What to do with Keith Ballard

[Kumquats]

Yeah I agree 100%.

I remember he was a really solid player in Florida, I thaught he could really add alot, then when we got him, I looked into him again and became super excited.

Like you I hope he stays healthy, cause I think as long as he does he will show what he can bring.

[Smashian Kassian]

I remember a game where we were playing Phoenix in 2007, Ballard hit who I thought was Pyatt into the board really hard, but nhl.com is saying it was Burrows. Anyways, Ballard immediately skates behind his net on the right side near the board to retrieve the puck, I see Josh Green skating hard from the other side and start yelling at my tv, "don't do it!" Green bounces off Ballard and had to be helped off the ice. "I told you not to do it." Was trying to find how long he was out for but only came across this:

This was a thread asking what's going on with Green:

/topic/149544-josh-green/">http://forum.canucks...544-josh-green/

lol @ the comment by nonfiction: I heard he was traded to the minors for some guy named Edler.

Some guy named Edler.

Oh, there was video of the hits on youtube a few years ago but I can't find it now.

[ilovekevinbieksa]

I think he would be a great 3rd line d-man. $4 mill is way too much for him when he puts up 7 points in 47 games. If we happen to get Doan, it'd be best is we trade ballard to free up cap space.

[Aladeen]

I think Ballard is going to have a great bounce back year this season and after the new CBA negotiations and if the cap continues to rise, I think his contract will end up looking pretty damn good. I think we should keep him because to acquire a Dman of his skill level to replace him will cost a buttload of assets.

[CHIPS]

I have seen Ballard making tons of defensive mistakes this past season. Some may say he is high risk-high reward. But all I see are the risks and no rewards.

At this point I am willing to trade him away for a 7th round pick. Then I will sign Jurcina for $1.1m and Foster for $1.3m. 2 better players together for half the price of Ballard.

[Canada Hockey Place]

I say shop him.

Here's why:

1) There is a market for D.

2) Off season allows the team to gel. Unlike the TDL.

3) He deserves to play more but the time just isn't there. Playing bottom minutes until someone gets hurt and then expecting him to perform based on his salary is not fair.

[Tearloch7]

I say shop him.

Here's why:

1) There is a market for D.

2) Off season allows the team to gel. Unlike the TDL.

3) He deserves to play more but the time just isn't there. Playing bottom minutes until someone gets hurt and then expecting him to perform based on his salary is not fair.

[Bodee]

I have seen Ballard making tons of defensive mistakes this past season. Some may say he is high risk-high reward. But all I see are the risks and no rewards.

At this point I am willing to trade him away for a 7th round pick. Then I will sign Jurcina for $1.1m and Foster for $1.3m. 2 better players together for half the price of Ballard.

[Canada Hockey Place]

Funny, I thought the same about Bieksa and Edler.

He is one of the few on our team with any pushback.

We have lost Rome. Hamhuis, Edler and Tanev don't dance and Bieksa seems to ration himself or waits on losing his temper, Garrison?.........who knows. Ballard was probably one of our best in the playoffs (such as they were) and I don't think we can afford to lose any more like like him.

[Dr. Wulfgang]

Give him a chance. A legit chance that has him actually playing consistent minutes, then if by the trade deadline he hasn't proven himself we can ship him off. Depending on his play it could be a shorter stay than the trade deadline, nevertheless he has been hiding in the system for too long not to at least get a decent chance, especially with the price we are paying him. That's an easy million.

[Kryten]

This was obviously during the cup run but clearly shows Ballard has his teammate's back. His gloves were off before even bothering to chirp unlike 99% of this team. Ballard played about half of the season though, too bad he wasn't on the ice for the BS when we needed him to be because make no bones about it, Ballard is willing to put a bruisin' on any opponent who oversteps their bounds. I would rather have those deadly hips on our team than on our opponent's team.

I will also add that anyone who claims that Ballard has been given any kind of opportunity to prove what he is capable of on the powerplay either has a poor memory of events or is purposefully muddying the issue with false facts. Ballard has only played on the powerplay a handful of times, the majority of his total PP mins (23:19 in 112 games) are from stepping onto the ice in relief of the PP unit before the penalty has expired. Ballard has averaged 12 seconds a game of PP time in each of the two seasons he has played for us. To put that into perspective, the season before Ballard was acquired (2009-2010), Aaron Rome played 19:33 in 49 games for an average of 23 seconds that year. Not bad for a rookie with no offensive acumen at that time.

So no, despite some of the arguments here, Ballard has not been given a powerplay opportunity. I do believe without a doubt that Hamhuis and Edler are ahead of him on the depth chart so he does belong on the third pairing; however, if either of those two are to suffer injury or find themselves not playing well, Ballard deserves the opportunity to step up.

