VANCOUVER, B.C. – The Ducks traded Bryan Allen to the Montreal Canadiens for winger Rene Bourque on Thursday, using a potential spare defenseman to add depth among their forward ranks.

Allen, 34, was made aware of the trade at the team’s hotel after the morning skate. The veteran was slated to be scratched for the Ducks’ game against Vancouver as Francois Beauchemin returned to the lineup.

The trade has the appearance of teams moving high-salaried players whose roles had diminished. The Ducks clear out the remainder of the $3.5 million that they owed Allen, but are also taking on a $3.3 million salary cap hit with Bourque.

Bourque, 32, is owed $2.5 million this season and next to finish off a six-year, $20-million deal he signed with Calgary in 2010. Montreal put him on waivers Nov. 9 and the winger has been playing with the Canadiens’ American Hockey League team, the Hamilton Bulldogs.

Ducks general manager Bob Murray said Bourque will report to Anaheim after a work visa has been secured for the enigmatic forward. Murray said talks about Bourque resumed with Montreal GM Marc Bergevin two weeks ago after they originated at the NHL draft, where Bergevin told him Bourque had requested a trade.

The move also is about Murray sending a signal to their current crop of wingers, several of whom have underperformed.

“Just the way things have gone, I’m not particularly happy with the play of our forwards so far,” Murray said. “He’s a big body that can skate. He’s going to get an opportunity.”

With a reputation for wildly inconsistent play over his career, Bourque has scored as many as 27 goals twice. He also had eight goals to lead Montreal in the 2014 playoffs after scoring just nine times in 63 games during the regular season.

“He’s a very streaky scorer,” Murray said. “What I do like about him again is his size and his skating. He can skate. I think, at times, we’re not moving well enough up front. And I don’t know why, but we’re just not.

“He’s proven that he can also score in the playoffs if we get there. I like that aspect of him also.”

Bourque acknowledged that he had been hoping for a “change of scenery.” A former college teammate of Ducks winger Dany Heatley at Wisconsin, the 6-foot-2, 214-pound wing has 142 goals and 136 assists with Chicago, Calgary and Montreal.

His poor start to 2014-15 – zero goals, two assists and a minus-9 rating in 13 games – spelled the end to his tenure with the Canadiens. But a five-minute conversation with Murray after the trade left Bourque encouraged.

“He wants me to get going right away and be the player that I can be,” Bourque said. “Obviously I’m happy and looking forward to coming there. I’m ready to get going. I still feel I have a lot left and I think I have a lot to help the team win.”

The Ducks have struggled to find consistent production on the left wing next to Ryan Getzlaf on the top line. Patrick Maroon has yet to score a goal in 12 games and Heatley has been injured and ineffective after being signed last summer. Bourque could get a shot there.

“That’ll be up to Bruce,” Murray said. “When he gets here and has been with us a bit, I’m sure he’ll get a look there. Again, that spot seems to be a tough one to keep consistently filled.

“In the end, it’s his speed, the skating and the size that’s something I thought we needed.”

Pushed down to a seventh defenseman role when everyone is healthy, Allen had an assist and four penalty minutes in six games with the Ducks. He will make $3.5 million this season, the final year of a three-year deal he signed with the Ducks in the summer of 2012.

Allen would have been squeezed out as Murray said the returns of Ben Lovejoy (broken finger) and Mark Fistric (back) are approaching. Youngster Josh Manson has also impressed during his short time with the club.

KARLSSON ON RESERVE

The Ducks put center William Karlsson on injured reserve. Karlsson, who has been recovering from the stomach flu, won’t be eligible to return until Tuesday against Calgary. … Center Chris Wagner was sent back to Norfolk (Va.) of the American Hockey League.

Contact the writer: estephens@ocregister.com