Former NHL forward David Booth may not have played in the NHL since his first and only season with the Detroit Red Wings during the 2017-18 campaign, but he's showing that he still has some pretty slick moves that made him one of the better players for the Florida Panthers during their dark years.
Booth, who played the majority of his career with the Panthers from 2006 to 2011, currently plays Down Under for the Melbourne Ice of the Australian Ice Hockey League, and recently scored a spectacular goal against the Brisbane Lightning that some fans could easily confuse for a former Pavel Datsyuk highlight.
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Not only did he execute a full Denis Savard-style spin-o-rama around Lightning forward Sacha Rapchuk after receiving a pass near the top of the slot, but then he dangled around defenseman Thomas Kiliwnik before beating goaltender Jakob Doornbos with a quick blocker-side shot.
Could this be goal of the game, week, season ? David Booth ~ 5 goals 3 assists and 8 points for the day. Speechless! pic.twitter.com/YExE7G60O9
— Melbourne Ice (@melbourneice) August 6, 2025
To add to the feat, it was part of a five-goal, three-assist performance during the game for Booth, who has now scored 25 goals with 25 assists in just 11 games.
Booth began his NHL career as the 53rd overall pick of the Panthers in the 2004 NHL Draft, and he would play parts of six seasons with the team. His game action was limited to regular season play only, as the Panthers failed to qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs during his time with the team.
Booth's best offensive output came in the 2008-09 campaign, during which he lit the lamp 31 times while adding another 29 assists.
He was then traded in the early goings of the 2011-12 NHL season to the Vancouver Canucks as part of a package to acquire Mikael Samuelsson, who had won the Stanley Cup with the Red Wings in 2008 and would later make a brief return to the team later in his career.
Following stints with the Canucks and the Toronto Maple Leafs, Booth spent time in Russia suiting up for both Admiral Vladivostok and Avangard Omsk in the KHL before returning to the NHL as a member of the Red Wings ahead of the 2017-18 NHL season, Detroit's first in the brand new Little Caesars Arena.
The Detroit native scored four goals with an assist in 28 games for the Red Wings in what would prove to be his final season in the NHL.
WPG @ DET – 12/5/2017
David Booth – 5-1 Red Wings #LGRWpic.twitter.com/TlXhk50sV8
— Red Wings Goals In Order (@RedWingsVids) March 14, 2025
In 530 career NHL games, Booth scored 124 goals with 112 assists. Since then, he's played in Norway as well as Germany's DEL2 along with another stint in the KHL.
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