Duck Tales: Where do you rank Ryan Getzlaf among NHL players?

There is no doubt whenever Anaheim Ducks’ center Ryan Getzlaf hangs up his skates, he will be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Getzlaf has accomplished everything he could on the ice. He won a Stanley Cup with the Ducks in 2007, was a member of Canada’s two gold medal winning teams in 2010 and 2014, and has a World Junior Championship on his resume.

But, where does he stack up now among current NHL players? NBC Sports’ Joe Haggerty is ranking the top-100 current NHLer’s and has Getzlaf at No. 49 on his list:

“Certainly not a youngster on this list by any means, the 35-year-old Getzlaf continues to grind it out for the Anaheim Ducks as they struggle in the Western Conference. The 6-foot-4, 221-pounder has 13 goals and 42 points in 69 games this season and has been in line with those kinds of numbers for the last five seasons or so. Getzlaf brings leadership, size, strength and tons of experience to a Ducks team that’s short on offensive talent, even if he hasn’t scored 20 goals in a season in a while and been a combined minus-35 over the last two seasons.”

Getzlaf is sandwiched between Florida Panthers’ winger Mike Hoffman, and Philadelphia Flyers’ center Claude Giroux.

The dip in production over the past couple of seasons are the result of a combination of things; age, and the drop in talent around him. Getzlaf had 73 points in 2016-17, and dropped down by 31 points over the last three years. Corey Perry was bought-out, and Rickard Rackell has slowed down as well, while Ryan Kesler is dealing with a long-term injury. Along with Getzlaf, they were the top four scorers for Anaheim three seasons ago.

Getzlaf is just 35 points shy of 1,000 for this career, a milestone he should reach at some point in 2020-21. This shows how good of a run he has had in his NHL career.

The question I have is if he will finish out next season with the Ducks. Getzlaf is beloved among Ducks fans for his stellar play over the majority of 15 seasons. With Anaheim in a rebuild, general manager Bob Murray can explore trading the 35-year-old for a picks, or prospects at next year’s trade deadline.

Getzlaf’s cap hit is $8.25 million next season, but he’s only due $3 million in actual salary. With his playoff pedigree, he could be an attractive option for a contending team who has some wiggle room with the salary cap.

Do you agree with Haggerty’s opinion that Getzlaf is still a top-50 player? And do you think Getzlaf will finish out next season with Anaheim?