Guerin Sent to Oilers in Four-Player Trade

Bill Guerin, who signed a contract with the New Jersey Devils only so he could play for the U.S. Olympic hockey team next month, was traded to the Edmonton Oilers in a four-player deal that will bring highly regarded center Jason Arnott to New Jersey.

The move announced by the Devils on Sunday continues a trend by General Manager Lou Lamoriello to ship disgruntled players elsewhere.

Guerin said he was neither surprised nor saddened by the trade. He said he would be leaving for Edmonton today.

“I had a lot of good years in New Jersey,” he said. “This doesn’t feel like the end. I look at it as a fresh start.”

Going to Edmonton with Guerin is forward Valeri Zelepukin. Going to New Jersey with Arnott is defenseman Bryan Muir, a member of the 1995-96 Canadian national team currently playing for Hamilton of the American Hockey League.

Guerin missed the Devils’ first 21 games this season because of a contract dispute. Before he signed a multiyear contract in November, several Olympic teammates, including Brett Hull of St. Louis, had talked about skipping the Olympics at Nagano, Japan, because Guerin had been left off the roster by Lamoriello, also Team USA’s general manager. Guerin was named to the team after rejoining the Devils.

Arnott, a 6-foot-3, 220-pound center, was the seventh overall pick in 1993 by Edmonton. He had 33 goals and 68 points in his rookie season, but has been a disappointment to the Oilers.

Guerin, 27, shared the Devil lead with 29 goals last season.

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Alan Eagleson, former executive director of the NHL Players’ Assn., is expected to agree this week to a plea-bargaining arrangement that could result in an 18-month jail term in Canada, according to published reports.

The Toronto Sun and Toronto Star, citing anonymous sources in Sunday editions, also said the lawyer is expected to be fined about $1 million in the United States.

A Boston grand jury indicted Eagleson in March 1994 on numerous counts that included fraud, racketeering and embezzlement relating to his position with the players’ association.