Yes, the Toronto Maple Leafs signed David Booth to a one-year contract worth $1.1M yesterday. This is great news.
A quick glance at Booth's box score stats paints the picture of a guy who will be 30 in November and who has already seen his best production years come and go, as a long list of injuries (that includes two concussions and a serious ankle injury) has started to pile up. His three games in the AHL last season, for example, were on a conditioning stint as he recovered from a lower body injury.
Bought out of his contract at the end of this past season by the Vancouver Canucks, Booth's value dropped off substantially from the $4.75M he was making earlier.
On the other hand, Booth has been relatively productive while healthy, having scored 30 goals once and hit the 20-goal mark two additional times.
He's not much of a fighter, and because he plays the left side, barring an injury to either James van Riemsdyk or Joffrey Lupul, he'll be competing with Leo Komarov for time on the third line, so it's reasonable to expect limited production.
Would the Leafs try him out on his off-wing? He could easily better David Clarkson's production from last season. In fact, Booth's 1.28 P/60 last season doesn't look half bad.
Last season, his Behind the Net numbers looked pretty good, with reasonably strong possession numbers despite mediocre zone starts.
To cap it all off, Booth can (or at least could) skate, which is a must-have for bottom-six NHL players. Witness:
Basically, the Leafs have found a guy to sign a Mason Raymond-type deal, and that's great news. Good cap hit, no real risk (the team can bury almost his entire salary in the AHL if need be), and yeah, he has a bit of upside.