Eric Lindros trade
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The Eric Lindros trade was the culmination of a holdout by Eric Lindros from the Quebec Nordiques of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Nordiques selected Lindros in the
1991 NHL Entry Draft The 1991 NHL Entry Draft was the 29th NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 22 at the Memorial Auditorium in Buffalo, New York. A total of 264 players were drafted. The worst team in the previous 1990–91 season, the Quebec Nordiques, was give ...
with the first overall selection, but Lindros refused to play for them. After holding out from Quebec for a year, the Nordiques agreed to two trades involving Lindros at the onset of the
1992 NHL Entry Draft The 1992 NHL Entry Draft was the 30th NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 20 at the Montreal Forum in Montreal, Quebec. A total of 264 players were drafted. The last active player in the NHL from this draft class was Sergei Gonchar, who retire ...
, one with the Philadelphia Flyers and one with the New York Rangers. An arbitrator ruled in favour of the Flyers on June 30, 1992. Lindros played for the Flyers until 2001. He was awarded the Hart Memorial Trophy as the league's
Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...
in 1995; however, the Flyers never won the
Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...
with Lindros, only ever reaching the Stanley Cup Finals in
1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...
. The Nordiques, who moved to Denver, Colorado, and became the Colorado Avalanche, won the Stanley Cup in
1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...
and
2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...
with contributions from players acquired in the Lindros trade, including Peter Forsberg and Mike Ricci. The Rangers also won the
1994 Stanley Cup The 1994 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1993–94 season, and the culmination of the 1994 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested between the Eastern Conference champion New York Rangers and ...
with some of the players that they originally offered in exchange for Lindros, including Alexei Kovalev and
Mike Richter Michael Thomas Richter (born September 22, 1966) is an American former professional ice hockey goaltender. He played his entire career with the New York Rangers organization, and led the team to the Stanley Cup in 1994. He also represented the Un ...
. Lindros himself, however, retired having never hoisted the Cup.


Background

As an amateur, Lindros played
junior ice hockey Junior hockey is a level of competitive ice hockey generally for players between 16 and 21 years of age. Junior hockey leagues in the United States and Canada are considered amateur (with some exceptions) and operate within regions of each cou ...
for the
Oshawa Generals The Oshawa Generals are a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League. They are based in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. The team is named for General Motors, an early sponsor (commercial), sponsor which has its Canadian headquarters in Oshawa. ...
of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). He had been selected by the
Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds The Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (often shortened to Soo Greyhounds) are a Junior ice hockey#Major junior, major junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League. The Greyhounds play home games at the GFL Memorial Gardens. The present team was ...
of the OHL, but he refused to play for them, and was traded to Oshawa. This led to a rule change that allowed players to play closer to their home. He led the Generals to the Memorial Cup in 1990, and won the Red Tilson Trophy, given to the Most Outstanding Player in the OHL, in 1991. That year, he was named the
Canadian Hockey League The Canadian Hockey League (CHL; french: Ligue canadienne de hockey ‒ LCH) is an umbrella organization that represents the three Canada-based major junior ice hockey leagues. The CHL was founded in 1975 as the Canadian Major Junior Hockey L ...
(CHL) Player of the Year and won the
