. Canucks general manager Mike Gillis is certainly hoping that Booth will be reinvigorated playing alongside Ryan Kesler and Chris Higgins on that Vancouver second line.

As for Reinprecht, the other piece coming to Vancouver in the deal, it's unlikely that he plays in the NHL with the Canucks, certainly not immediately. With a cap hit just above $2 million, there's just simply no room for him. He was essentially a throw-in in this deal. 

For Dale Tallon and there Panthers, both players coming their way are full of question marks. While they give up a young player with injury issues of his own but also a ton of potential, they're receiving two players that are aging yet also suffering from injury woes. We'll let Nucks Misconduct explain Samuelsson's case:

Mikael Samuelsson was reported 100% healthy at training camp after undergoing surgery to repair his adductor tendon and sports hernia. But missed the last couple of games with what was reported as stomach issues reported as aggravated issues from the surgery. A healthy Samuelsson can score 25-30 goals.     

Sturm has bounced from team-to-team over the last two seasons -- from Los Angeles to Boston to Vancouver and now to Florida. The hope is that he's able to find some health and some stability with the Panthers. Both players are in the final years of their contracts, so by the end of this season, it's possible that the return on David Booth for Tallon and the Panthers is gone with the wind.

That's the part of this deal that has a lot of people shaking their heads. For more, including some optimism from Cats fans, head over to Litter Box Cats, our Panthers blog.