Kings, Ducks May Take Different Approaches

The Kings and Mighty Ducks finished picking players for the future in Sunday’s NHL draft and now will look to acquiring immediate help.

How they will approach the free-agent pool most likely will be different. While the Kings may try to lure a high-profile player, the Ducks, burned last season when they signed German Titov, will be more tight-fisted when teams are allowed to negotiate with unrestricted free agents beginning July 1.

This year’s unrestricted free-agent talent will likely have several impact players. Forwards Joe Sakic (Colorado), Brett Hull (Dallas), Pierre Turgeon (St. Louis), Jeremy Roenick (Phoenix) and Keith Tkachuk (St. Louis), defensemen Rob Blake (Colorado) and Jason York (Ottawa) and goalie Patrick Roy (Colorado) are among those available.

The Kings, who reached the Western Conference semifinals, reportedly are interested in Roenick, who will not re-sign with the budget-cutting Coyotes. General Manager Dave Taylor has said he wants to re-sign unrestricted free agents Luc Robitaille and Mathieu Schneider.

Duck General Manager Pierre Gauthier, who gave Titov a three-year, $4.6-million contract last summer, will be more cautious this year. Titov had only nine goals and 20 points.

“We’re going to look at [free agents] with selective eyes,” Gauthier said. “As usual, there will be more deceptions than success stories with these older guys. But we’ll see what is out there.”

The Ottawa Sun reported that the Ducks are interested in York.

The Ducks picked seven players and the Kings six during the final six rounds of the draft Sunday.

The Kings took goalies Terry Denike, Cristobal Huet and Sebastien Laplante and defensemen Richard Petiot, Tuukka Mantyla and Mike Gabinet.

The Ducks drafted forwards Timo Parssinen, Joel Perreault and Tony Martensson, defensemen Vladimir Korsunov and Jan Tabacek and goalie Martin Gerber.