MIGHTY DUCKS

There were no surprises on the Ducks’ list of protected players for Monday’s waiver draft. They left only minor-leaguers Scott Ferguson, a defenseman, and Bob Wren, a left wing, unprotected.

But there are a number of interesting candidates left available by other teams.

The Ducks pick fifth overall Monday and figure to have a wide selection of players. Among those who could probably help the Ducks are:

Defensemen Mattias Timander of the Boston Bruins, Frank Musil of the Edmonton Oilers, Terry Carkner and Jeff Norton of the Florida Panthers and Zarley Zalapski of the New York Rangers.

Forwards Warren Rychel of the Colorado Avalanche (a former Duck) and Ray Ferraro and Nathan LaFayette of the Kings also were left unprotected.

Nashville picks first, Tampa Bay is second, Florida third, Vancouver fourth and the Ducks fifth. Only the 10 teams that missed the playoffs last season, plus expansion Nashville, have first-round picks.

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Coach Craig Hartsburg spent 10 seasons playing defense for the Minnesota North Stars, so he believes he knows how to turn a good defenseman into a great one.

“We’re trying to focus on keeping it simple and being physical,” Hartsburg said when asked about tutoring inexperienced defensemen such as Ruslan Salei and Pavel Trnka. “For some reason, young defensemen think they have to always do more. Ray Bourque [of Boston] and Chris Chelios [of Chicago] are great defensemen not because they go out there to make great plays. They make the simple plays, but that’s how they became great players.”