Daigneault Will Remain a Duck

The Mighty Ducks agreed to terms with veteran defenseman J.J. Daigneault Thursday, in the first major move to solidify a team that reached the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs last season.

Daigneault, an unrestricted free agent entering his 13th NHL season, received a three-year contract worth less than $1 million per year, Duck General Manager Jack Ferreira said.

Daigneault appeared in 31 games with the Mighty Ducks last season after being acquired in February from Pittsburgh for left wing Garry Valk. He had two goals and nine assists, but his ability to move the puck improved the Ducks’ power play.

For the season, Daigneault had five goals and 23 assists. He had a seven-game point streak with Anaheim, the longest by a defenseman in Mighty Duck history.

Daigneault’s playoff experience also paid off. He was a member of the Montreal Canadien team that won the Stanley Cup in 1993. Last season, Daigneault’s third-period goal broke a 2-2 tie in Game 2 against the Phoenix Coyotes in the first round. The Ducks went on to win the game, 4-2, and the series in seven games.

He ranked eighth among NHL defenseman in scoring during the 1997 playoffs with nine points in 11 games.

For Ferreira, the signing was among the first positive steps in a frustrating summer.

Deals with goalie Guy Hebert and left wing Paul Kariya have not materialized, leaving two of the Ducks’ most important players unsigned. Defensemen David Karpa and Dmitri Mironov are also unsigned. On top of that, the team remains in a stalemate with the Calgary Flames over coach Pierre Page.

Ferreira met with Brian Cook, Hebert’s agent, last week, but the two have not talked since. Ferreira said he expects to talk with Cook before Hebert’s Aug. 11 arbitration hearing. But a source said that arbitration is becoming more likely.

The Ducks offered Kariya, the third-leading scorer in the NHL last season, a five-year, $25-million deal. But there have been no talks between the two sides, according to a source. Mark Messier’s three-year, $18-million deal with the Vancouver Canucks may have upped the price the Ducks will have to pay for Kariya.

Kariya is a restricted free agent and the Ducks have the right to match any offer from another team.

“This is not unusual for this time of year,” Ferreira said. “You toss up eight balls and eventually all will come down. Some just take a little more time.”

Page, meanwhile, remains the Ducks’ choice to follow Ron Wilson, but they have not been able to work out a compensation deal with the Flames. The two sides resumed talks last week.

Page, who sold his home in Calgary, was expecting to move to Southern California next week, but he said those plans have been put on hold. Page, who resigned as the Flames’ coach after the season, cannot take a job with a division rival until after Oct. 1 because of an agreement with the Flames.