NHL DRAFT : If Offer Is Right, Ducks Might Trade No. 2 Pick

With the second pick of the NHL entry draft today, the Mighty Ducks have a chance to get an almost sure-fire future star.

But anyone who wants to see center Radek Bonk, defenseman Ed Jovanovski or goaltender Jamie Storr in a Duck uniform might be a bit uncomfortable to learn that General Manager Jack Ferreira was in the Rams’ war room for the NFL draft, watching as they twice traded their first-round pick.

“I got a lesson in how to trade down,” said Ferreira, who watched the Rams trade from fifth to seventh, then from seventh to 15th and is entertaining offers for the NHL’s second pick overall.

Whether any of the teams eager to move up will come up with a sweet enough deal remains to be seen. Ferreira would be inclined to trade the pick only if he could get an established young player--not an older veteran--and another pick no lower than 15th or so.

The Kings, who have finally finished paying for the Wayne Gretzky deal and have a first-round pick for the first time since 1990, are looking for a power forward or perhaps a goalie with the seventh pick overall, though new General Manager Sam McMaster is not averse to trading.

Florida, which got the No. 1 pick by choosing to let the Ducks pick ahead of it last year, is believed to be leaning toward Jovanovski, a big, hard-hitting and versatile defenseman, in part because the Panthers have no particular need for a center. Then again, General Manger Bill Torrey hasn’t ruled out trading his pick.

If Florida takes Jovanovski, the Ducks will be free to take Bonk, a big, skillful Czech who scored 42 goals for Las Vegas in the International League after starting the season as the youngest player in league history at 17.

But the Ducks could pass on Bonk and Jovanovski, instead picking Storr, the top-rated goalie in the draft. No goalie has ever gone higher than fifth in the entry draft, and virtually the only strength the second-year Ducks have is at goaltender, with Guy Hebert and Mikhail Shtalenkov.

Yet the Ducks like Storr, and Ferreira insists the interest is real, not just a ruse to make teams who want Storr think they need to trade for the pick.

Among the players the Kings are eyeing is Brett Lindros, younger brother of Philadelphia’s Eric Lindros and something of a wild card.

Though he doesn’t have his brother’s scoring skill, Brett Lindros is the prototype of the big forward the Kings want.

The snag is that Lindros is said to be against playing in Los Angeles because of family disdain for Gretzky.

And people remember what happened when Eric refused to play in Quebec.

That doesn’t necessarily mean the Kings would stay away from Lindros if he’s available, but others they are looking at include Ryan Smyth, another tough forward, and Jeff O’Neill, a smaller forward with tremendous scoring potential. Should Storr last until the seventh pick, which is unlikely, McMaster will probably grab him.

Hockey Notes

Only the first two rounds of the draft will be conducted today, the rest of it Wednesday. . . . The Kings have named John Perpich, an assistant coach the last four seasons with the Washington Capitals, as an assistant to Coach Barry Melrose. Ron Salcer, the agent for the Kings’ Rob Blake, said there has been a “significant drop-off,” in the team’s most recent contract offer to the 24-year-old defenseman.