Fedorov Center of Attention

Sergei Fedorov makes his first appearance in eggplant and jade tonight, when the Mighty Ducks play the Kings in the exhibition opener for each team at Staples Center.

Signed during the off-season to a five-season deal after winning three Stanley Cups with Detroit, Fedorov will center the Ducks’ top line tonight -- just as he is expected to when the regular season begins Oct. 8.

Stanislav Chistov and Petr Sykora will skate on Fedorov’s wings tonight -- just as they might when the Ducks open their 11th NHL season against the Stars at Dallas.

With the exception of the top line and defensive pairs of Niclas Havelid and Vitaly Vishnevski and Ruslan Salei and Lance Ward, the rest of the Duck lineup tonight is heavy on inexperienced players eager to impress Coach Mike Babcock.

“A lot of people would say the team is already picked because of all the [guaranteed] contracts,” Babcock said. “But ice time is earned. The players decide it, not us, and we’ll keep watching them.”

Babcock had a second lineup set for Friday’s exhibition against the San Jose Sharks at the Arrowhead Pond but refused to divulge its makeup. He did say some veteran players would play in both games. The Ducks also play host to the Phoenix Coyotes on Sunday, when Babcock hopes to set the roster.

“By 8 o’clock Sunday, any gray areas should be worked out,” he said.

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Ziggy Palffy and Jozef Stumpel will not play for the Kings tonight. Both are resting groin injuries.

Jason Allison (concussion) and Adam Deadmarsh (groin, concussion) skated with a small group Wednesday morning. They will not play tonight.

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Stranded half a world away in Russia, Maxim Kuznetsov is probably having the worst training camp of any of the Kings.

Kuznetsov has been delayed near Moscow because U.S. Consulate officials said he had not paid a license reinstatement fee stemming from a drunk-driving charge more than five years ago while he was playing for Adirondack (N.Y.) in the Detroit Red Wings’ minor-league system.

Kuznetsov, a candidate to be the Kings’ fifth or sixth defenseman, has missed almost an entire week of camp and will miss at least one more week while he awaits final approval on a visa, King officials said Wednesday.

“He missed a lot of hockey last year with [a foot] injury and to not have training camp now ... it’s not good missing it, no question about it,” King Coach Andy Murray said. “Training camp is valuable or we wouldn’t have it.”

Kuznetsov, 26, played in 53 games for Detroit last season before being traded to the Kings in March in the Mathieu Schneider deal. He played three games with the Kings and was sidelined the rest of the season because of a broken right foot.

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Steve Rucchin, who underwent arthroscopic knee surgery Aug. 30, said he remains “on target” to begin practicing with Duck teammates next week and to play in exhibitions in two weeks.

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Mike Leclerc’s wife, Andi, gave birth to a baby girl named Chloe on Tuesday. Mother and child are doing fine, with the father sidelined until perhaps December after off-season arthroscopic knee surgery.

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Winger Corey Perry and defenseman Nathan Saunders were returned to their respective junior teams, trimming the Duck training camp roster to 52 players.

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Individual tickets for all King home games go on sale Saturday at 10 a.m. through Ticketmaster.