Anaheim Ducks: Will Ryan Kesler play hockey next season?

With center Ryan Kesler’s health being a serious question mark these past couple of seasons, the Anaheim Ducks and Kesler must decide if he is still can and should play in the NHL for the Ducks next season.

The Anaheim Ducks and Ryan Kesler have some questions that need to be answered.

Imagine hockey is your career and you are doing what you enjoy, but you feel great pain and suffering right after each and every game is over. It takes extreme willpower to get through games. Your competitive drive and spirit keep you motivated to play as much as you can for as long as you can, so long as your joy and passion for the game remains robust.

Hockey is all you know. But your mind constantly asks you, “How long can my body and I keep doing this?”

Soon enough, there comes a time where you have to decide what you can and what you should do. That it may be time to call it a career, hang up the skates, and move on beyond hockey.

Enter Anaheim Ducks‘ forward Ryan Kesler.

Kesler’s Unparalleled Drive for Hockey

Hockey has been Kesler’s sole focus the past two decades, and his right hip has been a huge issue over the past couple of years. His family, his physicians, his trainers, his doctors, and more importantly himself have helped him push through the pain to play and perform on hockey’s grandest stage of them all, NHL.

Kesler received much-needed hip surgery to remove some bone fragments in his right hip after the Anaheim Ducks lost their 2016-2017 Western Conference Final matchup with the Nashville Predators. Needless to say, this was the start of a long and still ongoing recovery. Kesler did not play the until about midway the following season, making his debut Dec 27, 2017.

Even then, Kesler had to go through so much just to play in game after game. He often skipped practices, did acupuncture, constantly exercised off the ice. He had needle injections to release and relax his muscles. Anything you can imagine.

There was a Sports Illustrated Article released earlier this year that documents Kesler’s journey to 1,000 games, which he achieved this past season when he and the Ducks played against the Arizona Coyotes on March 5, a Ducks 3-1 win.

Thereafter, he played one more home game on March 6 against the Blues and sat out the remaining 17 games of the season.

Kesler has long said that routine things such as putting your socks on or running with his kids have become not so easy. Hell, he even had to learn how to walk again and skate again after his hip surgery.

While I think that its a strong possibility that Kesler will return to the Ducks in some capacity next season (still signed for 3 more years) after he consults with his family, doctors, and GM Bob Murray, it is also likely that he does not play hockey next season or ever again.

As Elliott Teaford reports, Kesler has two options on the table: 1) hip resurfacing, which would most likely keep him on the ice for the foreseeable future, or 2) complete hip replacement, which would be career ending.

It’s merely speculation that Kesler could play or not play, but there comes to a time when you know he has to think about how much he loves the game and how much playing could affect his life post-hockey. Because there will come a time where his post-hockey life will start and it becomes more of a question of when it will start.

Not Calling it a Career Just Yet

When I think about the investment that Kesler put into getting back to playing and returning to push the team toward the playoffs last year and playing this year, I still see that passion that burns inside of him to keep on going.

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Though he may be limited to more of a bottom-six defensive-oriented role, it would prevent him from having to play too many extensive minutes, especially with the young talent coming up from San Diego.

Personally, I think Kesler will play hockey next season, though its a matter of how many minutes and how many games he will play. He has come too far to call it a career now, and he still has that elusive Stanley Cup that he has been chasing for 15 years to serve as motivation.

At the same time, we won’t see the Kesler of old as he will probably take games off, especially on back-to-backs, in order to give his body some time to recuperate. He won’t be the dominant offensive force that he was in the first couple of years with Anaheim or in his time in Vancouver. But he will still be able to play a key veteran role on a team rapidly getting younger.

Turning 35 years old this summer, Kesler needs to decide for himself if he, his body, and his family can grind through another season of hockey. When we think about it, Kesler is a survivor. He kept going and did not let his hip complications prevent him from ever playing hockey again, back when the problem became readily apparent to fans after the 2016-2017 playoffs ended.

Next. Positive takeaways from a lost season. dark

Can Kesler get through surviving the pain he has to go through each and every game to play the game he loves? If he does choose to continue, there is no doubt the Anaheim Ducks fanbase and those close to him will be rooting for him.

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