Sergei Belski – USA TODAY Sports
In Thursday night’s loss to the Anaheim Ducks, the Vancouver Canucks tried out defenseman Keith Ballard as a fourth-line winger. While Ballard had no immediate impact, it doesn’t seem the Canucks are done trying out this experiment. Given the fact that they have struggled to score goals regularly this season and just lost to a Ducks team that was sitting nearly all of its top offensive talent, trying a move like this isn’t the craziest idea. After all, the San Jose Sharks have gotten a boost from moving Brent Burns from defense to wing so moving Ballard isn’t entirely without precedent.
Ballard has managed just two assists in 36 games this season, making him one of many Canucks players to struggle this season. The team is led by Alex Burrows, who has 13 goals. That’s a surprisingly low total, considering the Canucks have Daniel Sedin and Henrik Sedin in the fold, and are used to a much bigger contribution from their defensemen. Rookie Frank Corrado has been playing on the second defense pairing with Alexander Edler, while recent call-up from the AHL Derek Joslin is playing with Andrew Alberts on the third pairing. That frees up Ballard to move up front, where he joins slumping Zack Kassian and Andrew Ebbett on the fourth line. In three seasons with the Canucks, Ballard has three goals and 16 points, a huge drop-off from the impact he used to have for the Florida Panthers and Phoenix Coyotes earlier in his career.
The Canucks tried Ballard at wing in March as well, but with little success. There’s no telling how long the experiment will last this time around, but given the recent scoring struggles it is worth a shot.
Jonathan Katje is an NHL senior writer for Rant Sports. You can follow him on Twitter or add him to your circles on Google Plus.
