Kings Send Carson on Road Again : Hockey: This time it’s to Vancouver, for Ward and a draft choice. Red Wings are 6-3 winners.

Little-used King center Jimmy Carson left Los Angeles for the second time in his NHL career when he was traded to the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday for struggling forward Dixon Ward and a draft choice.

Several hours later, the Kings lost to Detroit, 6-3, at the Forum before a sellout crowd of 16,005.

This time, the circumstances surrounding the trade of Carson were drastically different. In 1988, he went to Edmonton in the blockbuster Wayne Gretzky deal, and the Kings believed they were trading away a budding superstar. He was coming off a 55-goal season.

This season, Carson has four goals and 11 points in 25 games. He was scratched for five consecutive games.

Ward scored 22 goals as a rookie last season, but he had only seven points in 33 games with the Canucks this season.

Carson’s second turn with the Kings was decidedly disappointing. He returned to them last Jan. 29 in six-player trade with the Red Wings. Detroit defenseman Paul Coffey was the other key player in the transaction. The only remaining player with the Kings from that deal is forward Gary Shuchuk.

“It’s very nice to know I’m going someplace where the coach (Pat Quinn) wants me and he’s also the GM,” said Carson, who has been traded four times in six years and will be reunited with his first NHL coach. “It’ll be good for my career. It can only go up when you’re not playing.”

His lack of playing time became an issue in the recent power struggle between King Coach Barry Melrose and front office of team President Roy Mlakar and Nick Beverley--especially since Mlakar and Beverley signed Carson, 25, to a three-year, $3.3-million contract in September.

Many view the trade as a victory for Melrose. But Beverley steered clear of putting the situation into a political context.

“I don’t look at it that way--winning or losing,” he said. “The only winning and losing is on the ice. We’ve done something together to help the team win. Everyone is in agreement.”

How high a draft pick the Kings receive is believed to be tied to Carson’s performance in Vancouver. He is certain to get plenty of ice time, especially with center Cliff Ronning suffering a separated shoulder Saturday.

Carson, who had been scratched 11 times all season, spoke Saturday afternoon with King owner Bruce McNall, Mlakar and Beverley. But he left without speaking to Melrose.

Was he bitter?

“I don’t think bitterness is a good thing,” Carson said. “But a lot of things weren’t handled properly. I’ve wasted half a season. I wish this had been done in the summertime when we negotiated the contract. We wanted the coach involved in the negotiations. They said they this is what he wanted.”

Melrose’s point couldn’t have been made clearer when he benched Carson for most of the Stanley Cup finals against Montreal in June.

“Jimmy has offensive talent,” Melrose said. “But I have Gretzky and Jari Kurri. In the scheme of things, there wasn’t room for another offensive player. He played 25 games and had four goals. It was like a square peg trying to fit into a round hole.”

Almost everyone else realized long ago that Carson was never going to play for Melrose. And Melrose was not the first coach to find fault in Carson. The same thing had happened in Edmonton and Detroit.

“It is obvious, he seems to be at the end of his rope with the coach,” Quinn said. “It is a risk, let’s face it. We don’t know what has happened between Jimmy and his coach out there. Maybe there is something we don’t know about, but the upside feeling is good.”

Quinn had expressed interest in Carson about a month ago but balked at picking up his entire salary. Beverley refused to say whether the Kings were paying some of Carson’s salary, but it is not out of the question because Ward is earning $200,000.

Ward had not been playing a lot in Vancouver.

“I wasn’t surprised, but you’re always sort of shocked when it happened,” he said. “As soon as I was tapped on the shoulder to go see Pat Quinn, I knew I was being traded to L.A. Well, I’m very happy and excited.”

King Notes

The Kings trailed, 4-3, heading into the third period but gave up two goals in the first 7:08 of the third for the final margin, including a shorthanded goal by Red Wing forward Keith Primeau. . . . Detroit right wing Dino Ciccarelli scored his 500th goal at 4:20 of the third. He is the 19th player in NHL history to score 500. . . . The Red Wings outshot the Kings, 44-32.