King Trade Part of a New Look

For sale: House on Long Island, seven figures, occupied only three months. For information, dial 1-800-ZIGGY.

“I’m trying to sell it back,” Ziggy Palffy said Monday of the home that he no longer has use for since being traded by the New York Islanders to the Kings in a six-player, two-draft-choice deal.

“I was just traded last night, so I’ve started trying to sell it. If you can find anybody. . . .”

Bryan Smolinski has no such problem.

He’s not moving from New York, he’s escaping.

Smolinski, Palffy and backup goalie Marcel Cousineau are the newest Kings, and Olli Jokinen, Mathieu Biron and Josh Green the newest Islanders.

Smolinski is the happiest of the lot.

“I know enough to know that the Kings are taking a great step forward,” Smolinski said. “ . . . I hope I can score 25 or 30 goals for the L.A. Kings.”

Smolinski had 16 for the Islanders in a down season that will probably make him easier to sign. He earned $1,746,729 last year and probably will get approximately that this time around.

The reason Smolinski struggled, he said, had a lot to do with his surroundings.

“Under [Islander owners Howard and Edward Milstein] . . . there were a lot of promises made and a lot of promises broken,” he said, citing a new arena and better treatment of the players than under previous ownership.

Things seemed to change when the Milsteins were the apparent winning bidders in the Washington Redskin franchise chase for a reported $800 million. Though the sale was not approved by the NFL owners, the word went out to cut the Islander payroll.

“We heard that everybody being paid over $1 million would be going,” Palffy said. “I figured I’d be the first to go”

Said Smolinski: “Once everyone read that the ownership was falling apart . . . it kind of took the wind out of our sails. We thought, ‘What else can we do for them? They expected things from us, so what should we expect from them?’ ”

Basically, they expected to be traded, which is what happened Sunday night. The deal offers a couple of reunions.

Palffy can play on the same line with center Jozef Stumpel.

“I played with him the Czech league,” Palffy said. “I think we played very well together. And we played together for the national team. I think he’s great.”

And Smolinski can play on the same line with right winger Glen Murray.

“I was traded [from Boston] to Pittsburgh with him,” Smolinski said. “I played with him for a season, and I think I had 25 goals [actually 24] and he had 18 [actually 14].”

That’s all history, and what’s more important is what’s ahead for the Kings.

“This is a great step forward,” Smolinski said. “I think Ziggy is going to do wonderful things in Los Angeles. . . . And God, I’m thrilled to be there.”

And thrilled to be out of New York.

Palffy might well be just as thrilled, once he sells his house.

“I want to make the playoffs,” he said. “I think you can find good players who aren’t in the playoffs, but I know that’s what I want to do.”

King Notes

The Kings submitted their protected list for Friday’s expansion draft to the NHL on Monday. Expected to be available to the Atlanta Thrashers are defensemen Philippe Boucher and Garry Galley and forwards Matt Johnson and Sandy Moger. The Kings can lose only one player.

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Ziggy Palffy at a Glance

* Born May 5, 1972 in Skalica, Czechoslovakia.

Position--Right Wing.

Height--5-10. Weight--183.

* 1998-99 Salary--$3,000,000 (Signed during season and pro-rated from $5,000,000)

* 1998-99 Statistics--50 games, 22 goals, 28 assists, 50 points

* Totals--331 games, 168 goals, 163 assists, 331 points