Power Plays at Work as Training Camps Open

The Mighty Ducks opened training camp Tuesday in Anaheim without All-Star left winger Paul Kariya, and acknowledged for the first time they might not have him under contract and in uniform for the Oct. 3 season opener.

Kariya, unsigned and uninvited to camp, remained hunkered down at his Vancouver home while awaiting a fat contract offer from the Ducks.

It could be a long wait. There apparently has been no progress since the Ducks’ initial offer of $25 million for five seasons back in July.

“There’s nothing new to report,” said Don Baizley, Kariya’s Winnipeg-based agent. “I wish I could say more, but both sides have agreed not to negotiate through the media.”

General Manager Jack Ferreira bent the rules a bit, however, saying he’s concerned that the Ducks will be forced to begin the season without Kariya.

“It’s a possibility,” Ferreira said.

The Ducks will open their fifth NHL season with games Oct. 3-4 at Tokyo against the Vancouver Canucks.

Kariya and Baizley met face to face with Ferreira and team president Tony Tavares last week in Vancouver, but apparently resolved nothing. Pressed for details about their conversation, Ferreira rolled his eyes when he said:

“All we got from them was a lot of rhetoric. They want fair market value, but what that is we don’t know. The market has not been established in their eyes or our eyes and until then we’re not going to get it done.”

Compounding matters, according to Ferreira, is Baizley’s unwillingness to make a counteroffer.

Ferreira has said from the beginning that his initial offer was just that. He has been prepared to go higher, particularly in the wake of Joe Sakic’s three-year, $21-million deal with the Colorado Avalanche and reports this week of Eric Lindros’ agreement on a seven-year, $60-million extension with the Philadelphia Flyers.

“It’s all leverage,” Ferreira said. “Maybe they have a number in mind but are waiting to see where others sign. We’re open to a lot of [contract] ideas, but we haven’t been able to throw them back and forth.

“That’s the problem. We can’t come to a common ground as to what his market rate is.”

Kariya, who has directed all contract questions to Baizley, is one of several restricted free agents who have yet to sign new deals. Detroit’s Sergei Fedorov, Ottawa’s Daniel Alfredsson, Phoenix’s Oleg Tverdovsky, Vancouver’s Alexander Mogilny and Dallas’ Derian Hatcher and Mike Modano also are without new contracts.

There would seem to be little incentive for agents to get their players signed quickly. The latest NHL conspiracy theory making the rounds suggests agents have plotted to drive up salaries by playing a high-stakes game of chicken with general managers.

The longer top players such as Kariya, who was the league’s third-leading scorer with 44 goals and 99 points last season, remain unsigned the more desperate general managers will be to sign their marquee attractions, the theory goes.

“It sure seems that way, but I don’t know if it’s a plan or not,” Ferreira said. “[Baizley] knows how to use time to his advantage. Maybe I’m learning something [about patience] from him.”

Duck Notes

Center Richard Park, who grew up in Orange County and Rancho Palos Verdes, signed a one-year contract. Paul Kariya and Sean Pronger are the only unsigned players on the training camp roster. Neither will be present when on-ice workouts begin today. . . . Coach Pierre Page is unfazed by Kariya’s absence. “I went through it when Theoren Fleury held out in Calgary,” he said. “I went through it with Eric Lindros in Quebec. I’m sure the guy who wants to be here the most is Paul Kariya.”

The Ducks have only four days of practice before their first exhibition game Sunday at Edmonton. . . . Page hopes to have his lineup nearly cemented after only five days of camp. “I told our players that if they want to impress me they have to do it in the first three days,” Page said. . . . Don’t expect Page to tinker with the Kariya-Teemu Selanne-Steve Rucchin line, which accounted for 114 goals and 275 points last season.

Veteran winger Tomas Sandstrom, rookie center Espen Knutsen and a second winger who is yet to be determined will make up the second line. “I’m looking forward to finding a second line that can score,” Page said.

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Fast Facts

* New players: Right wing Tomas Sandstrom (free agent from Detroit Red Wings), rookie centers Espen Knutsen (from Norway) and Antti Aalto (from Finland).

* Departed players: Enforcer Ken Baumgartner, winger Brian Bellows.

* First exhibition game: Sunday at Edmonton.

* First home exhibition game: Sept. 17 vs. Vancouver.

* First regular-season game: Oct. 3 vs. Vancouver (Japan).

* First regular-season home game: Oct. 10 vs. Ottawa.