When rounding up the usual suspects before the NHL's March 11 trade deadline, put an asterisk next to center Vincent Damphousse for two reasons.

A) He has a no-trade clause, which means he could veto any deal not to his liking.

B) He has a player option on his contract for next season, which means he is not the prototype of the unrestricted free agent whom playoff contenders can rent without further obligation.

Damphousse's preference is staying with the Sharks. But he also made it clear that he wants to play for a contender.

``I don't want to be on a rebuilding team,'' Damphousse said. ``The Stanley Cup has always been the focus here. What happens in the next couple of weeks will be a good indication of what direction the team is going.''

Teams that would be interested in acquiring Damphousse, second on the Sharks with 47 points, figure to be upper-echelon clubs in search of additional offense.

If it came to that point, Damphousse said he would be looking more at the Sharks than the potential destination when considering his no-trade power.

``The reason I re-signed with the team was because it was very aggressive about winning the Stanley Cup,'' Damphousse said. ``What I'm going to look at is what the team is going to do, what direction they're going to go. There are a lot of rumors about trading key players.

``I want to play here and stay here and be successful. We have the players to turn it around next year. We have the tools to do it. I don't think we have to start from scratch.''