Well, well, well...this just in from Sportsnet’s Dan Murphy ahead of tonight’s game between the Canucks and Islanders.
Sure seems like #canucks David Booth will be a healthy scratch vs #islanders. If so, quite a message w/only 12 healthy forwards on trip.
— Dan Murphy (@sportsnetmurph) October 22, 2013
Booth, a former 31-goal-scorer for the Florida Panthers, has just one goal in 10 games this season. The 28-year-old winger played a mere 10:18 during Sunday’s 3-1 loss in Columbus. He was then apparently skated hard this morning.
If Booth is indeed a healthy scratch, consider it a strong message from Vancouver head coach John Tortorella, who doesn’t exactly have a plethora of spare wingers at his disposal these days. (Alex Burrows is still out with a foot injury.)
Booth, by the way, is signed through next season with a cap hit of $4.25 million.
Update (5:08 p.m. ET)
Its official. Andrew Alberts to replace David Booth in #canucks line-up.
— Dan Murphy (@sportsnetmurph) October 22, 2013
So Alberts, a defenseman, will either be playing the wing on the fourth line (which seems, well, insane), or the Canucks will rotate seven D.
Update (5:18 p.m. ET)
Torts: "Booth won't dress tonight. Alberts is in and we'll go with seven D."
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) October 22, 2013
Seven D it is.
Related: Torts thinks Booth is a ‘weird dude’ (but not in a bad way)
