Boucher Leaves for Dallas, $9.3 Million

Philippe Boucher, an unrestricted free agent, bolted the Kings on Tuesday, agreeing to a four-year, $9.3-million contract with the Dallas Stars that will reunite him with former King assistant Dave Tippett, the Stars’ new coach.

Tippett, signaling his interest in Boucher, phoned the defenseman within minutes of Boucher becoming a free agent Sunday at midnight.

Tippett’s recruiting skills notwithstanding, however, it was Star owner Tom Hicks’ deep pockets that landed Boucher in Dallas, where he will join a team that won five consecutive division titles before not reaching the playoffs last season.

The Stars, retooling for another run at the Stanley Cup, are also bidding for high-end free-agent forwards Bill Guerin, Tony Amonte and Teemu Selanne.

Boucher, 29, turned down a three-year, $6-million offer from the Kings, sources said. He was paid $582,038 last season, when he posted seven goals and 30 points in 80 games, the best totals of his career. The previous season, which Boucher spent mostly in the minors recovering from foot injuries, he earned only about $110,000.

“It’s a weird day,” Boucher, traded to the Kings in 1995, said from Quebec City, his summer home. “You wait for that day for a long time to be an unrestricted free agent and then you get mixed emotions.

“I’m happy to go to Dallas, but I’m obviously sad to leave L.A. because I played there a long time. I had a good time in L.A.; I love the guys and I loved the situation I was in ... and my family really loves it there. It’s really the only place my family really knew. But once we realized the offers weren’t really close....

“Dallas is a team that really wants to win. I’m not saying L.A. doesn’t want to win but ... I didn’t really fit into their budget. I understand that.”

It’s the second consecutive summer the Kings have lost their top unrestricted free agent. Last July, Luc Robitialle signed with the Detroit Red Wings.

“I thought we made a pretty good offer, so I’m disappointed that he’s gone,” General Manager Dave Taylor said of Boucher. “Not a terribly long ways apart in the two offers, but apparently a fourth year in the deal to go to Dallas [was the difference].”

Boucher’s agent, Pat Brisson, said that 12 teams called about Boucher on Monday and that, after hearing his terms, six continued to show interest.

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The Kings have offered unrestricted free-agent forward Kelly Buchberger, 35, a one-year contract, Taylor said. He scored 13 points in 74 games with the Kings last season.

Mighty Duck defenseman Vitaly Vishnevski accepted a qualifying offer from the team, which will pay him $1.075 million next season. Vishnevski, 22, led the Ducks with 230 penalty minutes but was the only Duck regular not to score a goal last season.

The Ducks have seven more restricted free agents who played at least 50 games last season, including left wing Paul Kariya, centers Steve Rucchin and Matt Cullen, and defensemen Ruslan Salei and Pavel Trnka. Cullen, who was second on the team with 48 points and scored a career-high 18 goals, probably will go to arbitration. He earned $484,000 last season.

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The Ducks hired Charles Harris as director of off-ice publicity and community relations.

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Staff Writer Chris Foster contributed to this report.