No Movement on Kariya Front

General Manager Jack Ferreira said he spoke to Paul Kariya’s agent for the second time in three days Wednesday and “we’re no farther along than we were in June.”

Ferreira said he still has not received a counteroffer from Don Baizley, Kariya’s Winnipeg-based agent. The Ducks have presented two offers to Baizley, the latest for $7 million per season.

“Nobody’s mad at each other,” Ferreira said. “It’s just that nothing’s changed. There’s no numbers [from Baizley]. We just talk in circles and he never gives me a number.”

Ferreira has been pleased by the Ducks’ play without Kariya, saying others have moved to fill the void.

“You’ve got play with what you’ve got,” he said. “Sean Pronger has stepped up. Mark Janssens does all the dirty work and I don’t mean illegal stuff, but all the heavy-duty work.

“We’re off to a better start than last year. I think these guys work their tails off.”

The Ducks were 1-8-2 while Kariya was sidelined by an abdominal injury to start 1996-97. *

The Ducks recalled Ruslan Salei from Cincinnati of the American Hockey League on Wednesday to bolster their defensive corps.

Bobby Dollas missed his second consecutive game because of a broken right big toe and his status is day to day. Dollas played with a broken pinky toe on the same foot during the playoffs, but this latest injury restricts his skating far more.

“People don’t realize how much pressure you put on the big toe,” Dollas said. “You use it for balance too.”

Salei, sent to Cincinnati when the Ducks pared their roster Oct. 9, is a favorite of Coach Pierre Page. Salei only enhanced his reputation in Page’s eyes at Cincinnati, scoring three goals with six assists in six games. He did not have a goal or an assist in two games with the Ducks before his demotion. * Warren Rychel needed six stitches to mend a wound on his nose after he was high-sticked Tuesday by Phoenix tough guy Jim Johnson.

“My face isn’t getting any prettier after 11 years [in the NHL],” Rychel said. “It was hit or be hit out there.”