The Eyes Have It: Kilger Is Ready to Play in NHL : Mighty Ducks: The club’s first-round draft choice has the size and talent to make an impact.

After a day of medical exams and another of skating with the Mighty Ducks, first-round draft choice Chad Kilger passed the eye test Monday, which has nothing to do with his vision.

It means that Kilger, who won’t turn 19 until Nov. 27, looks ready to play in the NHL.

Listed at 6 feet 3 and 204 pounds when the Ducks selected him with the fourth pick overall in July, Kilger estimates he has grown half an inch and gained 10 pounds.

“You don’t want to put too much burden on Chad Kilger. He hasn’t even made our team yet,” Coach Ron Wilson said. “But I’m not afraid to use young players.”

Proof of Kilger’s readiness will have to come on the ice.

“I’ve got him on that Special K line--[Paul] Kariya, Kilger and [Todd] Krygier,” Wilson said. “We want to see how Chad responds playing with those guys.”

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David McNab, director of player personnel, believes Kilger may be ready, especially after watching him play at a development camp for the Canadian junior national team last month.

“He’s awfully close,” McNab said. “There were about 20 first-rounders from the past two years there. I thought he was the best player, but I think he was also the consensus best player, listening to what other people and writers were saying.”

Added McNab, “When you’re that size and you’re strong, and when your best qualities are your skating and your skills, anything you don’t have you can improve.”

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Defenseman Don McSween’s passes tended to bounce off the boards ahead of the receiver, his shots went wide, and he often fumbled for the puck.

But less than eight months after two nerves and nine tendons in his right wrist were severed by a skate blade, McSween returned to the ice in an NHL uniform Monday, gamely trying to come back.

“It’s a real inspiration to anybody, the fact that he’s worked so hard and prepared himself as much as he has,” Wilson said. “He did fine, but he’s a long way from being able to play.”

McSween, 31, still has no feeling in his ring or pinky fingers, and the muscles in his right hand are so atrophied that he wears an extra pad in his glove so he can hold onto his stick. Doctors don’t know yet how much use of the hand McSween will have, but their hope is that he can return around midseason.

Mighty Duck Notes

Right wing Steven King is trying to come back after a 1 1/2-year absence because of reconstructive surgery on both shoulders. King, 26, was the first forward chosen by the Ducks in the 1993 expansion draft. “Hopefully I have 24-year-old legs and 1-year-old shoulders.” . . . Left wing Paul Kariya had added about 10 pounds, and defenseman Oleg Tverdovsky, the other high-profile rookie last season, has also added muscle and said he is no longer hampered by chronic soreness in his joints. . . . Defenseman David Karpa, who underwent surgery on his improperly healed right wrist last May, is playing at about 85% after having the cast removed a few weeks ago, but is expected to be 100% by the start of the season Oct. 9 at Winnipeg.