Rookies Hoping for Some Luck

The future of King rookies Josh Green and Olli Jokinen may well depend on what happens in today’s waiver draft.

If the Kings lose a forward or two--Nathan LaFayette, Ray Ferraro and Dan Bylsma are exposed to the draft--Green and Jokinen could be among the 22 skaters who make the trip to Edmonton to open the season next Saturday.

That’s why Jokinen, scheduled to be scratched from Sunday’s 4-3 exhibition victory over Vancouver in Bakersfield, played. So did Green, who scored the winning goal on a power play at 8:48 of the third period. Green, whom Coach Larry Robinson has said is ahead in the rookie forward sweepstakes--deflected in Jan Nemecek’s shot from the point to cap the Kings’ three-goal third-period rally from a 3-1 deficit. The Kings finished the exhibition season with a 6-2-1 record.

“It all depends on what happens tomorrow,” said Robinson of the prospect of both Green and Jokinen making the team.

Still, Robinson remains cautious. “We don’t want to do the same thing we did with Donald MacLean last year.”

MacLean had a strong training camp, stayed with the Kings for 22 games then was shipped to the Springfield of the American Hockey League, where he remained in a funk that lasted through this year’s camp. He is back with Springfield.

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Asked about Pavel Bure, his high-scoring, AWOL forward, Vancouver General Manager Brian Burke said, “I’m not going to talk about him until I trade him, and that might not be until next summer.”

Bure, who is under contract, has not reported to training camp, saying he wants out of Vancouver and a deal is rumored with Toronto.

“We don’t want him to be a distraction,” said Burke, “and so far he hasn’t been.”

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Defenseman Mark Visheau is scheduled for surgery Tuesday on his left thumb, which was broken and dislocated when he punched the Mighty Ducks’ Stu Grimson in a fight at the Pond on Wednesday. . . . The Kings are unlikely to get a player in the draft because they don’t select until late in the second round and drafting a player means they would have to expose another player to waivers, something they don’t want to do. . . . Nemecek, dispatched to the Ice Dogs on Sept. 18, was called up to play in the exhibition against Vancouver.