Is It a Real Deal? Crucial Meeting Set on Gretzky

WINNIPEG, Canada —  Amid intense speculation that his days with the Kings are nearing an end, Wayne Gretzky was to meet today in Los Angeles with Bob Sanderman, who represents the club on the NHL’s Board of Governors and is authorized to act on behalf of club owners Philip Anschutz and Edward Roski.

Gretzky’s agent, Mike Barnett, will also attend the meeting. It comes as indications mount that the Kings, unwilling to risk losing Gretzky as a free agent without compensation this summer, are prepared to trade him to St. Louis for junior forward Roman Vopat, Blue forwards Craig Johnson and Patrice Tardif and a 1997 first-round draft pick. That is, unless Gretzky assures them he is willing to remain through a lengthy rebuilding process.

Gretzky, 35, has said he wanted to see the Kings make moves to quickly improve their fortunes and enable him to play on another Stanley Cup winner before he retires. Their biggest deal since then was getting winger Kevin Stevens from the Boston Bruins for Rick Tocchet. They are 18-31-15 and stand three points out of the final Western Conference playoff berth.

“There are no guarantees in this business, but I can say I’m not going to get traded [Monday] or [Tuesday] morning,” Gretzky said before the Kings’ 4-3 loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Monday at the Winnipeg Arena. “I’m not going to get traded until I at least meet with the owners.”

Said Barnett: “I don’t think it’s going to happen [today]. We’ll see what the owners are thinking.”

The Kings’ charter flight was to arrive at LAX at 1:30 a.m. (Pacific Time) today. They are scheduled to practice at the Forum from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

When asked if Gretzky will be a member of the Kings in their next game, Wednesday at the Forum against the Tampa Bay Lightning, King General Manager Sam McMaster replied, “I can’t answer that question. There’s been no deal to show he won’t be.”

Several towering obstacles stand in the way of the Kings trading the NHL’s all-time leading scorer, including Gretzky’s refusal to give the Blues his marketing rights (income from his personal endorsements). The Blues want that money--which in some years has exceeded his salary--to subsidize his salary in St. Louis, which might be $21 million over three years.

Also, Barnett has not gotten permission from the Kings to negotiate with other clubs and McMaster said he didn’t anticipate granting Barnett permission “at the present time.” The Blues would likely want assurances they could sign Gretzky beyond this season before they would acquire him.

Gretzky said having a new contract would not be a prerequisite to his reporting to another club. However, he sounded a note of caution.

“I’m a professional and if I got traded, I’d go to wherever I got traded to,” he said. “But I would advise that it would be to the team’s benefit to talk to me first. If they don’t talk to me before they trade for me, I would be there. This is professional hockey, professional sports. I have no problem with that.”

The Blues may be eager enough to have him that they’d risk making the deal before talking to him. “We think we have ample time [to negotiate] once he gets here,” Blue President Jack Quinn said.

Another potential roadblock is a signing bonus the Kings are paying him. Sources said the Kings want the Blues to pay the prorated portion of the bonus, about $600,000, but the Blues balked. McMaster, who said he spoke to Quinn on Monday, would not comment on any aspects of a potential deal.

Blue General Manager/Coach Mike Keenan was not in St. Louis Monday. Sources varied on his whereabouts, one placing him Los Angeles, where he was said to be finalizing the trade, another in Florida, where he went to escape the frenzied trade rumors.

Gretzky was in the starting lineup at Winnipeg on Monday and had an assist. Rumors said he wouldn’t play in order to ensure he’s not injured when he joined the Blues. Other rumors had the Blues asking the Kings to hold Gretzky out of the lineup. McMaster denied having gotten such a request.

As he has said for the last month, Gretzky said Monday that he expects a resolution soon. Asked if his arrival would make the Blues a contender, he shrugged.

“It’s not one player. It takes 20 players to win,” he said. “Mike Keenan wants to win and that’s always nice . . . “

He said he would listen to Sanderman today and hasn’t ruled out staying in Los Angeles.

“It’s a great city, a great place to play, a great organization and great people, but timing is always an issue,” he said.

The Blues may not be the only suitor for Gretzky. Sources said Monday that the New York Rangers are still contenders, only a week after ending discussions on a deal that would have sent Luc Robitaille and Ray Ferraro to Los Angeles, but General Manager Neil Smith could not be reached for comment.

* Times staff writer Lisa Dillman contributed to this story from Los Angeles.