The Anaheim Ducks are on the outside looking in on the playoff picture, currently sitting 10 points behind the Red Wings for the 8th and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. To me, that says their season is pretty much left to die, but miracles have happened. They'll need a doozy of a miracle to happen now if both Ryan Getzlaf and Teemu Selanne cannot go on Wednesday night, when the Ducks host the Blackhawks.
Both Getzlaf and Selanne underwent MRIs on Monday for different injuries; Getzlaf had a sprained ankle looked at, while Selanne had a shoulder sprain scanned. Both players had their tests come back negative, but that doesn't mean they are still hurting. Both players are considered day-to-day and will likely be re-evaluated on Tuesday and be a game-time decision on Wednesday night. Getzlaf currently leads the Ducks in pool scoring with 66 points in 62 games for the Ducks, ranking him 28th on the season amongst all players. Selanne currently stands at 33 points in 42 games, ranking him 202nd in pool scoring in the league, which is a ways down from his 107th spot, where he finished in 2009. There's no question that their offense will be missed, especially against a team like Chicago, which is among the league leaders in offense going into Wednesday's game.
Getzlaf is the only one of the two that has any meaning to the Draft at the moment and he belongs to our leader, Leon, who holds a pretty good lead going into Tuesday's action. Leon currently leads by 27 points, so he can handle Getzlaf missing out on a few games, but likely no more than that. Getzlaf is tied for the team lead among forwards in scoring, so he is a intregal piece to winning the pool. If Getzlaf, for some reason, cannot continue through the last four weeks of the season, that could spell real trouble for Leon down the stretch.
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