Eric Lindros – Toronto Maple Leafs and the Shocking Non-Trade
By Jeff Borsuk
The Toronto Maple Leafs Trade That Wasn’t
The relationship between the Flyers and their star player was rapidly deteriorating in 2000. After Lindros’s fourth concussion he was openly critical of his team’s training and medical staff. He was unhappy that he was still playing with concussions symptoms and that team doctors didn’t properly diagnose him for weeks.
In response to the star’s public criticism, Flyers general manager Bob Clarke stripped Lindros of the Flyers’ captaincy. Clarke had some stern words for his former captain. He said “I believe he has to apologize to the people that he attacked personally — their honesty, their integrity, their work ethic.” Clark went on to explain that “The players aren’t happy with what he’s done. He has to make peace with his teammates as well.”
At that time, Clarke spoke to the Courier Times about the falling out between the Flyers and their former captain. He pointed a finger directly at Lindros’s parents.
“The problems have never come from me or the Flyers,” Clarke said. “They’ve always been started, instigated, and pursued by Eric and his dad and mom. If Carl (Lindros’s father and agent) wants to try to run our organization, tell us who to trade, and all this kind of stuff, then we don’t need Eric. We’ll get on without him. Ideally, we want Eric to come back and be a player on our team. We don’t need him to be a leader, we just need him to be a player.” (From ESPN.com).
With this dispute happening in public, Lindros rejected Philadelphia’s qualifying offer of $8.5 million. The contract that was presented to him as a restricted free agent was a two-way qualifying offer, which meant that Lindros could have been sent down to the minors.
Lindros let the Flyers know that he would rather sit out than play for them. He made it clear that he wanted his rights traded. When Lindros was cleared to play again in November, he wasted no time letting the public know exactly what he was thinking. Just one day after a Chicago doctor signed off on him resuming his playing career, Lindros announced that he would only accept a trade to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
It appeared as though Clarke was bitter over this very public drama and he took his time to begin negotiating with the Leafs. It wasn’t until Feb. 7, 2001, that Clarke told the Leafs what the Flyers would be willing to accept in exchange for Lindros.
On Feb. 19, the Leafs’ board of governors approved the deal that would bring number 88 to Toronto. The organization was excited to be acquiring this high-impact player. That feeling lasted just one day. On Feb. 20, Maple Leafs coach and general manager Pat Quinn announced that the Flyers pulled out of the deal. The very next day, Quinn announced that the deal was dead.