Ducks Get Sykora in Big Deal

The Mighty Ducks, continuing to search for offense and a winning attitude, acquired high-scoring forward Petr Sykora on Saturday in a seven-player trade with the New Jersey Devils.

Sykora, 25, helped the Devils win the Stanley Cup in 2000 and two seasons ago scored a career-high 81 points, among them a career-high 35 goals, in helping the Devils reach the finals.

Though he slipped to 48 points last season, the Czech right wing, along with newly signed free-agent center Adam Oates, is expected to add much-needed punch to a Duck offense that scored fewer goals than all but the Columbus Blue Jackets last season and ranked last on the power play.

Sykora scored an average of 27.5 goals over the last four seasons.

To get him, the Ducks gave up defenseman Oleg Tverdovsky, 26, left wing Jeff Friesen, 25, and a prospect, right wing Maxim Balmochnykh, 23.

Also joining the Ducks are Mike Commodore, a 22-year-old defenseman who is expected to step into the lineup; 22-year-old goaltender J.F. Damphousse, who probably will start the season as Jean-Sebastien Giguere’s backup; and a prospect, right wing Igor Pohanka, 19.

“We did it for a real purpose, and that is to change the dressing room, the chemistry on our hockey team,” Duck General Manager Bryan Murray said of the trade. “It’s not necessarily a clean slate, but a new slate.

“We have a new coach [Mike Babcock] and hopefully these guys will make a huge difference.”

For the Ducks, the centerpiece of the deal is Sykora, whose surname is Czech for a type of bird. They hope he can take flight in his new surroundings.

“We lost some good players, who were a big part of the organization,” center Steve Rucchin said. “At the same time, we know what kind of player Petr Sykora is.

“It’s a good step for the team. When you get new players, of this quality, it usually pans out pretty good. I just hope our players outperform their players in this deal.”

Last season, the Ducks had no one on their roster that had played in a conference final. Now, they have a player who was the Devils’ leading goal-scorer in their consecutive runs to the finals, netting 19 goals in 48 playoff games.

“We feel that he has a huge ability to score goals,” Murray said. “Playing on a line or a team with Adam Oates and Paul Kariya, in particular, we think he’ll make a huge difference in our power play, special-team areas that hurt us tremendously last year. He’s an offensive player with potential to probably get 70, 80 points for us.”

Tverdovsky, meanwhile, had the potential to be a negative influence. After last season, he met with then-general manager Pierre Gauthier to complain about his role under Murray, who was then the coach. The next day, Gauthier was fired. When Murray replaced him, Tverdovsky’s days with the team seemed numbered.

The departure of Friesen leaves the Ducks with only a second-round pick in next year’s draft to show for the trade that sent Teemu Selanne to the San Jose Sharks in March 2001. Goaltender Steve Shields was dealt last month to the Boston Bruins.

Friesen, though, was a disappointment in the Ducks’ eyes.

And the Ducks apparently were a disappointment in Balmochnykh’s eyes. Playing for the Ducks’ American Hockey League affiliate in Cincinnati last season, Balmochnykh bolted in January and returned home to Russia, where he was said to be contemplating signing with a team in the Russian league.

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Staff writer Chris Foster contributed to this report.