CHL Top Draft Prospect Award The CHL Top Draft Prospect Award is given out every year to the top eligible prospect player in the Canadian Hockey League for the annual NHL Entry Draft. The award was first given in 1991, but not awarded from 2003 to 2005. The Quebec Major J ...
. Lindros was considered the best
prospect Prospect may refer to: General * Prospect (marketing), a marketing term describing a potential customer * Prospect (sports), any player whose rights are owned by a professional team, but who has yet to play a game for the team * Prospect (mining ...
available in the
1991 NHL Entry Draft The 1991 NHL Entry Draft was the 29th NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 22 at the Memorial Auditorium in Buffalo, New York. A total of 264 players were drafted. The worst team in the previous 1990–91 season, the Quebec Nordiques, was give ...
, and received the nickname "
The Next One The Next One is a nickname found in ice hockey attached to a new, up and coming player, who is deemed to have the capacity for being a top, sport-dominating player, akin to Gordie Howe, Wayne Gretzky, Maurice Richard and Mario Lemieux. List of " ...
", as a possible successor to Wayne Gretzky, known as "The Great One". The Quebec Nordiques, who won 26 games combined in the 1989–90 and 1990–91 seasons, held the first overall selection in the draft for the third consecutive year. They had selected Mats Sundin and
Owen Nolan Owen Liam Nolan (born 12 February 1972) is a Northern Irish-born, Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He was drafted first overall by the Quebec Nordiques in the 1990 NHL Entry Draft. During his 18-year NHL career, he played for t ...
in the previous two drafts, and also had rising star Joe Sakic. However, Lindros stated before the draft that he would hold out and refuse to play for Quebec. It was widely speculated that Lindros wanted to play in an English-speaking area that would present him with more endorsement opportunities, although Lindros himself insisted later that he was motivated solely by antipathy toward Nordiques owner Marcel Aubut. The Nordiques selected Lindros despite the warning. He asked for a $3 million annual salary with the hopes that Quebec would trade him. Rather than sign with Quebec, he returned to Oshawa for the 1991–92 season and represented Canada in the
1992 Winter Olympics ) , nations = 64 , athletes = 1,801 (1313 men, 488 women) , events = 57 in 6 sports (12 disciplines) , opening = 8 February 1992 , closing = 23 February 1992 , opened_by = President François Mitterrand , cauldron ...
. Meanwhile, Lindros reportedly rejected a 10-year contract offer worth at least $50 million from the Nordiques in March 1992, although, Quebec denied making the offer.
Gord Kirke Gordon I. Kirke (born 1945/1946) is a Canadian sports and entertainment lawyer, university professor, and regular commentator on radio and television. He is a graduate of the Osgoode Hall Law School, and has Bachelor of Laws and Master of Law ...
acted as legal counsel to Lindros during this time, and led contract negotiations. Kirke later stated about the incident that, "There were all kinds of allegations of Eric being anti-Quebec. But I knew it to be absolutely false. It had more to do with the management of the team". By June 1992, the Nordiques announced that they were moving towards trading Lindros, and were engaged in trade discussions with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Calgary Flames,
New Jersey Devils The New Jersey Devils are a professional sports, professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey. The Devils compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern ...
, Philadelphia Flyers, and
Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...
. The Red Wings were reported to be willing to trade
Steve Yzerman Stephen Gregory Yzerman (; born May 9, 1965) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player currently serving as executive vice president and general manager of the Detroit Red Wings, with whom he spent all 22 seasons of his NHL playing c ...
, Steve Chiasson, and numerous draft picks to the Nordiques for Lindros. Yzerman indicated that he would also hold out from the Nordiques, should Detroit trade him to Quebec.


