It's about Ryan Kesler. It's about the Canucks second line.
Even if Kesler himself doesn't think so.
Having wrapped his first full week back in the lineup Saturday after hip surgery in a 3-2 overtime victory against the Minnesota Wild, Kesler dismissed the implication he's to credit for any particular team progression.
"I don't think it has much to do with it," Kesler said. "I think we're just starting to put a full 60 minutes back on the ice and it just feels good for me to be back in the lineup."
Feels good for management, too.
Perhaps so much so that the club is building its second line around the Michigan-born centre. Roughly 35 minutes after Saturday's rare afternoon game, General Manager Mike Gillis announced a trade with the Florida Panthers, swapping Mikael Samuelsson and Marco Sturm for David Booth and Steve Reinprecht, as well as a third round draft pick.
The inspiration behind the last-minute trade is Ryan Kesler.
Gillis said the trade-six months in the making-was designed to acquire the younger, faster Booth, also from Michigan, to compliment Kesler and enhance the Canucks second line.
"[Booth] played youth hockey growing up with Ryan Kesler. Ryan knows him very well," Gillis said. "He's scored over 30 goals in the league before and he's 26 years old. We think if we can get him here and get him moving in the right direction, he'll embrace it."
Gillis credited additional similarities between Booth and Kesler, same-state breeding aside. Both, he said, are fast players with similar on-ice styles that, when combined, should make for the second line eureka the club has been looking for.
If successful, this experiment, which follows a string of second-line changes, would be an integral force that would put opposing teams back on edge against the second line. Much like what Kesler does for the team now, said head coach Alain Vigneault.
"The other team has obviously two offensive lines that they've got to take care of instead of just that of the twins. So, with [Kesler] back in the lineup it really helps our group," Vigneault said.
Booth is expected to play on the all-American line comprised of Kesler and Chris Higgins in Tuesday's game against the Edmonton Oilers.
Reinprecht will play with the Chicago Wolves, the Canucks' farm team.
Last season, Booth had 23 goals, 40 points and was minus-31 with the Panthers.
"He was not playing very much," Gillis said. "Our hope is that we can get him into this environment and get him back to the level he's accustom to. He's a very determined guy."
Gillis continued, "This should give us an opportunity to get a little more balanced."
Twitter: @kimiyasho
