After three years, he was traded to the Florida Panthers, where he spent two seasons before being dealt to Vancouver at the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.

[2][3] In the post-season, he helped the Lancers win the Clark Cup as league champions,[1] scoring seven points in ten playoff games.

He joined a defensive corps in Minnesota that included future NHL players Jordan Leopold and Paul Martin.

Ballard scored the first goal of the NCAA final against the Maine Black Bears, helping Minnesota to a 4–3 win in overtime.

[6][7] The following year, Ballard recorded a college career-high 41 points over 45 games, fourth among NCAA defensemen and third in team scoring.

[4] He was named a WCHA All-Academic and University of Minnesota Scholar Athlete for combined performance with the Golden Gophers and in classes.

[13] Ballard indicated he would only leave the University of Minnesota if he was offered the maximum allowable contract for a rookie, as designated by the collective bargaining agreement of the time, which he received.

[25] Upon trading for Ballard, Florida head coach Jacques Martin heralded him as the club's number-two defenseman, behind Jay Bouwmeester.

The following season, on November 30, 2009, Ballard was involved in an on-ice incident that injured his own teammate, goaltender Tomáš Vokoun.

After being on the ice for a goal during a game against the Atlanta Thrashers, Ballard aimed to smash his stick in frustration against the post and mistakenly hit Vokoun in the mask.

Vokoun was taken from the ice on a stretcher and suffered a cut on his ear that required stitches;[27] he missed two games before returning to the lineup.

[31] After completing the campaign, he underwent the second hip surgery of his career in May 2010 to repair a stress fracture and remove a cyst.

[32] After spending two months of the off-season on crutches while recovering from surgery, he reported to the Canucks' training camp, but struggled in the pre-season.

[31] Four games into the regular season, he suffered a concussion after being hit into the boards by Los Angeles Kings forward Brad Richardson on October 16, 2010.

[35] Several months later, Ballard suffered a sprained medial collateral ligament (MCL) in his right knee during a game against the Ottawa Senators on February 7, 2011.

The injury resulted from opposing forward Milan Michalek tripping him from behind, which Canucks general manager Mike Gillis pointed out did not occur anywhere near the puck, alluding to the play as illegal and disrespectable.

Entering the playoffs as the first seed in the West, the Canucks advanced past the Chicago Blackhawks, Nashville Predators and San Jose Sharks to qualify for the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals.

Playing only one game of the final two rounds, he dropped in the depth chart behind Aaron Rome and rookie Chris Tanev.

[40] In late March, Vancouver suffered several injuries up front, and to help fill the void, Ballard returned to the line-up as a forward.

[41][42] Though he was healthy by the playoffs, Vancouver opted to play Alberts and rookie Frank Corrado in their first round elimination to San Jose.

[46] In his second season with the Wild, Ballard was hit by the New York Islanders' Matt Martin after making a pass.

As a free agent in the 2015 off-season, Ballard was still suffering from post-concussion syndrome and opted to end his professional career to pursue studies in sport science at the University of Minnesota.

[51] Following his third year with the Minnesota Golden Gophers, Ballard debuted with the United States men's team for the 2004 World Championships in the Czech Republic.

He recorded an international career-high three assists at the 2007 tournament in Russia as the United States were eliminated in a 5–4 shootout loss to Finland in the quarter-final.

[57] Ballard made his second bronze medal game appearance with the United States at the 2009 IIHF World Championship in Switzerland, but lost to Sweden by a 4–2 score.

[66] Offensively, Ballard is noted as a quick and smooth skater, making him able to start plays from the defensive zone.

[68] Ballard left home following his sophomore year of high school to pursue his hockey career with the U.S. National Development Team in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

[4] He was a multi-sport athlete during high school, having earned an All-Conference selection as a fullback and linebacker playing football and finishing as Conference championship runner-up as a golfer.