Ducks GM Bob Murray added Bourque to put heat on underachieving forwards

The Anaheim Ducks added exiled Montreal Canadiens forward Rene Bourque in a trade on Thursday night. Bourque, who cleared waivers and spent the past week riding the bus in the AHL, will report to Anaheim where he'll get a serious opportunity to contribute, according to Ducks general manager Bob Murray.

"I’m not particularly happy with the play of our forwards so far," Murray told Eric Stephens of the Orange County Register of the motivation in adding Bourque. "He’s a big body that can skate. He’s going to get an opportunity."

The Ducks currently rank 18th among all NHL teams in goals per game and aside from the club's trio of star forwards – Ryan Kesler, Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf – no one on the roster has managed more than 10 points in Anaheim's first 20 games of the season.

Particularly, wingers Patrick Maroon and Andrew Cogliano have struggled to produce offense, combining for two goals so far (after scoring 32 combined goals last season). In Cogliano's case, most of his offensive struggles are likely the result of an unsustainably low on-ice shooting percentage – or bad luck in layman's terms – but Maroon is legitimately struggling.

In addition to the underwhelming results generated by depth wingers like Maroon and Cogliano, the Ducks have veterans like Dany Heatley and Kyle Palmieri who have battled injury and young players like Emerson Etem who have yet to deliver on their promise – although Etem's sky-high shot rate suggests he's due to find the back of the net at a more consistent rate going forward.

As for Bourque, he hasn't been a consistently productive NHL player since scoring 27 goals during the 2010-11 season with the Calgary Flames. In 13 games with the Canadiens this season, he's managed just two assists and zero goals. He doesn't drive play at five-on-five, he's not an effective volume shooter and he's signed to an expensive contract. 

So while Anaheim's forwards may not have delivered as expected in the early going this season, Bourque's very probably not the answer.