Is Vachon a Pretender to the Throne? : Hockey: Gretzky’s relationship with owner Bruce McNall casts the impression that King general manager has little more than a title.

According to other NHL general managers, the power behind the Kings’ throne is not Rogie Vachon.

Vachon’s peers see owner Bruce McNall and center Wayne Gretzky as the men to deal with in trades and other matters of substance. Vachon may do the drudge work and have the title, they say, but the major moves are suggested by Gretzky and no deal is made without his approval.

“Basically it’s looked at as Wayne runs the show,” one said. “Obviously, people think Rogie has his input, but there are situations that happen that he can’t control because of the relationship Wayne has with the owner. The line (after the trading deadline passed) was that LA didn’t make any trades because they couldn’t get hold of Wayne.”

Said another general manager of Vachon: “He’s looked on by the rest of the league as basically a puppet. He’s a nice person and he does the best he can under tough circumstances. He’s a guy with little to no background to have that job and he just rolls with the punches. People look at McNall as running the whole thing. Gretzky says what he thinks to McNall, and McNall tells Rogie to do it.”

Vachon has heard such comments before, and he listened to this latest round with a patient smile. He acknowledges that “everything goes around 99,” when the team makes a move, but he said Gretzky does not have absolute power.

“He doesn’t run the team,” Vachon said. “He doesn’t make the decisions and the trades. For everything he’s brought this franchise, when he has something to say, we have to listen. We’d be crazy not to ask his opinion. But if there’s a final decision to be made, I make it.

“He doesn’t say to me, ‘Do this and do that.’ We listen if he has something to say because he’s Wayne Gretzky. I can live with that.”

Whatever power Vachon has or doesn’t have, he has earned ample sympathy from his colleagues.

“Rogie is a nice guy. He’s hired by Jerry Buss and then a new owner (McNall) comes in and he wants to have a high profile. What’s poor Rogie supposed to do?” a third general manager said. “He either adjusts or loses his job. I think he’s done the right thing. These jobs pay $150,000 and up and there’s only 21 of us. . . . I hate to knock the guy. He’s adjusted to the circumstances involving his franchise.”

Rivals seem less sympathetic toward McNall. More than a few are rejoicing in the Kings’ struggles, glad that McNall’s millions and Gretzky’s expertise haven’t brought a winning season.

“Other GMs can sort of laugh at him because he spent all that money for Gretzky and the other guys (such as Larry Robinson and Barry Beck) for nothing because the team’s doing so badly,” the general manager of an Eastern team said of McNall. “He’s well liked. He’s a nice guy. But had they been leading the Smythe Division, people might resent him because of his money.”

Much as they resent McNall’s assets, they welcome his willingness to spend and the attention he has brought to a franchise in a major media center.

“You’ve got to give him credit for going out and getting the biggest player in the game and turning the team around, from a fiscal standpoint, and creating interest on the West Coast for expansion,” the general manager of a Campbell Conference team said. “You can’t overlook that they’ve certainly filled the building and made the franchise more valuable.”