Salei, Plavsic, Day Make Team

First-round draft pick Ruslan Salei, defenseman Adrian Plavsic and forward Joe Day survived the final cut Wednesday.

Salei, 21, made the team as an extra defenseman, ahead of Nikolai Tsulygin, 21, who was assigned to Fort Wayne of the International Hockey League.

Plavsic, 26, has cracked the Ducks’ lineup, contributing to the trade of Jason York for Ottawa forward Ted Drury, who joined the team Wednesday. Day, 28, will make the first trip as an extra forward.

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Paul Kariya, 21, will be the team captain this season, but defenseman Bobby Dollas will be acting captain until Kariya returns from the abdominal muscle injury that probably will cause him to miss the start of the season.

“It’s a nice honor,” Kariya said.

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Kariya received positive results from an MRI exam of his abdomen and back Wednesday but still considers it unlikely he’ll play Saturday at Toronto--and perhaps not during the five-game trip.

Kariya had been worried by pain that recurred after he stepped up his workouts.

“The doctor said it was doing really well,” Kariya said, indicating the pain is muscular and not structural. “It’s comforting. Until I saw that I didn’t know what was going on. Mentally it’s a big thing to know everything’s OK.”