Avalanche defenseman Nick Holden will shift to a forward’s role Thursday for a game at Calgary against the Flames — in part out of necessity and in part as punishment.
The Avs, rattled by injuries in recent games, have only 11 proper forwards on their roster, with an extra, seventh defenseman.
So Colorado coach Patrick Roy told Holden — who’s struggled on the Avs’ third defensive unit this season — to switch his position.
“I’ll play as hard as a I can. But obviously I’m being put on forward just because my game is not where it needs to be on D,” Holden said Wednesday after skating in practice on a fourth line with Michael Sgarbossa and Cody McLeod.
Holden, who’s played in each of the Avs’ 25 games this season, has a team-worst minus-16 mark.
“It’s kind of an injury thing. But I know I need to be much, much better on defense,” Holden said. “I’ll work hard and try to get back in the lineup at D.”
The Avs have two defensemen, Brad Stuart and Ryan Wilson, on injured reserve. So they recently recalled defenseman Karl Stollery from the minor-league Lake Erie Monsters and have turned Zach Redmond, often a healthy scratch early in the season, into a regular.
The move left Holden on the outs.
“It’s not an easy stretch for him right now. He did not have the start we were expecting,” Roy said. “And with the situation with our forwards, we think it will be good for Nick to play as a forward. We’ll see how it goes.”
Roy said he is considering a third line of Tomas Vincour, Max Talbot and Daniel Briere against Calgary, with a Holden-Sgarbossa-McLeod fourth line.
“It’ll be good because I can just focus on simple plays and basic stuff,” Holden said. “Get in, hit some guys, play hard and forget about everything else.”
Nick Groke: ngroke@denverpost.com or twitter.com/nickgroke
