Melrose Is in Good Company : Kings: His revised contract--$600,000 for next season--puts him among the top five NHL coaches.

The first of the Kings to get a significant financial benefit from the team’s improbable run to the Stanley Cup final is their coach, Barry Melrose.

His revised contract puts him among the league’s five highest-paid coaches. Melrose, who joined the league last season with the top contract for an NHL rookie coach, a four-year deal at $250,000 a year, will more than double his base salary next season, making close to $600,000.

By the end of the contract, it is believed, Melrose’s salary might be about $800,000, in the neighborhood of the league’s two highest-paid coaches--the New York Rangers’ Mike Keenan and Detroit’s Scotty Bowman.

Neither Melrose nor his agent, Carlos Sosa of Seattle, would comment on the specifics of the contract, but both alluded to the revisions.

“The extension and security were the key to the deal,” Sosa said. “The Kings have been great about this. (Owner Bruce) McNalland (President) Roy Mlakar have been excellent and handled it in the classy way they have always handled everything.

“They didn’t have to do anything. They had all the leverage when we approached them.”

Said Melrose, who turned 37 last week: “They didn’t have to do it. When I signed a contract, they honored it and I honored it. It was a very nice thing for them to do. It’s a reward--a feeling of being wanted and being rewarded.

“I love it here and I never want to leave. And I think it sends a message to the players (about continuity).”

The rapid progression in NHL coaches’ salaries started when the Rangers failed to make the playoffs. Needing to make a dramatic move, they hired Keenan and gave him a five-year contract that averages $900,000.

Keenan never has coached a team to a Stanley Cup, although his teams reached the finals twice in Philadelphia and once in Chicago. Bowman, who has numerous Stanley Cups in his resume, was then hired in Detroit in June, signing a two-year deal with a base salary of $800,000 per season and a signing bonus of $200,000.

Still working on a new deal is the New York Islanders’ Al Arbour, who reportedly made $350,000 last season. And Montreal General Manager Serge Savard said that Coach Jacques Demers will be getting a revised deal after leading the Canadiens to the Stanley Cup.

King Notes

The Kings made Rick Dudley their director of pro scouting, a new position. Dudley, 43, most recently coached San Diego of the International Hockey League, leading the Gulls to the Turner Cup final before losing to Ft. Wayne. Dudley, who coached the Buffalo Sabres from 1989-91, will work with Bob Owen, the Kings’ director of player personnel and development.