The Lindros Saga - Eric Lindros, hockey player for the New york Rangers

We present an objective look at Lindros' checkered past, muddled present, and uncertain future

NINE YEARS AFTER THEY fought the New York Rangers to the bitter end for the rights to Eric Lindros, the Philadelphia Flyers couldn't wait to send him to the Big Apple. And even after all that time, the Rangers were still happy to get him.

But should they have been? Or did Flyers GM Bob Clarke play Glen Sather, his Rangers counterpart, for a sucker by getting three players--a scoring forward, a useful defenseman, and a potential 50-goal scorer--for a player who's had six concussions and carries enough off-ice baggage to fill an 18-wheeler?

There is no immediate answer. Lindros began the season not having played an NHL game since May 2000, when a smashing-but-legal center-ice hit from New Jersey Devils defenseman Scott Stevens early in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals left him lying on the ice with his sixth concussion in a span of 27 months. The Rangers brass are painfully aware that another such hit could send Lindros to the sidelines for good--the same thing that happened to his younger brother Brett--leaving them with nothing to show from the trade.

But for Sather, whose team has missed the playoffs four years running, the risk was well worth the potential reward.

"I'm very comfortable with what we did," says Sather, the architect of the Edmonton Oilers' dynasty in the `80s. "You can be a lion maybe once in your life. If you don't make this deal, you're a mouse forever."

Lindros didn't come cheap. The Rangers forked over left wing Jan Hlavac, a 28-goal scorer last season; defenseman Kim Johnsson; and 20-year-old right wing Pavel Brendl, the fourth overall pick in the 1999 draft, plus a third-round pick in the 2003 draft. They also inked Lindros to a series of contracts that could be worth as much as $38 million over four years.

Lindros' goal now is to give the opposition the headaches.

"I look at this as something fresh," Lindros says of moving to New York. "I look at it as an opportunity to get Rangers hockey back on the map, get back to the playoffs, and cause some havoc."

Ironically, Lindros caused a lot of havoc the last time the Rangers were in the playoffs. That was 1997, when he played the best hockey of his career as the Flyers bounced the Blueshirts out of the Eastern Conference finals in five games. Lindros was everywhere, putting his stamp on the series in Game 4 when he shrugged off a check from his idol, Mark Messier, to score the clinching goal.

But the Stanley Cup victory that Flyers fans had anticipated ever since they obtained him in 1992 didn't materialize. Even though he wound up as the leading scorer in the 1997 playoffs, Lindros was a non-factor as the Flyers were swept by the Detroit Red Wings in the Finals. A year later, he was again neutralized, this time by the Buffalo Sabres, who ousted the Flyers in the first round. He missed the Flyers' 1999 first-round loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs due to a collapsed lung sustained in a late-season game against the Nashville Predators, then missed much of 1999-2000 due to the concussions.

Healthwise, Lindros was cleared to return to the ice last November. By then, however, he was a man without a team. The 6'5", 243-pound center, a restricted free agent after the 1999-2000 season ended, opted not to sign the $8.5 million qualifying offer tendered by the Flyers. But the team retained his rights--meaning that Lindros was stuck.

By that time, Lindros and the Flyers were irreparably split--Lindros and Clarke didn't speak for weeks during the 1999-2000 season. Clarke, one of Lindros' childhood heroes, accused the 1995 MVP's parents, Carl and Bonnie Lindros, of constantly meddling with the team. The breaking point came when Lindros ripped the team's medical staff for failing to diagnose his second concussion of the season on March 4, 2000. Clarke, who had given Lindros the captain's "C" at the tender age of 21 and was a key mover in naming him captain of the 1998 Canadian Olympic team, took away the captaincy. Lindros was effectively ostracized from the team until he returned for Games 6 and 7 against the Devils.

