‘Oilers of L.A.’ Add Old Friend : Hockey: Kings trade Elik to get former Edmonton defenseman Huddy. As expected, Nordiques draft Lindros.

Maybe Wayne Gretzky didn’t want to leave the Oilers, after all. He just didn’t want to live in Edmonton.

Yet another former Oiler was reunited with Gretzky Saturday when the Kings obtained defenseman Charlie Huddy along with center Randy Gilhen, right wing Jim Thomson and a fourth-round draft pick from the Minnesota North Stars in exchange for center Todd Elik.

Both Huddy and Gilhen are free agents, but the Kings don’t expect to have a problem signing them.

The deal comes a little more than three weeks after the Kings obtained former Oiler Jari Kurri and defenseman Jeff Chychrun in a three-way deal that cost them defenseman Steve Duchesne and center Steve Kasper.

That left the Kings potentially weak in areas the team hopes Huddy and Gilhen will strengthen.

The trade was made in Buffalo, where the NHL draft was held Saturday.

To the surprise of no one, the Quebec Nordiques, drafting first, selected Eric Lindros, an 18-year-old with enough potential to be labeled the next Gretzky.

The Kings didn’t have a first-round pick, that selection going to the Oilers in the 1988 deal for Gretzky. With their second-round choice Saturday, the 42nd pick overall, the Kings drafted center Guy Leveque, currently playing junior hockey with the Cornwall Royals.

A year ago, after Bernie Nicholls was traded to the New York Rangers, Elik was designated the heir apparent and handed the spot as second-line center. But it never worked out for the 25-year-old Elik, who had 21 goals and a total of 58 points in 74 games this past season, his first full year in the NHL.

“I’m kind of shocked,” he said after arriving home Saturday morning to learn that General Manager Rogie Vachon had called with the bad news. “I feel sad. I’m really an emotional kind of guy.

“It took three guys and a draft pick to make the trade and I’ve got to be happy about that.”

At one point in midseason, Coach Tom Webster temporarily removed Elik from the lineup, unhappy with his production, and replaced him with Bob Kudelski, who will now take Elik’s spot.

“I thought they wanted more out of me,” Elik said, “and I tried to do that.”

But the Kurri trade necessitated further moves.

So, two months after being eliminated from the playoffs by Edmonton, the Kings have a drastically different look. The first line will now consist of Gretzky, Kurri and Tomas Sandstrom. The second line will have Kudelski at center with Luc Robitaille on one wing and Tony Granato on the other. That will leave John McIntyre to take Kasper’s place as center of the checking line and perhaps Gilhen, a 28-year-old German and a four-year NHL veteran, to center the fourth line. This would give the Kings two scoring lines and two checking lines.

The key figure in all this is Kudelski, 27, who in his second full season with the Kings did everything but play defenseman and goaltender. When Sandstrom got hurt, Kudelski played a wing alongside Gretzky. When Elik was out, Kudelski moved to center. In 72 games, he had 23 goals and a total of 36 points.

Kudelski suffered a serious knee injury in the Oiler series but is expected to be ready by training camp.

In Huddy, the Kings are getting experience they desperately need at the blue line. An 11-year veteran, Huddy, 32, played on all five of the Oilers’ Stanley Cup winners.

Huddy, Gilhen and Thomson all came to the North Stars in last month’s expansion draft, Thomson from the Kings, Gilhen from the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Leveque, 18, is a 5-foot-11, 165-pounder who had 41 goals and a total of 93 points last season, his second in junior hockey.

Also taken by the Kings in Saturday’s draft were:

Fourth round--Left wing Keith Redmond, a 6-3, 205-pound, 18-year-old sophomore out of Bowling Green. In 35 games last season, he had a goal and three assists. Also, defenseman Alexei Zhitnik, a 5-11, 180-pound, 18-year-old from Sokol Kiev in the Soviet League. In 40 games, he had a goal, four assists and 46 penalty minutes.

Fifth round--Goaltender Pauli Jaks, a 6-foot, 191-pound, 18-year-old from Ambri Piotta of the Swiss League. In 22 games, he had a 4.81 goals-against average.

Sixth round--Center Brett Seguin, a 5-9, 199-pound, 18-year-old from Ottawa in the Ontario Hockey League. In 63 games, he had 24 goals and 111 points along with 88 penalty minutes.

Seventh round--Center Kelly Fairchild, a 5-11, 180-pound, 18-year-old who played at Grand Rapids High in Minnesota last season. In 28 games, he had 12 goals and 17 assists.

Ninth round--Goaltender Craig Brown, a 5-11, 170-pound, 19-year-old sophomore at Western Michigan University. In 33 games, he was 17-13-2 with a 3.51 goals-against average.

10th round--Defenseman Mattias Olsson, a 6-1, 183-pound, 20-year-old from Farjestad in the Swedish League. In 36 games, he had three goals, seven assists and 22 penalty minutes.

11th round--Goaltender Andre Bouliane, a 5-10, 165-pound, 19-year-old from College Francais of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. In 34 games, he was 13-16-3 with a 3.96 goals-against average.

12th round--Defenseman Michael Gaul, a 6-1, 197-pound, 18-year-old from St. Lawrence University of the ECAC League. In 31 games, he had one goal and four assists.

King Notes

The Kings have offered termination contracts to eight players: wing John Tonelli, defensemen Tim Watters, Bob Halkidis, Petr Prajsler, Rick Hayward, Eric Ricard, wing Ross Wilson and center Micah Aivazoff. . . . It was made plain last month when Tonelli was left unprotected in the expansion draft that he wouldn’t be back. This contract is a mere formality to enable the Kings to buy him out.

Minnesota also made a three-way swap of defensemen with the Vancouver Canucks and the New York Islanders, picking up Craig Ludwig from New York and sending Dave Babych, acquired from the Hartford Whalers in the expansion draft, to Vancouver. The Canucks completed the deal by sending Tom Kurvers to the Islanders. . . . The Washington Capitals acquired the third pick in the second round, 25th overall, by sending defenseman Mikhail Tatarinov to Quebec.