Competing trades

On June 20, 1992, at the onset of the
1992 NHL Entry Draft The 1992 NHL Entry Draft was the 30th NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 20 at the Montreal Forum in Montreal, Quebec. A total of 264 players were drafted. The last active player in the NHL from this draft class was Sergei Gonchar, who retire ...
, the Nordiques entered into a verbal agreement on a trade involving Lindros with the Flyers. The trade was contingent on Lindros agreeing to play in Philadelphia. The Nordiques permitted
Russ Farwell Russ Farwell (born April 20, 1956 in Peace River, Alberta) is the owner, governor, and general manager of the Seattle Thunderbirds of the Western Hockey League. He is most well known for his stint as general manager of the Philadelphia Flyers from 1 ...
, the general manager of the Flyers, to call Lindros to discuss whether or not Lindros would be willing to play for the Flyers, and he received assurance that Lindros considered Philadelphia to be acceptable. Within 80 minutes of agreeing to a trade with Farwell, Marcel Aubut, the president of the Nordiques, had second thoughts about the trade with Philadelphia and verbally agreed to trade Lindros to the New York Rangers. The Flyers offer was reported to include Mike Ricci, Rod Brind'Amour,
Mark Recchi Mark Louis Recchi (; born February 1, 1968) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and former assistant coach. Recchi played 22 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL), playing for the Pittsburgh Penguins, Philadelphia Flyers, ...
, Steve Duchesne, Ron Hextall, Dominic Roussel, multiple first-round draft picks, and $15 million, while the Rangers had reportedly agreed to trade Sergei Nemchinov, Tony Amonte, Alexei Kovalev, James Patrick, and either
John Vanbiesbrouck John Vanbiesbrouck (born September 4, 1963), nicknamed "the Beezer" and "JVB", is an American professional ice hockey executive and former player. As a goaltender, he was inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 2007. Vanbiesbrouc ...
or
Mike Richter Michael Thomas Richter (born September 22, 1966) is an American former professional ice hockey goaltender. He played his entire career with the New York Rangers organization, and led the team to the Stanley Cup in 1994. He also represented the Un ...
, as well as multiple first-round draft picks and $20 million. The Flyers claimed that the Nordiques had reneged on their agreement, and filed a complaint with the NHL. The NHL appointed Larry Bertuzzi, a lawyer from Toronto, as the arbitrator of the conflict. Bertuzzi held a five-day hearing after the 1992 draft, in which he reviewed over 400 pages of handwritten notes and called 11 witnesses, including Lindros. On June 30, Bertuzzi announced that he had determined that Quebec's agreement with the Flyers was enforceable. He considered Farwell's phone call with Lindros to be "critical" in making his decision. Bertuzzi also found the Rangers to be innocent of any wrongdoing. The finalized trade had the Nordiques acquire Hextall, Duchesne, Ricci,
Kerry Huffman Kerry Huffman (born January 3, 1968) is a Canadians, Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played for the Philadelphia Flyers, Quebec Nordiques and Ottawa Senators in the National Hockey League (NHL) and is currently a profession ...
, Peter Forsberg, a first-round pick in the
1993 NHL Entry Draft The 1993 NHL Entry Draft was the 31st NHL Entry Draft. It took place on June 26, 1993, at the Colisée de Québec in Quebec City, Quebec. First overall pick Alexandre Daigle is widely regarded today as one of the all-time greatest draft busts ...
, $15 million, and future considerations. As the agreed-upon trade included the Flyers sending a 1992 draft pick to Quebec which Philadelphia instead kept because the trade was not yet finalized, Bertuzzi helped the teams agree that the Flyers would send Chris Simon and a pick in the
1994 NHL Entry Draft The 1994 NHL Entry Draft was the 32nd NHL Entry Draft. It was held at the Hartford Civic Center on June 28–29, 1994. The last active players in the NHL from this draft class were Patrik Elias and Eric Boulton, who both played their last NHL g ...
to Quebec to compensate for the 1992 draft pick that the Flyers kept and used to select
Ryan Sittler Ryan Sittler (born January 28, 1974) is a former Canadian-born American professional ice hockey left winger who played in the American Hockey League (AHL). He is the son of Hockey Hall of Famer Darryl Sittler and brother of former Team USA player ...
. The Nordiques selected
Jocelyn Thibault Joseph Régis Jocelyn Thibault (born January 12, 1975) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender who played 14 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Quebec Nordiques, Colorado Avalanche, Montreal Canadiens, Chicago Blac ...
with the 1993 draft pick (10th overall pick), while they swapped 1994 first-round picks with Toronto Maple Leafs as part of a larger 6-player trade, with Quebec drafting
Jeff Kealty Jeff Kealty (born April 9, 1976) is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman and current Director of Player Personnel for the Nashville Predators of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was drafted in the first round, 22nd overall, b ...
22nd overall with the pick from Toronto, while Toronto traded the original Philadelphia pick to the Washington Capitals, who selected
Nolan Baumgartner Nolan Baumgartner (born March 23, 1976) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman. He was formerly an assistant coach with the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League (NHL). Baumgartner was selected by the Washington Capita ...
10th overall in 1994.


