Devils Deal Lemieux; $17 Million for Tkachuk

Right wing Claude Lemieux, the most valuable player in the New Jersey Devils’ Stanley Cup run last spring, was traded to the Colorado Avalanche Tuesday in a three-way deal that sent veteran Wendel Clark to the New York Islanders.

Staying put--but with a significant raise--is Winnipeg left wing Keith Tkachuk, who became the NHL’s third-highest paid player this season when the Jets matched a five-year, $17-million offer sheet he had signed with the Chicago Blackhawks.

The flurry of activity, as teams prepared for Friday’s season opener, involved several prominent but unhappy players.

Lemieux, who led all playoff scorers with 13 goals last season, challenged the validity of a contract he had signed with the Devils last spring that will pay him $4.1 million over the next three seasons. After an arbitrator sided with the Devils, General Manager Lou Lamoriello announced he would trade Lemieux.

Lamoriello made good on his word by dealing Lemieux to the Islanders for the rights to holdout right wing Steve Thomas. The Islanders then traded Lemieux to Colorado for Clark, the hard-hitting left wing who has been a no-show at Avalanche camp.

Clark, claiming General Manager Pierre Lacroix had promised to readjust the last year of his contract, was seeking to more than double his salary to $2 million from $1.05 million Canadian.

Thomas, 32, has scored 30 or more goals five times, with the Maple Leafs, Blackhawks and Islanders. He refused to report to the Islanders’ training camp after the club would not meet his demand for a $1.7 million salary.

Tkachuk, 23, had refused to report to Winnipeg and had requested a trade. He was a Group 2 free agent, which gave the Jets the right to match any offer.

The Blackhawks signed him to an offer sheet Tuesday but the Jets matched it hours later. Tkachuk will make $6 million this season. Only the Kings’ Wayne Gretzky, who will earn $6.545 million, and the New York Rangers’ Mark Messier, who will make $6 million plus incentives, will make more.

Tkachuk is one of the NHL’s top power forwards. He had 41 goals and 81 points in 1993-94. He scored 22 goals in 48 games last season and has 94 goals in 232 games.

With the Jets virtually certain to be sold and moved after this season, losing Tkachuk could have reduced their attractiveness to a potential buyer.