Kings Retreat, Ducks Charge

TAMPA, Fla. — Effectively raising a white flag on an injury-ravaged season, the Kings jettisoned two of their top three scorers Tuesday.

In the final hours before the NHL trading deadline, defenseman Mathieu Schneider was dealt to the defending Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings and forward Bryan Smolinski was sent to the league-leading Ottawa Senators.

Schneider, 33, fetched center Sean Avery, 22, defenseman Maxim Kuznetsov, a first-round pick in the June draft and a second-round pick in 2004. The additional choice gives the Kings three first-round picks in this year’s draft, which insiders believe ranks among the deepest in NHL history.

Smolinski, 31, brought the rights to Tim Gleason, a 20-year-old defenseman who was a first-round pick by the Senators in 2001.

Schneider was second among the Kings with 43 points in 65 games, while Smolinski was third with 38 points in 58.

But Schneider is due $3.75 million next season in the final year of his contract and Smolinski is eligible for unrestricted free agency this summer.

With recently signed defensemen Mattias Norstrom and Aaron Miller due to be paid nearly $9 million between them next season, the Kings believed that they couldn’t afford to also keep the high-priced Schneider.

Also, General Manager Dave Taylor believed that the package of players and draft picks offered by the Red Wings was too good to pass up.

As for Smolinski, they had no intention of signing him to a long-term deal and didn’t want to lose him this summer with only a compensatory draft pick in return.

“If we were sitting in fifth or sixth position, it might be a different story,” Taylor said during a conference call from El Segundo. “We’d have to reconsider.”

But with the Kings sitting in 11th place in the Western Conference, 10 points out of a playoff position with only 13 games to play starting tonight against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Taylor turned his attention to the future.

“We feel that we gave up a couple of pretty good players,” he said. “What will be key to us and key to our future is having these young players pan out and particularly having some success with these draft choices as we move forward.”

Avery, who has split his time between the NHL and the minors this season, has scored seven goals in 75 games with the Red Wings, five in 39 games this season to go along with 120 penalty minutes.

Kuznetsov, 25, is a comer, Taylor said, a 6-foot-5, 235-pound Russian who played in a career-high 53 games for the Red Wings this season.

Gleason, Taylor said, is a “very dynamic skater” who plays a gritty style. “We think he has a pretty good upside and a good future,” Taylor added.

Schneider expressed mixed emotions about moving on.

“If there was one team that I wanted to go to it was Detroit,” he said from his Manhattan Beach home. “Otherwise, my feeling was, I wanted to stay. But I’m definitely excited about having a chance to play in the playoffs and win the Stanley Cup. You can’t ask for much more than that.”

Schneider was informed of the trade in the morning and stayed behind as the Kings flew to Tampa for the start of a three-game trip.

Smolinski, however, was on the flight and wasn’t told he had been traded until the Kings were halfway across the country. Coach Andy Murray delivered the news. Smolinski’s agent, Pat Brisson, said his client was “heartbroken.”

Not that Smolinski was surprised, considering the Kings made little effort to re-sign him.

Miller, however, was caught off-guard.

One day after signing a four-year, $14-million contract extension with the Kings, in part because he wanted to remain part of a strong nucleus, he watched management dismantled the club’s core.

Calling it a “horrible” day, Miller said, “I think this organization is going to do things to help us win. Today maybe was not one of those days. But they made a commitment to me and when they did I felt they were committed to winning.

“Let’s see where it goes from here.”

The veteran defenseman, who is making $1.7 million this season in the last year of a two-year, $3.3-million contract, will make 2 1/2 times that much next season, when his salary increases to $4.25 million under the terms of his new deal.

He will be paid $3.25 million during the 2004-05 season, $3.5 million in 2005-06 and $3 million in 2006-07.