Robitaille Jersey Unofficially Retired

Luc Robitaille may be gone, but he’s not forgotten.

His jersey No. 20, which the high-scoring left wing wore for 12 seasons with the Kings, has been unofficially retired, team executives said.

“We wouldn’t issue it to anybody,” said General Manager Dave Taylor, a former team captain whose No. 18 is one of three numbers retired by the Kings, along with Marcel Dionne’s No. 16 and Rogie Vachon’s No. 30. “He had great success here in L.A.” Robitaille, who ranks second behind hall of famer John Bucyk among left wings on the NHL’s all-time scoring list, rejected a one-year, $2.5-million offer from the Kings in July, a $1-million pay cut from last season, and signed a two-year, $9-million deal with the Detroit Red Wings.

Club President Tim Leiweke said the Kings never put anything in writing to inform players that No. 20 was unavailable.

“My guess is, out of respect for Luc, nobody took it, which is a great thing to do,” Leiweke said. “Even though his playing career may be done here, Luc is going to be and always will be a member of this organization....

Wayne Gretzky is certainly worthy, but his No. 99 is absent from the walls at Staples Center and the Kings’ training facility in El Segundo.

The NHL’s all-time scoring leader, who led the Kings to the Stanley Cup finals in 1993, is still bitter about his parting with the team in 1996 and has turned down offers from the Kings to participate in a jersey-retiring ceremony.

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To make room on the roster for Adam Deadmarsh, who was activated from the injured reserve list, the Kings reassigned right wing Scott Thomas to their American Hockey League team at Manchester, N.H.