Unlike some of the opinions I have heard, I believe that Ballard is actually quite adept at keeping the puck in the opposing zone and is superior at pinching than either Bieksa or Edler. As far as playing style goes, I would love to see Ballard be Garrison's set-up man on the PP, I think the two of them would be deadly. What are Ballard's offensive strengths: speed, puck carrying, and passing. Sounds like a perfect set-up man to me, not to mention I would be far more comfortable with Ballard setting up the PP by carrying the puck up the ice with speed than I have been with Edler or Bieksa.

So I am obviously in the "keep Ballard a Nuck camp". This link is to a topic I started which I think explains why Ballard has been treated the way he has been treated: fairly yet not entirely fairly either. As someone who has played defence his entire life up to the junior level, I believe that Ballard has the goods.

/topic/330024-canucks-puck-possession-or-transition-team/page__p__10658966#entry10658966">http://forum.canucks...6#entry10658966

[higgyfan]

There's nobody on the farm team that is better. If we trade him, then we have Alberts with Tanev. Who steps in if there is an injury? Perhaps we can get a D in the Luongo trade, but we still need a 2nd line winger. I was surprised when Gillis let Rome go (yeah, I know) as he was a great 'filler'. Maybe he thinks Sauve or Connaugton are ready? It sure looks like our D depth is pretty thin right now. I think we should keep him and focus on the 2nd line winger.

[nuck nit]

This was obviously during the cup run but clearly shows Ballard has his teammate's back. His gloves were off before even bothering to chirp unlike 99% of this team. Ballard played about half of the season though, too bad he wasn't on the ice for the BS when we needed him to be because make no bones about it, Ballard is willing to put a bruisin' on any opponent who oversteps their bounds.

Agreed as that is the proven record.

Team mate,not just a chirper.

Fights,hits hard,covers your back, takes the coaches nonsense and still comes up swinging when given half an opportunity to do so.

Too bad the guys that are bigger and stronger on this team do not have the guts to play like Ballard does.

[EmployeeoftheMonth]

Sell him for meat

[TheCammer]

Exactly Baggins, Exactly.

[Canuck Surfer]

Your argument as it relates to Raymond is valid.

Its not with Ballard / Tanev as a pairing.

Hate to break to you > Tanev is too small for the game he plays. He is good enough talent wise to be a shut down D, which is why AV tried him for game 1 with Hammer. Tanev got muscled off the puck against any decent match up. His strength is position play and moving the puck. So he eats up playing against 3rd and 4th lines cuz he gets to the puck and gets it out. That made for a great 3rd pair with Ballard.

It would also make him a good pair with Edler in key offensive situations, where we can use his passing.

Yes and Raymond definetly falls under the consistent category......

Ballard fell under that category in the playoffs (along with CT8) and Bieksa and Edler still got more playing time then Ballard and Tanev.

I don't really see that part of your argument.

[Canuck Surfer]

Ballard will not be traded unless / until Edler is re-signed, full stop!

And I for one (of a few) like the possibility of a Ballard / Garrison pairing. It looks a great combination of speed and size, defense and risk taking, passing and a big shot. For my money I'm trying to use Edler and Tanev as an offensive pairing, then Hammer/Juice and Ballard/Garrison both form formidable two way possibilities.

I say shop him.

Here's why:

1) There is a market for D.

2) Off season allows the team to gel. Unlike the TDL.

3) He deserves to play more but the time just isn't there. Playing bottom minutes until someone gets hurt and then expecting him to perform based on his salary is not fair.

[hockeyking]

Bertuzzi initiated the fight, Ballard defended himself.

Pavelksi ran Ballard into the boards, Ballard went after him.

Perry slashed Ballard, Ballard went after him.

There's nothing wrong with my vision. You on the other hand see what you want to see. None of those fights had anything to do with defending team mates.

[Smashian Kassian]

Your argument as it relates to Raymond is valid.

Its not with Ballard / Tanev as a pairing.

Hate to break to you > Tanev is too small for the game he plays. He is good enough talent wise to be a shut down D, which is why AV tried him for game 1 with Hammer. Tanev got muscled off the puck against any decent match up. His strength is position play and moving the puck. So he eats up playing against 3rd and 4th lines cuz he gets to the puck and gets it out. That made for a great 3rd pair with Ballard.

It would also make him a good pair with Edler in key offensive situations, where we can use his passing.

[nuck nit]

The Orca Defence Corp: Analyzing the Vancouver Canucks’ Blueline

by Daniel Schöpf on July 21, 2012.

With the Shea Weber dream over, the off-season must go on for the Vancouver Canucks. Seeing home-town BC-boy Weber in a Canucks’ uniform would have been an amazing sight for Canucks fans but it always seemed like more of a pipe dream than a possibility, considering Weber’s cap hit and expected salary.

