Duchesne Not Bothered by All the Trade Rumors

The rumors persist, as rumors will between now and the March 23 trading date, that the Kings are shopping defenseman Steve Duchesne around the NHL, but are having difficulty finding a taker because of his lack of production and his contract. He is in the first season of a three-season, $10.75-million run, with an option for a fourth year.

The Kings are close-mouthed, Dave Taylor saying Tuesday at the general managers’ meetings in La Quinta that he would not comment on potential trades.

Duchesne has been through this before.

“Where do they have me going now?” he cracked. “Listen, it’s when you don’t hear the rumors that you worry.

“I don’t worry about what I can’t control, and I can’t control this.”

Ah, but he can, to a point, because, according to agent Pat Brisson, Duchesne has a no-trade clause in his contract.

Duchesne has only two goals and 15 assists this season.

“It’s been a struggle for me . . . and nobody wants to get out of this struggle more than I do,” he said.

But not out of Los Angeles.

“No, I like it here,” he said. “If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have signed as a free agent.”

And, Duchesne reminds, this is nothing new.

“I struggled my first year in Ottawa,” he said. “Then I had one of my best seasons.”

In 1995-96, he had 12 goals and 24 assists for the Senators, then came back the next season with 19 goals and 28 assists.

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Luc Robitaille has gone three games without a goal, the first such stretch since he went five games without one, from Nov. 19-Dec. 2. . . . Ray Ferraro has a goal or an assist in five of his last six games.