There’s no hiding that youth and potential are all the rage these days in fantasy circles. Realistically, it always has been, but regardless a tendency arises for us to look past the grizzled salt and pepper veterans who are producing right now. A classic case in point is Ryan Getzlaf who provided owners with a fine season in 2016-17 under Randy Carlyle.

2016-2017 Regular Season

Getzlaf posted his third 70-point or higher season in the past four years lasts year, which including an impressive 53 at even strength to highlight his dominance at five-on-five. He also cashed in on his 3:05 power-play time per game to the tune of 26 points with the man advantage.

Getz has a person who we can somewhat argue is in direct correlation to some fantastic seasons throughout his career, his name is Randy Carlyle. With Carlyle at the helm for the second time Getz was utilized in the best way for a player of his caliber, as the focal point. Also a very important element in regards to Carlyle’s coaching is he unites Corey Perry with Getz frequently as in his first stint with the Ducks as coach. 65.2% of the time this past season at even strength they were deployed in some fashion together with a rotating third piece.

Quite frankly, those two together on a line are just not fun for the opposition. They’re big they’re skilled and they’re nasty. Add the likes of Patrick Eaves and Rickard Rakell whom both possess a propensity for goal scoring and Getz is grinning ear to ear.

Fourth Quarter Summary

Something that may be overlooked is how strong a finish to the regular season Getz, which he also continued into the postseason. He was Anaheim's most dominant player throughout all three rounds. Getz finished fifth in postseason scoring, and his points per game tied the postseason leader Evgeni Malkin and were just behind Sidney Crosby. Only four of Getzlaf's 19 points came with the man advantage, too.

Simply put, Getzlaf took his game to another level. In the fourth quarter of the regular season, Eaves proved to be a big addition for Anaheim. Once he was acquired, Getzlaf really turned on the assist production with 23 in the final 18 games of the regular season.

With Eaves, the Ducks were — and still are — deep up front and hands down the best team in the faceoff dot with a 54.7 winning percentage. Eaves allows Carlyle to spread the talent across three lines, which has occasionally helped Getzlaf find advantageous in-game matchups.

Overall not alot changed in Anaheim this offseason. The core is still in tact, and the complimentary pieces such as Jakub Silfverberg and Rakell took another step in their development this past season. The defense is well rounded, and they now possess a quality duo in net with the addition of Ryan Miller to backup John Gibson.

At 32, some may be scared off by Getzlaf's age, but his torrid finish to 2016-17 suggests that he's far from finished.

2015-16 was a down season for Getzlaf, and plenty of poolies were ready to jump off the 31-year-old veteran's bandwagon. However, last season's showing proves that '15-16 was more of a blip on the radar than anything. Even with the down season, Getzlaf has remained one of the most consistent fantasy assets in the league.  

The beauty of Ryan Getzlaf is that he will still somehow find a way to be on the board beyond Round 3 of your draft because he's "old news". The fact of the matter is while youth is all the rage with the excitement of potential we should never overlook the savvy veterans, especially ones like Getzlaf who are still going to give you several more top-end seasons.