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Eric Lindros – Toronto Maple Leafs and the Shocking Non-Trade

By Jeff Borsuk

Eric Lindros #88 and Mikael Tellqvist #32, both of the Toronto Maple Leafs, celebrate their victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on October 11, 2005 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario. (Photo By Dave Sandford/Getty Images)
Eric Lindros #88 and Mikael Tellqvist #32, both of the Toronto Maple Leafs, celebrate their victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on October 11, 2005 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario. (Photo By Dave Sandford/Getty Images) /
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Toronto Maple Leafs
Canadian Olympic hockey team captain Eric Lindros (R) and Wayne Gretzky (L) stand side by side during the Canadians’ first practice session in Nagano, Japan February 10, 1998. (Photo by KAZUHIRO NOGI/AFP via Getty Images) /

What Went Down

Quinn publicly acknowledged that he acquiesced to all of the Flyers trade demands. There were reports at the time that the Maple Leafs were going to give up Nik Antropov, Danny Markov, and a first-round draft pick. Quinn believed that the deal was done.

How close was it? The Leafs had a contract agreement in place with Lindros, who was already in Toronto working out. Quinn even phoned the NHL league office to confirm the details of the swap and had set up a news conference to announce the completion of the deal to the media.

That’s when Clarke decided he’d push to swap out Markov for Tomas Kaberle in the trade. Clarke explained that even though Quinn thought that there was an agreement in place, there wasn’t.    (From CBC.com).

Frustrated by Clarke and the way he operated, Quinn told the media that he was through dealing with the Flyers. As a result, there was no action for Lindros. He missed an entire season of play by the time the Flyers finally traded him. On August 20, 2001, the New York Rangers got Lindros in exchange for a third-round draft pick in 2003 (used to select Stefan Ruzicka), Pavel Brendl, Jan Hlavac, and Kim Johnsson.

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