Is Ryan Getzlaf a Good Option for the Oilers?

While going through my series of 3C targets for the Oilers, the possibility that Ryan Getzlaf might be an option always seemed a distant chance at best. Sure, he’s a Saskatchewan native who would likely be looking for a couple more chances at the Cup, but everything I had heard gave the impression that he’d be returning to Anaheim.

However, with recent word from Getzlaf’s agent that he’s planning on testing the market and that he would consider the Oilers in UFA, it’s worth analyzing whether he’d be a good fit for the Oilers.

Past Oilers “3rd Line Centers”

The gaping hole that has been the Oilers’ 3rd line center position has been a point of consternation for Oilers fans for over a decade. No matter who came in to play that role (excl. Mark Letestu in ‘16-17 and Ryan Strome ‘17-18), the Oilers could never stop the bleeding coming from their bottom-6. This has largely been the result of players being tasked with playing higher in the lineup than they ought to.

Players like Boyd Gordon, Will Acton, Anton Lander, Kyle Brodziak, and Riley Sheahan were never more than 4th line-level players or below but were relied on for much more. These players were never going to score much of their own accord anyway which meant, in order to pull even when on the ice, they needed to allow next to nothing, either. This meant they were pretty much doomed from the start.

However, the prospect of Getzlaf’s arrival would change all this. The Oilers would once again be able to deploy a player with considerable offensive skill and experience as their 3C thus opening a number of doors with respect to deployment and strategy. Of course, all this is predicated on the assumption that Getzlaf is still the skilled monster that we remember. Is he?

Getzlaf’s Numbers

In the 2020-21 season, Getzlaf potted 5 goals and 17 points in 48 games while playing 1st line minutes (2nd on the team w/ 13:27 mins/game) on a rebuilding Anaheim Ducks team. Thanks to the Duck’s abysmal powerplay, only 4 of those points came on the powerplay which…. in some respects is a positive! While on the ice, Getzlaf was outscored 22-33 (40% GF) but managed to out-chance his opposition 294-273 (51.9% SCF). These are hardly impressive numbers in isolation but, when you look at the trends surrounding the Ducks over the past 3 years, they start to make more sense.

Since last making the playoffs in 2017-18, the Ducks have gotten worse and worse culminating in an 8th place finish in the Western Division this past season. As you can imagine, any player tasked with big minutes on such a team would see his numbers suffer but Getzlaf manages to avoid the worst of it. Despite a negative goal differential relative to his team (-3.8%), he continues to out possess and out chance his opposition:

Shot attempts: +4.76/60 For, -3.24/60 Against, +3.80%
Scoring chances: +5.31/60 For, -1.45/60 Against, +6.79%

These each continue a remarkable trend where Getzlaf has never once underperformed the rest of his team in these metrics. From this we can infer that he has been and continues to be an effective play driver that controls the puck well at both ends of the ice. This is something the Oilers would absolutely benefit from adding to their bottom-6- especially with a number of talented youth en route. The Oilers CANNOT make the mistake of breaking prospects in on their bottom-6 without having sufficient talent surrounding them to support them.

Conclusion

On top of his ability to control play, Getzlaf brings a variety of non-statistical and intangible benefits that would also serve to benefit the Oilers. Size, snarl, playoff performances, right shot faceoffs (over 50% in each of the past 3 years), leadership, and whatever remains of his elite skills. He’s precisely the kind of addition the Oilers should be looking for.

To conclude, Ryan Getzlaf would be a wonderful target for the Oilers to pursue. He would constitute an excellent upgrade to the Oilers’ bottom-6 and team overall and would provide a wonderful platform upon which the Oilers can develop their next generation of forwards.

Would you want the Oilers to add Ryan Getzlaf? Let me know what you think!