Anaheim Ducks center Ryan Getzlaf is week to week with a lower-body injury, the team said Friday. He suffered the injury while checking Los Angeles winger Alex Iafallo in the first period of Tuesday’s shootout win over the Kings.
Getzlaf missed his first game of the season Wednesday against the Vegas Golden Knights, with Sam Steel replacing him on the top line. This season, Getzlaf has 20 points to rank second on the Ducks in what has been a bounce-back season. Nineteen of those points are assists that put him in a tie for eighth in the NHL.
Anaheim will play without its 36-year-old captain in its home game Friday night against Calgary and may not have him for the entirety of a five-game road trip that begins Monday at Washington.
Entering Friday night’s action with a 13-8-3 record and in third place in the Pacific Division, the Ducks are hoping that their second-leading scorer can respond sooner to treatment on his injury. At the moment, they will not put Getzlaf on injured reserve but could revisit that decision if the injury requires more time to heal.
“We always have hope,” Anaheim coach Dallas Eakins said. “He’s week to week. Last time I looked a week is seven days. You’re always hopeful that the guy is going to respond well to treatment and it’s not as bad as we thought it was. All those things. But it’s always the reality if you want to put a timetable on it. There never really is one. He’ll be ready to play when he’s ready to play.
“But from at least the early indicator from my eyes, he’s in there right now working out. He’s much further along than when he scared the death out of me after that game the other night. We’ll see where it goes. I am hoping on the optimistic side right now. And then I’m also hoping that I’m not wrong.”
(Photo: Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)
What does this mean for Getzlaf and his season?
Eric Stephens, Ducks beat writer: The injury puts on hold a developing renaissance season for the 36-year-old, who suffered through a miserable 2020-21 campaign where he had a career-low 17 points in 48 games. Not only has Getzlaf become Anaheim’s all-time leading scorer but he became the first player in franchise history and seventh active NHL player to reach the 1,000-point mark. And this season hasn’t only been about accomplishing milestones.
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How will the Ducks adapt to Getzlaf’s absence?
Stephens: The Ducks will use Steel in Getzlaf’s spot on the top line. Steel will center Adam Henrique and top goal scorer and point producer Troy Terry.
It is a big opportunity for the 23-year-old Steel, a 2020 first-round pick who has four goals and an assist in 17 games. It has been a challenge for Steel to live up to the early promise he showed when he initially came up from the American Hockey League three years ago as he has been demoted to the fourth line and moved to left wing at times.