Rights to Quintal Cost Team Nothing

By Mike Bresnahan

June 28, 2004 12 AM PT

Times Staff Writer

The Kings weren’t quite done dealing with the Montreal Canadiens, acquiring the rights to veteran defenseman Stephane Quintal for a reasonable cost -- nothing -- on the second day of the NHL draft.

The Kings, who obtained goaltender Mathieu Garon from the Canadiens on the first day of the draft, did not part with any players or draft picks Sunday to get the rights to Quintal, who could become an unrestricted free agent Thursday.

The Canadiens did not plan on signing Quintal, 35, so the Kings asked them for permission to talk with Quintal’s agent, Pat Brisson of Los Angeles. The Kings are expected to sign Quintal to a one-year contract in the next day or two, albeit at significantly less than the $1.5 million he made last year.

Quintal, 6 feet 3 and 233 pounds, is a stay-at-home defenseman who will get time on King penalty-killing units. He had three goals, five assists and 82 penalty minutes in 73 games last season, and his plus-10 rating was second-highest among Montreal defensemen.

“We feel he’d be a good fit with some of the more mobile and offensive-minded guys we’ve got on our blue line,” King General Manager Dave Taylor said.

Quintal has 63 goals and 180 assists in 1,037 games over 16 seasons. He has 1,320 career penalty minutes.

As for the draft’s final day, the Kings took four forwards and three goaltenders in rounds four through nine. Their highest pick was fourth-rounder Ned Lukacevic, an 18-year-old Serbian right wing who had 19 goals and 14 assists in 72 games for Spokane of the Western Hockey League last season.

“Lukacevic has good size, speed and top offensive ability,” said Al Murray, the Kings’ director of amateur scouting. “Overall, when you get the right guy in the first round, it makes everything else go easier. We feel that we did that by selecting [Finnish right wing] Lauri Tukonen. From that point, all of the players we took will take a couple of years to develop in their respective situations, but we feel that we selected good prospects with good upside.”

In the eighth round, the Kings selected goaltender Yutaka Fukufuji, believed to be the only Japanese-born player ever drafted by the Kings. Fukufuji went 0-3-2 with a 3.61 goals-against average for the Japanese national team in the world championships.

(Begin Text of Infobox)

Newest King

The Kings acquired the rights to 16-year veteran Stephane Quintal from Montreal:

* Position: Defenseman.

* Height: 6-3.

* Weight: 233 pounds.

* Drafted: 1987, 1st round (14th overall) by the Boston Bruins.

* Age: 35.

* Native: Boucherville, Quebec.

TEAMS PLAYED FOR

* 1988-91...Boston Bruins

* 1991-92...St. Louis Blues