Ducks Dealt Out of Comrie

The rights to unsigned Edmonton forward Mike Comrie were traded to the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday, Oiler General Manager Kevin Lowe apparently having decided against honoring an oral agreement he’d made with the Mighty Ducks.

The Oilers are getting defenseman Jeff Woywitka -- currently in the minors -- as well as a first-round pick in 2004 and a third-round pick in 2005.

Lowe had agreed to a trade with the Ducks for a prospect and a first-round draft pick. But that trade was held up when Lowe later demanded that Comrie pay the Oilers $2.535 million, saying that the deal did not address the Oilers’ immediate needs.

It is believed that Comrie was not asked to pay in the Philadelphia deal, which is not quite complete.

Comrie still must sign a contract, and under NHL rules, a trade is not consummated until after a conference call with league officials.

Still, Duck General Manager Bryan Murray was more than a little miffed.

Last week, Murray and Lowe apparently had agreed on a deal that would have sent prospect Corey Perry and the draft pick to Edmonton. That seemed a done deal when Comrie agreed to a two-year Duck contract worth a little more than $3 million, but Lowe’s insistence on Comrie’s paying the Oilers stalled the trade.

Lowe called Murray on Tuesday morning and asked that the deal be reworked to include a player currently on the Duck roster.

Murray refused to change the terms, then learned of the Philadelphia trade later from his staff.

“There is probably lots to be said, but I’ll just keep it to myself,” Murray said.

Murray, though, did elaborate on his disappointment.

“When you ask a general manager for something and it is agreed on, then usually you have a deal,” Murray said.

” ... I said [to Lowe], ‘I understand very clearly that until a conference call takes place, there is no trade.’

” ... [But] when I talk to a general manager and agree to a deal, it’s a deal.

“When you make a deal, you call 10, 12, 14 teams to try to get the best offer. You may not call the original general manager back for four or five days. When you call back and say, ‘We got a deal,’ then I assume you have done your search, this is what you like the best, then you make the deal.... And, uh, that didn’t happen.”

Lowe’s change of direction kept the underachieving Ducks from filling a need. Murray thought he had a player to inject a little offense into a team that has scored two or fewer goals in 18 of 31 games. Comrie scored 20 goals last season and 33 in 2001-02.

He has not played this season, after rejecting the Oilers’ $1.025-million qualifying offer. He demanded a trade during training camp.

Murray said he would explore other trades but only Sunday had observed, “There isn’t anything else out there I’m interested in right now.”

Instead, Murray said, he hoped that help could come from within.

“We have lots of players,” he said. “We just need a few of our players to do a little more.”

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Defenseman Sandis Ozolinsh, out four games because of a chest injury, skated briefly during Tuesday’s practice, but he was unsure whether he would be able to play against Colorado on Friday night at the Arrowhead Pond.... Rob Niedermayer, out seven games because of a groin injury, suffered a setback last week and has been unable to skate.