After being cleared to play a month into the 2000-01 campaign, Lindros said he would only play for Toronto, his hometown team. The Leafs and Flyers danced a pas de deux for months, filling reams of newsprint and acres of cyberspace with speculation about a trade only to find themselves unable to complete a deal. When it finally became apparent that there would be no deal with Toronto, Lindros widened his horizons, and Sather, who had long coveted him, finally worked out a deal with Clarke.

The trade does have some safeguards for the Rangers. If Lindros goes down with a concussion before the 50-game mark of the regular season and doesn't come back within 12 months, the Rangers get their third-rounder back, plus a No. 1 pick from the Flyers. The last three years of Lindros' contract. at about $9.5 million per season, aren't guaranteed, either--years two and three are at the club's option, and the fourth is a mutual option year.

The dilemma for the Rangers is simple: Which Lindros are they getting? The one who won the MVP award in 1995 and was regarded as one of the game's top 10 players for his unique combination of power, speed, and skill? Or the physically and mentally fragile player of whom Clarke said, "He hurt this organization. I could care less about him."

One thing that's sure to help Lindros is that this will not be his team. On Broadway, the captain's "C" belongs to Messier, so Lindros won't be asked to be a leader. "I think he maybe was put in that position a little too early in Philadelphia," says Messier, one of hockey's legendary leaders, who sees No. 88 as "the prototypical New York hockey player--he's a tough player, he plays hard every night, and he's physical."

Assuming Lindros stays healthy, he should reduce the burden on Messier, who appeared to wear down in midseason after logging too much ice time. Lindros, Messier, Petr Nedved, Mike York, and highly touted rookie Jamie Lundmark give the Rangers a deep corps of centers. Coach Ron Low may even be able to get the 40-year-old Messier to take a game off here and there, something he steadfastly refused to do last season.

Left unsaid is the Rangers' feeling that having Messier as a mentor will end the contentiousness with the front office that marked Lindros' stay with the Flyers. The Flyers, mired in one of the worst periods in team history when they landed Lindros in 1992, expected him to make them a Cup winner. He came close by getting the Flyers to the 1997 Finals, but in some ways, he never grew up--and when the Cups didn't arrive, both fans and the front office made him target No. 1.

In New York, says Messier, "He can just focus and not have to worry about all the outside things that encompassed him in Philadelphia."

Clarke has made it clear that he felt part of Lindros' problems were his parents. "He's 28. If he's going to continue to let his parents play a part in his life, that's up to him," Clarke says. "It didn't work here. Maybe it will work in New York."

The other key is health. For all his size and strength, Lindros is amazingly fragile. He's never played more than 73 games in a season, due to-an injury list that includes serious knee and shoulder problems, as well as the collapsed lung and concussions. In Lindros' eight non-lockout seasons, he's averaged just 55 games (but 73 points). It's no accident that Lindros' MVP award came in 1995, when the season was shortened to 48 games due to the lockout--that was the only season in which he didn't miss substantial time.

But Lindros, for one, isn't concerned about the past.

"I understand people are skeptical because of the concussion history," he says, "but I'll just have to win them over. I know that when I'm healthy, I can play this game--and I think I'm healthy."

The happiest guy in this whole affair may be Clarke. Not only does he get rid of a player he despised personally and thought could no longer help his team, he gets three players who could fill valuable roles on a team that figures to be a Cup contender.

Hlavac, 25, had a breakout year last season and appears to have more upside. He flourished playing with Nedved and Radek Dvorak on the "Czechmates," an all-Czech line that was one of the Rangers' few bright spots last season. He could slide in on one of the Flyers' top two units, or could find himself playing on the left of fellow Czech Jiri Dopita, regarded during the last few years as one of the best players in the world not playing in the NHL [For the skinny on Dopita, see our "Rising Stars" department beginning on page 12.]

Johnsson is a 25-year-old two-way defenseman with good puck-moving skills, The Rangers regarded him as expendable because they're loaded with young defenseman, but he'll add to an already deep blue-line corps.

