Ducks Not Daffy, but Do Pull Surprise

The Mighty Ducks’ brain trust scanned a list of the reed-thin 18-year-olds still available as they prepared to make the ninth pick of the NHL draft Saturday, and decided to pass.

Instead, they chose a full-grown 21-year-old defenseman from Belarus who was obscure even to the most meticulous scouts until he played for minor league Las Vegas this season hoping to draw the attention of NHL teams.

Ruslan Salei--”Russ” or “Rusty” to his North American teammates--was projected as a late first-round pick, but the Ducks pulled a mild surprise by picking the physical defenseman in the top 10, hoping he can play in the NHL immediately.

“Really, what it came down to was, were we going to take someone we thought could step in or were we going to be patient and wait?” Anaheim General Manager Jack Ferreira said. “We got someone who’s played in a man’s league who’s going to be 22 in November.”

Defenseman Chris Phillips of the Prince Albert Raiders in the Western Hockey League was selected first overall by the Ottawa Senators. Phillips, 18, has helped care for his mother, who is partially paralyzed, and his father, who is legally blind, since he was 10.

“Certainly, that’s significant in terms of the person he is, but it’s how he performs on the ice that counts,” Ottawa General Manager Pierre Gauthier said.

The Kings didn’t have a first-round pick after trading theirs to Washington for Dimitri Khristich and Byron Dafoe last summer, but they had two second-round picks. General Manager Sam McMaster used the team’s first pick, the 30th overall, to select Josh Green, a 6-foot-3, 197-pound left wing who was projected to go in the top 10 before undergoing surgery to tighten ligaments in his left shoulder last September.

“I missed 26 games and then I didn’t play too well at the start because I was nervous,” Green said.

“We had him ranked fourth,” McMaster said. “The irony is that the pick we traded ended up being fourth, and we were very lucky to get him 30th. Whether our list was right, only time will tell.”

Among the Kings’ other picks was Kai Nurminen, 27, who had 31 goals in 40 games for the Swedish team HV-71 Jonkoping this season and will play for Finland in the World Cup this summer. The Kings picked him in the eighth round and hope he will play for them next season.

The Kings used a fifth-round pick to draft Jesse Black, the nephew of Charlie Simmer, a member of the Kings’ famed Triple Crown Line and now a radio broadcaster for the Ducks. Black, a 6-4, 197-pound defenseman, plays for Niagara Falls in the Ontario Hockey League.

Draft day was marked by the usual flurry of trades, with Toronto dumping payroll by sending six-time all-star Mike Gartner to Phoenix and veteran Dave Gagner to Calgary for draft picks.

Gartner, 36, made $1.5 million this season in the first year of a three-year deal. Gagner, 31, made $1.4 million last season and is scheduled to make $1.5 million next season.

In another deal, Dallas acquired standout young defenseman Sergei Zubov, 25, from Pittsburgh for defenseman Kevin Hatcher, 29, with whom the team had become disgruntled. Zubov had 66 points in 64 games last season and had 15 points in 18 playoff games.

In addition, Ottawa acquired former King center Shawn McEachern from Boston for right wing Trent McCleary and a third-round pick.

Unlike most of the players drafted Saturday, the Ducks’ Salei probably will play in the NHL next season.

“He’s close; he’s got the ability,” Ferreira said. “He’s still got to win a spot.”

Though much of the former Soviet Union is thoroughly scoured by NHL scouts, Salei’s hometown of Minsk remains a hockey outback--a city that Salei says has only two indoor rinks.

An agent’s go-between saw him play in Minsk and recommended him to Las Vegas General Manager Bob Strumm, who gave him a $40,000 contract. Salei, a burly 200 pounds, denied whispers that he left Minsk after testing positive for a banned substance and Ferreira said, “Everybody will be tested at training camp. We never had any indication of anything like that.”

Las Vegas Coach Chris McSorley, the brother of Marty McSorley, called Salei one of the top three defensemen in the International Hockey League, which is the most competitive of the minor leagues and includes a number of former NHL players at the end of their careers.

NHL Draft Notes

The Kings will allow Tony Granato to become an unrestricted free agent July 1 unless doctors assure them this week he’ll be able to resume his career next season despite undergoing brain surgery in February. The Kings could still re-sign Granato on the open market, however. “We want Tony Granato to be a King and he wants to be a King, but we have to protect our business interests,” General Manager Sam McMaster said. The Kings must make a qualifying contract offer by June 30 to prevent Granato from becoming an unrestricted free agent but would be on the hook for his full salary if he is unable to play. “Tony wants to play but he hasn’t been given clearance and it may not be until August,” McMaster said.

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TOP DRAFT SELECTIONS AT A GLANCE

MIGHTY DUCKS

FIRST ROUND (9TH OVERALL)

Ruslan Salei, defenseman

* Las Vegas (Int’l Hockey League)

* Born: Minsk, Belarus

* Age: 21.

* Size: 6-1, 200 pounds

Mature, physical defenseman is likely to make Ducks’ team next season and would solidify shallow defense corps. Nearly four years older than most other players in draft, he left Minsk last year to play in minors in hopes of drawing NHL interest.

SECOND ROUND (35TH OVERALL)

Matt Cullen, center

* St. Cloud State (Western Collegiate Hockey Assn.)

* Born: Virginia, Minn.

* Age: 19.

* Size: 6-0, 182 pounds

Expected to play college hockey again next season after scoring 40 points in 39 games as a freshman. “He’s clever, a great passer, and competes real well,” Anaheim General Manager Jack Ferreira said.

*

KINGS

SECOND ROUND (30TH OVERALL)

Josh Green, left wing

* Medicine Hat (Western Hockey League)

* Born: Camrose, Canada

* Age: 18.

* Size: 6-3, 197 pounds

Shoulder surgery caused him to sit out first 26 games of season and he slipped from potential top-10 pick to the second round. Expected to return to junior hockey next season.

SECOND ROUND (37TH OVERALL)

Marian Cisar, right wing

* Bratislava, Slovakia (Extraleague)

* Born: Bratislava, Slovakia

* Age: 18.

* Size: 6-0, 176 pounds

Kings had additional second-round pick as part of compensation for Brent Thompson’s 1994 free-agent signing with Winnipeg. Cisar scored 70 points in 38 games last season. Might play junior hockey in Canada next season to learn English.