Quote:
Originally Posted by Ronin
From what I'm hearing, Ballard started the year after hip surgery and never got into the groove of AV's system. They had a talk at the end of the year and Ballard is committed to improving himself for next year and proving that he deserves a top-4 spot. Not sure how much of this is true...but Ballard has shown that he can be a good player in the past. Give him a second shot. Remember how many were calling for Bieksa's head and how many of those changed their tune when they heard of his 5-year deal.
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don't get me wrong here, i want ballard to succeed. it's just that he has shortest of leashes when it comes to playing for AV. an NHL top 4 dman who played at BEST 15mins/game on our team when he averaged over 20mins/game with florida. having him start the year injury free will give us a better look but we also need AV to allow ballard to make some mistakes and keep playing.