David Booth Set to Make Toronto Maple Leafs Debut Tonight
David Booth is set to make his Toronto Maple Leafs (11-8-2) debut tonight against the high-flying Pittsburgh Penguins (14-4-2).
A broken foot suffered during the pre-season has kept Booth out of the lineup to date.
Booth joined the Leafs after signing a one-year deal worth $1.1 million in the off-season. He’s coming off three disappointing seasons for the Vancouver Canucks where injuries limited him to 134 games and 51 points (26 goals, 25 assists). He’s hoping to discover his Florida Panther days in a Leafs uniform where he recorded a career-high 60 points (31 goals, 29 assists) in 72 games during the 2008-2009 season.
To make room for Booth and the return of Joffrey Lupul as well, the Leafs have reassigned Josh Leivo. He rejoins the Toronto Marlies where his season began.
With bodies healing up, the Leafs have sent Josh Leivo down to the #Marlies #TMLtalk
— David Alter (@dalter) November 24, 2014
In other Leafs news, the team will be wearing a special patch tonight to honour Pat Quinn.
The fiery Irishman coached the team from 1998-2006 and held the general manager position between 1999-2003. Toronto were regular contenders during the Quinn era and he’ll be sorely missed by everyone in Leafs Nation and across the entire hockey world. It’s always hard to replace one of the good guys.
Leafs will wear an honourary Pat Quinn patch on their sweaters for the next two games.
— Jonas Siegel (@jonassiegel) November 25, 2014
The Leafs will also be joined in Pittsburgh by their dads as part of the team’s annual fathers trip. Keep your eyes out for the closest father-son look-alike pair. (I got money on the Kessels.)
Leafs will have their dads with them in Pittsburgh for annual fathers trip.
— Jonas Siegel (@jonassiegel) November 25, 2014
Returning to Booth, it’s still not entirely clear what he brings to the Leafs.
Is he their answer to Sidney Crosby?
I doubt it, but he should provide the team some extra depth and desperately needed leadership on the left side at the very least. It’ll be a pure bonus if he can rediscover his scoring touch from the Florida days.
What are your thoughts on the return of Booth or the loss of Quinn? Let us know in the comments section below.