Robitaille: ‘We Could Beat Any Team in the League’

It was Luc Robitaille’s way of celebrating with Los Angeles hockey fans, lugging the Stanley Cup to a Dodger game last August after he helped the Detroit Red Wings win the NHL’s top prize.

Ever the optimist, Robitaille, speaking with reporters for the first time since signing a one-year, $1.1-million deal to play for the Kings, talked Friday about bringing another Stanley Cup to Los Angeles, this one perhaps belonging to the habitants of Staples Center.

In what will be his third tour with the team, he said the Kings have the ingredients to be more than just competitive.

“The way this team is set right now, I feel we could beat any team in the league,” Robitaille said. “There’s so many Kings’ fans that have been around 30 years or so and they deserve to see a championship or a great team on ice. I think they’re going to get that this year.”

The highest-scoring left wing in NHL history, Robitaille, 37, had career lows of 11 goals and 31 points last season with Detroit, far below his career average of 37.1 goals.

“Last year was certainly a hard year for me,” Robitaille said. “I know this is a big year for me coming back.”

Robitaille said he has worked during the off-season to improve the burst in his first three steps.

“I really believe that’s going to make a big, big difference when the season starts,” he said. “[Quickness] is what the game is about now.”

The Kings hope Robitaille makes a difference other than as a fan favorite. They want him to rebound the way he did once before: After scoring only 16 goals in 1997-98 with the Kings, he averaged 35.5 goals the next four seasons.

“There was some talk six years ago that his game was starting to die a little bit, but he rededicated himself to his conditioning,” King General Manager Dave Taylor said. “We look for Luc to regain that scoring touch. He’s always had great success in Los Angeles. He has a lot of high-scoring forwards we can pair him with.”

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Unrestricted free agent center Erik Rasmussen, who had four goals and 12 assists for the Kings last season, signed with the New Jersey Devils.

The Kings signed center Steve Kelly, who had two goals and three assists in 15 games with them last season, to a one-year deal.

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The Mighty Ducks signed three players to one-year deals, including defenseman Mike Mottau, the 2000 winner of the Hobey Baker Award given to the top player in college hockey.

Mottau, who won the award while at Boston College, was scoreless in four games last season with the Calgary Flames.

The Ducks also signed left wings Casey Hankinson, who had 27 goals last season with Norfolk in the American Hockey League, and Garrett Burnett, who had six goals and 346 penalty minutes with Hartford in the AHL.