The wild card is Brendl, selected two years ago by then-GM Neil Smith--not a point in Brendl's favor as the team looks to expunge Smith's memory. Brendl's skills as a scorer are beyond question; it's his work ethic that turned off the Rangers. He didn't show the dedication to conditioning needed to make the team last year, and reportedly was not in top shape at a prospects camp held by the Rangers before the trade was made. There is no doubt that Brendl is a premier talent; he's scored at every level and has the potential to be a 50-goal man. He also has the potential to be a huge bust--and at this point, the Rangers weren't willing to play a waiting game, not with a $60 million payroll and the potential of a fifth straight non-playoff season on the horizon.

"We've got a world-class player that dropped into our laps," goaltender Mike Richter says of Lindros. "Those players don't come around very often. The rare combination of size, aggressiveness, and skill he has--we're lucky to have him."

As long as he stays in one piece.

RELATED ARTICLE: "Who Got the Better of the Trade?"

The Rangers Win If:

* Lindros stays healthy and returns to his pre-injury form, On proven ability, he's the best player in the deal,

* Brendl is a bust. He's the wild card in the deal

The Flyers Win If:

* Lindros sustains another concussion. It could be the last.

* Brendl turns into a major scorer. The Flyers may have to be patient, but the talent is there.

* Hlavac continues his development into a 30-plus goal-scorer, He has yet to reach his full potential.

RELATED ARTICLE: "Advantage Avalanche"

WHILE LINDROS NEVER LED THE PHILADELPHIA FLYERS TO THE STANLEY CUP, THE players and picks the Flyers dealt to the Quebec Nordiques (who later became the Colorado Avalanche) that fateful June day in 1992 are still paying dividends. Last spring, the Avs won their second Stanley Cup in the last six years. Here's a look at the eight players and picks the Nordiques received, and how Quebec/Colorado was able to parlay the trade into the nucleus of two championship teams.

Peter Forsberg, Colorado

Even though he's taking the year off to further recover from a ruptured spleen, he's still one of the elite players in the game. Alone, his career has outshone Lindros'.

Mike Ricci, San Jose

A key member of Colorado's 1996 championship team, the Avs dealt the gutty center to the Sharks for a 1998 first-round pick, which they used to draft Alex Tanguay, who at 22 has enormous upside.

Jocelyn Thibault, Chicago

Quebec picked Thibault with a 1993 first-round pick obtained from the Flyers, and then swapped goalies in 1995 with Montreal, bringing the legendary Patrick Roy to the Mile High City.

Chris Simon, Washington

Simon won a Cup with Colorado in 1996 and then was traded to Washington for Keith Jones, who was subsequently dealt for two members of the Avs' 2001 title-winning squad, Shjon Podein and Scott Parker.

Steve Duchense, Detroit

See if you can follow this: Duchense was traded to St. Louis for three players including Garth Butcher, who was then traded to Toronto for Wendel Clark and others. Clark was dealt to the Islanders for Claude Lemieux, a key member of the 1996 title squad. Ron Sutter also came over in the St. Louis trade. Sutter was dealt to the Islanders for among others Uwe Krupp, another big contributor to the 1996 run.

Ron Hextall, retired

Played one season in Quebec and then was dealt to the Islanders for Adam Deadmarsh, who was dealt last spring by Colorado to Los Angles as part of the blockbuster trade-deadline deal that brought Rob Blake to the Avs.

Kerry Huffman, retired

Huffman was traded for Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, and ... OK, we just wanted to see if you were still with us. In reality, Huffman was placed on waivers after playing 80 games with the Nordiques.

Norman Baumgartner, Minors

Philly's 1994 first-round pick was dealt to Washington via Toronto, who picked Baumgartner, a defender who's bounced up and down from the minors with the Capitals and Blackhawks.

COPYRIGHT 2001 Century Publishing
COPYRIGHT 2001 Gale Group