Ducks Trade Dirk to Montreal

The Mighty Ducks finally made their first trade of the season Sunday, sending defenseman Robert Dirk to Montreal for minor league center Jim Campbell.

The Ducks decided Dirk was expendable after picking up defenseman Fredrik Olausson on waivers from Edmonton on Tuesday. The Ducks hope Olausson can help their power play, the worst in the NHL. Dirk was going to be the odd man out, and his departure helps make room on the payroll for Olausson, who will make about $562,500 this season. Dirk was making about $450,000.

Dirk learned about the move while on the team’s mini-vacation with his wife at the Canadian resort of Whistler, B.C. He arrived Saturday, only to turn around and go back to Anaheim Sunday and then fly overnight to Montreal.

“I had to go and find him to tell him,” Duck Coach Ron Wilson said. “It took a little work on my part to get ahold of him, and it sort of wrecked my night because Robert’s a friend of mine.

“Montreal had a need and wanted Robert Dirk, and we were able to get a prospect, someone who might be able to play [in Anaheim] by the end of the season.”

Campbell, 22, will be assigned to the Ducks’ minor league affiliate in Baltimore. A second-round pick in the 1991 draft, he had 28 goals and 51 points in 44 games with Fredericton (New Brunswick) of the American Hockey League, but reports say he needed to improve his defense and wasn’t considered to have much of a future with the Montreal organization.