It started with the hiring of Pat Verbeek as new GM and kicked into full gear only 24 hours ago. Ryan Getzlaf, a 17-year veteran all with the Ducks and their captain since 2010 announced that at the end of the season he will be officially retiring. Getzlaf who holds several Ducks records and truly ushered in the next wave of great Ducks hockey following franchise icons Teemu Selanne, Scott Niedermayer and J.S Giguere. Getzlaf’s skates will be nearly impossible to fill but we here at PoaF looked at who should be rewarded with the next captain for the Anaheim Ducks.
TJ Watson
Ryan Getzlaf is the 2nd best captain behind Paul Kariya (PK9) in the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim/Anaheim Ducks franchise. He played lights out in the 2007 Stanley Cup Finals, reached 1000 points in his career and led one of if not the most indelible comebacks in playoff history. To me he’s a Hall of Famer and his number should be retired to the Honda Center rafters in short order.
As for who should be the new captain. I think it should be like the Vegas Golden Knights operate, go with Cam Fowler and Adam Henrique as the two Assistant Captains. I think the young guys, (Troy Terry, Trevor Zegras and Jamie Drysdale) need more time but in the future, they’ll be ready to take on the mantle. I see Zegras and Terry as the new Selanne and Kariya, they vibe off each other like the Finnish Flash and PK9 did way back when.