The Canucks’ defensive group as it stands consists of:

Kevin Bieksa-31 years old-Right

Dan Hamhuis-29 years old-Left

Alex Edler-26 years old-Left

Jason Garrison-27 years old-Left or Right

Keith Ballard-29 years old-Left

Chris Tanev-22 years old-Right

Andrew Alberts-31 years old-Left

In the system:

Yann Sauve-22 years old-Left

Kevin Connauton-22 years old-Left

Derek Joslin-25 years old-Left

Patrick Mullen-26 years old-Right

From the team that won their second straight Presidents’ trophy last season, the Canucks have lost veteran Sami Salo, signed to a 2 year, $3.75 million per year deal with the Tampa Bay Lightning and depth defenseman Aaron Rome, signed by the Dallas Stars. The only top 6 defensive acquisition remains BC-born Jason Garrison, signed off free agency after a record-breaking season for the Florida Panthers in 2011/12.

If the name Sami Salo could be added to the above list, most fans would say that the Canucks, with 8 NHL ready defenseman, would have enough depth on the blueline for another season. Unfortunately, the team was unwilling to give Salo the 2 year deal forcing the 37-year-old to sign in Tampa and leave the club he has played for since 2002/3.

While the loss of Salo will be a blow for the Vancouver team, a top 4 defensive unit of Kevin Bieksa, Dan Hamhuis, Alex Edler and the newly acquired Jason Garrison looks as good as any top 4 group currently in the NHL today. While the Canucks do not have a franchise defenseman such as Shea Weber or Zdeno Chara, they do have a solid top four which in true Mike Gillis style, not one player has a cap hit over $4.6 million a season.

Whether Hamhuis and Bieksa stay as the top pairing remains to be seen but it seems the combination of left sided defenseman Alex Edler and Jason Garrison, who has the ability to play both left and right, will at least start the season on the same line. Edler and Garrison will both be expected to lead the defensive point production and see plenty of power-play time, with both coming off record points seasons, Edler registering 11 goals and 49 points and Garrison with 16 goals and 33 points last regular season.

While the top 4 defenseman look to be set, the bottom pairing is the cause of most discussion in Vancouver hockey circles. Keith Ballard, Chris Tanev and Andrew Alberts will be battling for the final 2 places with Ballard and Tanev expected to pair the majority of games due to playing well together in the past.

Keith Ballard (Icon SMI)

Keith Ballard was acquired at the 2010 NHL Entry Draft and has had an up-and-down time in Vancouver so far. First he fell out-of-favor with Alain Vigneault, seeing some press box time and often being left out of the line-up during the 2010/11 playoffs. Ballard bounced back with a good start to the 2011/12 campaign until being placed onto the long-term injury list after a concussion in early February.

Ballard returned to action in the final games of the Canucks’ season and was arguably the best Vancouver defenseman during the LA Kings first round finals series loss. The biggest issue hanging over the head of Ballard since joining Vancouver has been the justification of his $4.2 million cap hit, an issue which is slowly becoming less relevant with the large contracts signed during this summer’s free agency.

Chris Tanev is the type of player every team could benefit from. Overlooked at the draft, Tanev was signed by the Canucks in May 2010 after playing for the RIT Tigers college team. Tanev was a consistent performer on the ice for the Manitoba Moose, known as a very smart hockey player who remains steady under pressure. Tanev has now played a total of 54 regular season games and 10 playoff games for the Canucks and while his offensive game still needs some seasoning, he remains a viable option for a full-time Canucks role next season.

Andrew Alberts has been with the Canucks since March 2010 and has been used sparingly, playing around 40-50 games a season and used mainly against teams that are physical, putting his 6’5, 220 pound frame to good use. Alberts will be expected to see both ice and press box time this season as the big defenseman will not likely to be sent down to the Chicago Wolves but play when teams such as the Boston Bruins come to town and when injuries occur.

The loss of Salo and Rome also gives the opportunity for a roster spot to up-and-coming Wolves defensemen Yann Sauve and Kevin Connauton. Both have performed well in the AHL, Sauve already called up to the Canucks for 5 games in 2010/11 and Connauton arguably the club’s best defensive prospect, registering 33 points in 73 games for the Wolves last season.

While the Canucks’ defence looks solid and has some depth, fans in Vancouver know all too well that an injury or two can change things very quickly. While the current free agent pool of defenseman is small, the best option for the Canucks to add one more player to the defensive ranks may come through the inevitable trade of Roberto Luongo. There has recently been talk that Dale Tallon, GM of the Florida Panthers may be willing to part with his 3rd overall draft pick from 2010, Erik Gudbranson.

If the Canucks could acquire a player such as Gudbranson through a Luongo trade, this would solidify the Canucks’ blueline for not only next season but years to come. The 6’3, 200 pound defenseman is just the right-sided player the team needs to build from in the future, with a great opportunity to become the franchise player Vancouver has been looking for. While still a long-shot, a Luongo for Gudbranson trade does not seem so far-fetched, with the Panthers getting a franchise goaltender in return for the highly-touted player.

Time will tell for the Canucks and while the current defensive group has the skill to get the job done, look for GM Mike Gillis to pull another joker out of his magician’s hat before the end of summer.

Daniel Schöpf

Born in Switzerland, live in BC. Sports Writer for the Vancouver Canucks and Swiss Hockey. Follow me on Twitter- @HockeyWest