Leclerc Pushing for Spot

There were days over the summer when Duck left wing Mike Leclerc didn’t really feel like working out. One thing got him off the couch.

“After three years of being up and down, mostly down, it gets a little old,” Leclerc said. “I wanted to be in the NHL. It was always in the back of my mind. So even on the days I felt tired, I went and worked out.”

The diligence seems to have paid off. Leclerc has made cameos with the Ducks the last three seasons--five games in 1996-97, seven games in 1997-98 and seven games last season. He may have earned a larger role with his play in training camp.

The final cuts creep ever closer, but Leclerc may not have to worry about that.

He has played well on the Ducks’ third line, with Jeff Nielsen and Antti Aalto. It is a unit that has stayed intact throughout the exhibition season, while Coach Craig Hartsburg mixed and matched his other lines.

Not that Leclerc is a lock, but he has shown abilities the Ducks can use.

“He’s been quicker, more physical and more persistent,” Hartsburg said. “If he stops being physical and persistent, he won’t be able to play in this league. But if he does those things, he has the ability to be a good player.”

Whether it is with the Ducks this season remains to be seen. Hartsburg said the next three days will go a long way toward determining who fills the final few roster spots. The Ducks play at Phoenix tonight and at Colorado Monday.

Leclerc, though, is in a good position. It is a big change from last season when he was ticketed for Cincinnati, the Ducks’ minor league affiliate, almost from the start.

“This is my fourth year as a professional and I have had a little taste of [the NHL],” said Leclerc, a third-round pick in 1995. “That just made me want it a little more.

“I stayed here this summer and worked out. Jason Marshall and Steve Rucchin and some of the other guys were around. It helped to work out with NHL players. I’m really finishing off my checks this year.”

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There are only a few decisions Hartsburg still has to make regarding the roster. The conditions of Paul Kariya and defenseman Kevin Haller will come into play.

“We have to see when those guys are ready,” Hartsburg said. “We still don’t know if Kevin will be able to play against Dallas [on opening night].”

Haller, who is recovering from knee surgery, worked out with the defensemen for half an hour Friday. Kariya, who has an injured left hip, did not skate.

“The way Paul is smiling and the way he is talking, you can tell the healing process is going good,” Teemu Selanne said. “The first game will be the hardest. When you come back, you always want to get that first game out of the way.”

Meanwhile, the Ducks exposed four players to Monday’s waiver draft--defenseman Scott Ferguson and forwards Peter LeBoutillier, Jeremy Stevenson and Bob Wren.