Ozolinsh Gets 2-Year Duck Deal

Defenseman Sandis Ozolinsh, who was a catalyst in the Mighty Ducks’ run to the Stanley Cup finals in 2003 but sat out most of the 2003-04 season because of a shoulder injury, agreed to a two-year contract with the team Friday and gave up a chance at unrestricted free agency.

The native of Latvia, who will turn 33 next week, will earn $2.75 million a year. He was to have earned $5.5 million in the wiped-out 2004-05 season.

A superb passer and excellent skater, Ozolinsh stands to benefit from the NHL’s new offense-friendly rules and its promised crackdown on obstruction.

“If the league is serious, and I believe they are, puck-moving defensemen should be at a premium,” General Manager Brian Burke said by phone from Ottawa, where he’s preparing for today’s entry draft.

“We went right at him, and as soon as we were able to, we told him he would stay. He’s excited about what I call Mighty Duck hockey, as far as the style I want to play.”

The Ducks also traded their second-round draft pick, the 59th overall, to the Philadelphia Flyers for left wing Todd Fedoruk, who had four goals, 16 points and 142 penalty minutes in 42 games with the American Hockey League’s Philadelphia Phantoms last season.

Burke said the 6-foot-2, 235-pound Fedoruk, whose nickname is “Fridge,” is an above-average skater who will keep opponents honest. “He’s a physical player who can play in your top nine forwards and is a devastating body checker,” Burke said.

The Ducks kept the second-round pick (31st overall) they acquired from Tampa Bay for Vaclav Prospal.

Burke also said he wouldn’t give qualifying offers to two or three restricted free agents but wouldn’t identify them. Sunday is the final day to extend qualifying offers; the free-agency period begins Monday.

Bruising defenseman Ruslan Salei and forwards Mike Leclerc, Rob Niedermayer and Sammy Pahlsson are all but certain to get qualifying offers, but forward Stanislav Chistov and defenseman Martin Skoula might not.

The Kings signed left wing Ryan Flinn to a one-year contract after he spent last season with Manchester of the AHL.