No Senators defenceman ever really wanted to take a few shifts on the wing.
Chris Phillips did so reluctantly as a rookie. Christoph Schubert hated doing it a decade ago, even though he was an effective forward.
"I think guys enjoy it in the offseason, but I don't think it's what we're comfortable doing when our jobs are on the line and we're trying to win points," Senators blue liner Patrick Wiercioch said Thursday morning. "It's a lot more fun to play forward than D, playing pickup hockey. But I think we chose to be defenceman for a reason.