NO DUCKING OUT
Getzlaf says he’s happy to still be in Anaheim with the only NHL franchise he’s ever known
Ryan Getzlaf acknowledged Tuesday he had discussions in the past few days with Ducks general manager Bob Murray that they had never had to have before. He also said he had talks with his wife, Paige, that they had never had before, too. Leave the Ducks?
Leave the only organization he has known?
Leave Southern California? Trade talks in the days leading up to the deadline Monday
never advanced far enough for Getzlaf to agree to waive the nomovement clause in his contract and accept relocation to another team, another organization, another city. He never had to envision himself playing for another team.
“So, I’m happy to still be in my Ducks uniform,” he said.
Getzlaf, 35, the longest-serving captain in Ducks history, the face of the franchise for better or worse since Teemu Selanne retired in 2014 and the last link to the Stanley Cup team in 200607, stayed put. Murray couldn’t complete the right deal, one that would net him a first-round draft pick and perhaps more.
“I have never been an active participant in the trade deadline,” Getzlaf said during a Zoom call. “I’ve always stood on the sideline and then seen where we’re at the next day. There’s a lot that goes into those decisions, moving family or moving away from family, those kinds of things.”
Getzlaf wanted to help Murray’s
rebuilding project, and if that meant accepting a trade as a rental player for the final weeks of the regular season plus whatever was to come in the playoffs, then he would do it. In the end, it didn’t happen. Another round of discussions looms for Getzlaf in the not-toodistant future, though. He will become an unrestricted free agent at season’s end. He said he would wait until the games are done to consider his next move, but it’s not a simple decision.
There are multiple factors to consider.