Aftermath

Gil Stein, president of the NHL, indicated that the league would not take disciplinary action against Aubut, and the Rangers did not challenge the arbitrator's decision. Stein further stated that as of August 1, all trades needed to be confirmed with the league office by all involved parties before they would be considered consummated. Lindros signed a five-year contract with the Flyers worth an estimated $24 million. As a rookie, he earned $2 million, while Gretzky, with the largest NHL contract, earned $3 million. Lindros did not accompany the Flyers to Quebec for an exhibition game prior to the 1992–93 season due to concern about the reception he would receive. Hextall and Ricci initially did not want to report to Quebec, but relented. The Nordiques reached the playoffs in the 1992–93 season, their first postseason appearance since
1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...
. In 1995, the Nordiques moved to Denver, Colorado, and became the Colorado Avalanche. The Avalanche won the
1996 Stanley Cup Finals The 1996 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1995–96 season, and the culmination of the 1996 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested by the Western Conference champion Colorado Avalanche and th ...
with Forsberg and Ricci playing key roles for the team. Thibault was traded to the Montreal Canadiens for Patrick Roy, who was their starting goaltender as Stanley Cup champions, while Hextall was traded to the
New York Islanders The New York Islanders (colloquially known as the Isles) are a professional ice hockey team based in Elmont, New York. The Islanders compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference ( ...
in a trade that netted Adam Deadmarsh. The Avalanche also won the
2001 Stanley Cup Finals The 2001 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 2000–01 season, and the culmination of the 2001 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested between the Eastern Conference champion and defending Stan ...
with Forsberg and Roy playing key roles, as well as
Alex Tanguay Alex Joseph Jean Tanguay (born November 21, 1979) is currently an assistant coach for the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League and is a Canadian former professional ice hockey winger who played for the Colorado Avalanche, Calgary F ...
, who had been drafted with a pick acquired in exchange for Ricci from the San Jose Sharks. Deadmarsh was traded to the Los Angeles Kings on February 21, 2001, as part of multi-player deal for Colorado to upgrade their team with Rob Blake and
Steve Reinprecht Steven Edward Reinprecht (born May 7, 1976) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey forward. Undrafted into the NHL, he was signed as a free agent following his NCAA career with the Wisconsin Badgers by the Los Angeles Kings. During his roo ...
prior to the playoffs. Meanwhile, the Rangers won the
1994 Stanley Cup Finals The 1994 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1993–94 season, and the culmination of the 1994 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested between the Eastern Conference champion New York Rangers and ...
anyway without Lindros. Among the players that the Rangers had originally offered in 1992 for Lindros, Kovalev and Richter played key roles in their 1994 Cup run. Playing as a centre, Lindros formed a
forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...
line Line most often refers to: * Line (geometry), object with zero thickness and curvature that stretches to infinity * Telephone line, a single-user circuit on a telephone communication system Line, lines, The Line, or LINE may also refer to: Arts ...
with wingers Recchi and
Brent Fedyk Brent Anthony Fedyk (born March 8, 1967) is a Canadians, Canadian former professional ice hockey Winger (ice hockey), right winger. He was drafted in the first round, 8th overall, by the Detroit Red Wings in the 1985 NHL Entry Draft. Born in Y ...
in 1992, called the "Crazy Eights". After the Flyers traded Recchi to acquire
John LeClair John Clark LeClair (born July 5, 1969) is an American former professional ice hockey player who played 16 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Montreal Canadiens, Philadelphia Flyers, and Pittsburgh Penguins. With the Flyers, LeCl ...
in 1995, Lindros, LeClair, and Mikael Renberg played together as the " Legion of Doom". The Flyers did not win a Stanley Cup with Lindros; they reached the
1997 Stanley Cup Finals The 1997 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1996–97 season, and the culmination of the 1997 Stanley Cup playoffs The 1997 Stanley Cup playoffs, the playoff tournament of the National Hocke ...
, but lost. Lindros did win the Hart Memorial Trophy as a member of the Flyers. Lindros' arrival in Philadelphia helped the team secure funding for their new arena, the
Wells Fargo Center Wells Fargo Center may refer to: *Wells Fargo Center (Los Angeles), California *Wells Fargo Center (Sacramento), California * Wells Fargo Center (San Francisco), California * Wells Fargo Center for the Arts, Santa Rosa, California * Wells Fargo Cen ...
, and a lucrative television contract with Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia.
Bobby Clarke Robert Earle Clarke (born August 13, 1949) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre who played his entire 15-year National Hockey League (NHL) career with the Philadelphia Flyers and is currently an executive with the team. Popular ...
, who succeeded Farwell as the general manager of the Flyers, feuded with Lindros and his parents during his time with Philadelphia. Lindros sat out the entire
2000–01 NHL season The 2000–01 NHL season was the 84th regular season of the National Hockey League. With the addition of the expansion Columbus Blue Jackets and the Minnesota Wild, 30 teams each played 82 games. The Stanley Cup winners were the Colorado Avalanc ...
after rejecting a one-year, $8.5 million offer as he demanded a trade from the Flyers. The Flyers traded him to the Rangers in 2001. After Lindros retired from the NHL, the Flyers inducted him into their team
Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...
in 2014.


List of Quebec/Colorado's subsequent transactions


Players on the NY Rangers's voided offer that stayed for their 1994 championship run

* Alexei Kovalev * Sergei Nemchinov *
Mike Richter Michael Thomas Richter (born September 22, 1966) is an American former professional ice hockey goaltender. He played his entire career with the New York Rangers organization, and led the team to the Stanley Cup in 1994. He also represented the Un ...


End result at the end of the 2000–01 season


See also

*
Flyers–Rangers rivalry The Flyers–Rangers rivalry (also commonly referred to as Broadway versus Broad Street) is one of the most storied and well known rivalries in the National Hockey League. The New York Rangers and the Philadelphia Flyers have met eleven times in ...
* Herschel Walker trade *
Brock for Broglio The phrase "Brock for Broglio" is sometimes used in the sport of baseball to signify a trade that in hindsight, turns out to be an extremely lopsided transaction. The names in the phrase refer to Lou Brock and Ernie Broglio respectively, the center ...
*
White Flag Trade The White Flag Trade was a trade made between two Major League Baseball teams in 1997. On July 31, 1997, the Chicago White Sox traded three veteran pitchers to the San Francisco Giants for six minor league players. At the time, the trade was mali ...
* Ricky Williams trade * List of largest National Football League trades


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lindros, Eric trade Philadelphia Flyers Quebec Nordiques New York Rangers 1992–93 NHL season National Hockey League history Sports trades