Ducks Do More Dealing Than Drafting : Hockey: Anaheim trades Loney and Hill, gets Kurvers from Islanders to help power play.

HARTFORD, Conn. â€”  The Mighty Ducks traded their first captain, Troy Loney, during the second day of the NHL entry draft Wednesday, and in a separate deal parted with defenseman Sean Hill, the player who scored the team’s first goal.

But they came away with veteran New York Islander defenseman Tom Kurvers, who they hope will inject some offense into a power play that was often powerless last season.

“To me, he’s one of the best point men on the power play playing in the league,� said Duck Coach Ron Wilson, whose team’s power-play efficiency of 14.4% was the worst in the NHL. “We’ll certainly miss Troy’s personality in the room and his toughness in the corners, but we had to do it to get something we needed last year. We certainly needed to do something.�

Kurvers, 31, who had nine goals and 40 points in 66 games last season and has played 637 games for six NHL teams, was acquired for Loney in a deal that didn’t involve any draft picks. With the addition of Kurvers and first-round pick Oleg Tverdovsky, if he is ready, Wilson said the Ducks’ power play has been improved “tremendously.�

The Ducks sent Hill, 24, to Ottawa along with their ninth-round pick for the Senators’ third-round pick, which General Manager Jack Ferreira then sent to Tampa Bay for a later third-round pick as well as a fourth-round pick in 1995. It was Hill who scored the first goal in Duck history at 4:13 of the second period of 7-2 opening-night loss to Detroit last October. He finished the season with a career-high 27 points but was sometimes a defensive liability.

The Ducks now have said goodby to three players who had key roles in the birth of their franchise, with Loney and Hill following Ron Tugnutt, who was in goal for the team’s first victory and was later traded to Montreal.

“I loved it in Anaheim. I had a great time,� said Loney, 30, who had 13 goals and 19 points in 62 games last season, sitting out about a quarter of the season because of a knee injury. “(The trade) is quite a shock. It came out of the blue.�

The Kings’ second day was a quiet one, but they left elated with their picks in the first three rounds, adding Russian winger Vitali Yachmenev in the third Wednesday.

Yachmenev, 18, came to North America last year to play for North Bay in the Ontario Hockey League and continue learning English. He put up striking offensive numbers--61 goals and 113 points in 66 games. His flaw is considered to be his 5-foot-9, 180-pound build.

“He’s a prolific goal-scorer,� said King General Manager Sam McMaster, who previously was general manager at Sudbury in the OHL and used five of the team’s eight picks on OHL players--including the top three. “(Yachmenev) will go back to North Bay next year and he’ll have an excellent opportunity to move in after a year in the minors.�

The coup of the Kings’ draft was getting goalie Jamie Storr in the first round--a player many observers think will be a franchise goalie. Somewhat lost in the shuffle was Matt Johnson, a 6-5, 225-pound winger who can hardly get lost in any crowd.

“He’s a monster,� said King Coach Barry Melrose, who has long pushed for more size in the organization and now has the player acknowledged to be the biggest in the draft.

Even with the return of Marty McSorley and the prospect of adding some other physical players--the Kings are considering pursuing Detroit’s Bob Probert, who becomes a restricted free agent on Friday--Melrose isn’t ruling out the chance Johnson could be in the NHL next season.

“I told Matt he should come to camp with the idea of making the L.A. Kings,� Melrose said. “He’s got to be an enforcer and take the heat off Marty.

“He’s the type of player who can develop at the NHL level as well as at the junior level.�

Johnson’s 233 penalty minutes playing with Peterborough in the OHL are an indication of his fighting ability. Though McMaster says he is “not a goon,� Johnson’s skating and other skills are somewhat more limited.

“He’s the toughest guy in the draft,� one scout said. “If he had the whole package at 6-5, you’d be looking at Brett Lindros.�

McMaster’s first draft definitely bore his OHL stamp, and he chose two of his former players from Sudbury--seventh-rounder Luc Gagne and eighth-rounder Andrew Dale.

“If they prove me right, we got two bona fide players late,� McMaster said. “If they prove me wrong, it’s a seventh and an eighth pick. I wouldn’t take a chance on inside information in the second or third round, but in the seventh or eighth, it’s all up-side.