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VOORHEES, N.J. -- Eric Lindros might be better off if an
arbitrator decides his future one more time.
Lindros, who came to the Philadelphia Flyers in a trade in 1992
after a ruling by arbitrator Larry Bertuzzi, has been cleared to
resume playing nearly six months after his sixth concussion.
The problem this time is finding him a team. Eight years ago,
Lindros had plenty of suitors and Bertuzzi had to rule whether the
Flyers or New York Rangers had acquired him first in a trade with
the Quebec Nordiques.
The 27-year-old restricted free agent said Tuesday he wants to
play for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
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Tue, Nov. 28
This will be extremely interesting. The teams involved will be Toronto, Los Angeles and New York -- Rangers, not Islanders. Eric grew up in the Toronto area, so for him, it would be a great fit. Every kid that grows up in Toronto dreams of playing for the Leafs.
What the Flyers get for him is the real question. They will want a front-line player instead of picks. The teams that can afford Lindros will already be playoff teams. That means they will be low in the draft order, and their picks won't be very attractive to the Flyers. Lindros won't come cheap. In Toronto, that might mean Mats Sundin or Sergei Berezin. Or perhaps they will go after one or two of the Leafs' fine young defensemen like Danny Markov. Philadelphia could use help along the blue line and Toronto has some fine players available, perhaps in a package.
Working against the Flyers, there is the uncertain nature of Lindros' health. If a team gives up a great player for a guy who ends up playing 10 games, they will look very stupid.
For fans in Canada, Lindros in Toronto is like a dream come true. Local boy goes to a tradition-rich Canadian franchise with a chance to lead them to the Stanley Cup. For the overall health of the game, it might be better if he went to the Kings or the Rangers. Eric Lindros in New York? Interesting indeed.
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Flyers general manager Bob Clarke responded by saying he hasn't
spoken to any team about Lindros.
But Toronto general manager Pat Quinn later said he had
discussions with the Flyers as recently as Saturday regarding a
deal for the star center.
Hockey's most compelling soap opera continues.
"We haven't had any offers at all from any team for Eric,"
Clarke said from the team's practice facility. "We're certainly
not going to try and stop Eric from playing in the National Hockey
League, but we are going to make the best deal with any club that
we can for the Flyers."
Lindros rejected an $8.5 million qualifying offer from the
Flyers last summer, recently declined to meet with Clarke to
discuss his future and made it clear he will not return to
Philadelphia because of a contentious relationship with the general
manager.
"I'd really like to play in Toronto," Lindros said after an
on-ice workout at York University in Toronto. "It's a great
organization, a great city and being from here, it just seems to be
a good fit."
Clarke doesn't appear in any hurry to find a new team for his
former captain.
"Eric may want to play in Toronto, but that may not happen,"
Clarke said. "First of all, Toronto has to say they want him, and
they have to give us compensation for him, and they have to be able
to sign him.
"If someone comes along whether it's the Rangers or somebody
else and offers us more than what somebody else has offered, we'll
go with the best deal for the club."
Lindros said Clarke told him "to go find a deal."
"I think things are warming up," Lindros said.
But Clarke denied even speaking to Lindros.
"He's a free agent. I certainly wouldn't let him put a deal
together," Clarke said. "I wouldn't let anybody put a deal
together for our team. He can talk to any team he wants, but he's
not putting a deal together for us."
Lindros hasn't played since May 26, when a check by New Jersey's
Scott Stevens gave him his sixth concussion in slightly more than
two years. It was only his second game after a 2½-month absence
because of postconcussion syndrome.
"Is a healthy Eric Lindros of interest to us? You bet." Quinn
said. "Playing the way Eric plays, yes certainly. But under the
circumstances, nobody can guarantee that sort of thing and we're
not about to take all the risk in this."
Bill Watters, assistant to the Leafs president, said any deal
for Lindros had to include conditions.
"The only condition that has to be is that all three
stakeholders -- the Philadelphia Flyers, the Lindros group, and the
acquiring team -- have to share the risk equally," Watters said.
"If that balance is not there then there's no deal."
Lindros' former teammates are tired of the distractions, and
have put the situation behind them.
"You'll have to talk to Eric. I don't want to get into it,"
said John LeClair, a good friend and former linemate of Lindros.
"We have a game against Columbus tomorrow and he's not playing."
Flyers coach Craig Ramsay joked that the team could use the
distraction. Philadelphia got within one game of the Stanley Cup
finals last spring despite constant turmoil surrounding the
organization.
"We seem to function better under those conditions," Ramsay
said. "It will be (a distraction) because everybody will ask a lot
about him, but we'll deal with it."
Lindros had 28 goals and 32 assists in 57 games last season,
including four periods of the playoffs. He has made six All-Star
teams and won the MVP award in 1995, but the Flyers lost in their
only Stanley Cup final with him.
Lindros' relationship with Clarke reached a point last season
where the two didn't speak for months.
The boiling point came after Lindros criticized the team's
medical staff for failing to diagnose his second concussion of the
season on March 4.
Clarke then stripped Lindros of his captaincy, and the franchise
player was ostracized until he returned for Games 6 and 7 of the
Eastern Conference finals against New Jersey.
"I don't like what Eric did to this club, but my responsibility
is to the Flyers, not to Eric Lindros and we're going to do what's
right for the Flyers," Clarke said.
The Los Angeles Kings are interested.
"I think we'll inquire, yes," general manager Dave Taylor said
in New York, where the Kings played the Rangers on Tuesday night.
"We'll probably wait for him to call us," said Rangers GM Glen
Sather.
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