It is going to be on Ryan Getzlaf. And Corey Perry. And Ryan Kesler.

And in addition to the Big Three carrying their weight, John Gibson is going to need some big shoulders and a strong back to lift them and the rest of the Ducks when it comes to a playoff run in the Western Conference. Nothing else done at the NHL trade deadline is going to push them there.

It can be argued that the Ducks, indeed, did nothing. The acquisition of winger Patrick Eaves was their big move as their only deal made Wednesday was the pickup of American Hockey League scorers Spencer Abbott and Sam Carrick from Chicago, with both reporting to the Ducks’ AHL team in San Diego.

Abbott and Carrick were not part of the Blackhawks’ long-term picture and figure to help the red-hot Gulls more than the Ducks, who now must hold off scorching Calgary for third place in the Pacific Division while hoping to reel in second-place Edmonton.

Gibson will be critical to that going forward and the Ducks are hopeful his muscle strain will not sideline their main man in goal. Ducks general manager Bob Murray said the netminder might be ready to take some shots in two or three days but added “we are going to be very careful on him for sure.”

But another significant addition was not going to come. Murray did not have the salary cap space to work with that was there in previous years and said Wednesday that he wasn’t particularly close on another potential deal.

For one, a top prospect wasn’t going to be dealt for a pure rental. And their first-round pick in this draft – even if many consider it to be a relatively weak one – likely wasn’t going to be in play, especially with the Ducks only having five selections total.

“We did look around at certain things but I wasn’t willing to go that high,” Murray said.

Many saw Murray as in position to fill the team’s need for another impact forward given his collection of attractive defensemen, whether on the roster or those a year away from being blue-line regulars.

Murray believes Eaves, who had 21 goals with Dallas, addresses that. But the Ducks’ GM has held firm on parting with a defender for a return and that might only take place after the season, even if he can only protect three or four from the June expansion draft.

“We made the one addition with Eaves we wanted to make early on,” Murray said. “We were primarily looking to make a hockey deal today, but nothing had to be done right now.”

Scant cap room has made Murray’s preference for a “hockey deal” more difficult. It has been a season-long issue.

Not only do the Ducks have the big-money Getzlaf-Perry-Kesler troika on their books but they’ve got others on sizable contracts – Simon Despres, Clayton Stoner, Sami Vatanen, Kevin Bieksa – where the return has been nonexistent to middling at best. Murray made those signings.

So while first-place San Jose got productive winger Jannik Hansen from Vancouver and the Kings took a flier on Jarome Iginla in getting him out of Colorado, the Ducks will go with what they’ve got. Deadline day was more about who didn’t move, such as Arizona’s Radim Vrbata and Shane Doan.

A last-place team in need of a rebuild, Colorado has two long-term options in skilled Matt Duchene or captain Gabriel Landeskog but Avalanche GM Joe Sakic isn’t moving either until he gets his high asking price of a top-four defenseman, first-round pick and a top prospect.

Someone who switched teams without a trade was Joseph Cramarossa. The Ducks put the gritty rookie forward on waivers Tuesday and Vancouver claimed him. After three years in the AHL, Cramarossa impressed the team in training camp and had four goals and six assists in 49 games.

To fill the forward vacancy, the Ducks recalled Chris Wagner from San Diego. Wagner has played in 25 games with the Ducks this season, totaling three goals and six penalty minutes.

In adding Abbott and Carrick to their system, the Ducks paid the Blackhawks a mere pittance in ECHL left wing Kenton Helgesen and a 2019 seventh-round pick.

Abbott and Carrick were the top two scorers for the Rockford IceHogs of the American Hockey League. Abbott, 28, had 15 goals and 20 assists while Carrick, 25, had 11 goals and 17 assists.

Contact the writer: estephens@scng.com