Canucks' Stecher fell for April Fools' joke that had him playing forward

Anything seems possible in the ongoing attempts to give the Vancouver Canucks' offense a boost.

To wit: defenseman Troy Stecher, who's never played forward, was fully accepting of an apparent first-line assignment that later turned out to be an early April Fools' prank.

"I saw the lineup was posted (with Stecher on the wing with the Sedins), but we've had so many new personnel coming in with the deadline, and waivers, and the direction we're headed and I didn't think much of it," Stecher said, per Jason Botchford of The Province.

"I thought 'It's a different opportunity, I guess. I'll try to embrace it.'"

As it happened, the Canucks were shut out by the Kings on Friday, so playing Stecher at forward might have actually helped.

Only the last-place Colorado (152) has scored fewer goals than the Canucks this season, by the way.