Anaheim Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf stayed with his rebuilding club through the deadline despite being a pending unrestricted free agent. However, there were no shortage of suitors for the veteran center.
One of them, apparently, was the Vegas Golden Knights.
"I don't want to dig too much into the details of everything," Getzlaf said Tuesday, according to The Athletic's Eric Stephens. "(General manager Bob Murray) was approached by a few different teams. Vegas, being one of them, I think, at some point. Were they part of the mix? I'm sure. They're a contender in our division."
Getzlaf's contract contains a full no-movement clause, per CapFriendly, so he would've controlled his own destiny in any deal.
The 35-year-old was only willing to facilitate a move out of Anaheim if the Ducks could get something significant in return, Murray said Monday, according to The Associated Press' Greg Beacham.
"It wasn't there," Murray said. "He is all about the organization, whatever is best for us."
The Golden Knights are a legitimate Stanley Cup contender, but if they have a weakness, it's down the middle of the ice. Chandler Stephenson and William Karlsson are the club's top two pivots, while Cody Glass, Tomas Nosek, and Nicolas Roy round out the team's bottom-six center options.
Getzlaf is one of the best centers of his generation, ranking sixth in points at his position since entering the league in 2005-06. He's having the worst season of his career, though, as he's registered just three goals and 12 assists in 37 contests. The Ducks rank dead last in the league in goals.
It's possible Getzlaf's contract would've posed an issue in a potential trade. Vegas has just $153,816 in current space, and Getzlaf is in the final year of an eight-year contract carrying an annual cap hit of $8.25 million.
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