Eric Lindros trade facts for kids
The Eric Lindros trade was a big event in National Hockey League (NHL) history. It happened because Eric Lindros, a super talented young hockey player, refused to play for the Quebec Nordiques. The Nordiques had picked him first in the 1991 NHL Entry Draft.
After Lindros held out (meaning he wouldn't play) for a whole year, the Nordiques tried to trade him. On the same day, they made two different trade deals for Lindros: one with the Philadelphia Flyers and another with the New York Rangers. This caused a lot of confusion! An independent person, called an arbitrator, had to decide which trade was real. On June 30, 1992, the arbitrator ruled that the trade with the Flyers was the official one.
Lindros played for the Flyers until 2001. He even won the Hart Memorial Trophy in 1995, which is given to the league's Most Valuable Player. However, the Flyers never won the Stanley Cup (the NHL championship) with Lindros. They only reached the finals once in 1997.
Meanwhile, the Nordiques team moved to Denver, Colorado, and became the Colorado Avalanche. They went on to win the Stanley Cup twice, in 1996 and 2001. Many players they got in the Lindros trade, like Peter Forsberg and Mike Ricci, helped them win. The Rangers, who almost got Lindros, also won the Stanley Cup in 1994 with players like Alexei Kovalev and Mike Richter, who they had offered for Lindros. Eric Lindros himself never won the Stanley Cup during his career.
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Why Lindros Didn't Want to Play for Quebec
Eric Lindros was an amazing young player even before he joined the NHL. He played junior ice hockey for the Oshawa Generals. He was so good that he was nicknamed "The Next One", because people thought he could be as great as Wayne Gretzky, who was known as "The Great One".
The Quebec Nordiques were a struggling team at the time. They had the first pick in the draft for three years in a row. Even though Lindros was the top player available, he said before the draft that he would not play for Quebec. Many people thought he wanted to play in a bigger, English-speaking city for more endorsement deals. But Lindros later said his main reason was that he didn't like the Nordiques' owner, Marcel Aubut.
Despite Lindros's warning, the Nordiques still picked him first. Lindros then asked for a very high salary, hoping Quebec would trade him. Instead of signing with Quebec, he went back to play for Oshawa for another year and even represented Canada in the 1992 Winter Olympics.
By June 1992, the Nordiques finally decided to trade Lindros. Many teams were interested, including the Philadelphia Flyers and the New York Rangers.
The Confusing Trade Deals
On June 20, 1992, the day the 1992 NHL Entry Draft began, things got very confusing. The Nordiques first made a verbal agreement to trade Lindros to the Philadelphia Flyers. This deal depended on Lindros agreeing to play for Philadelphia, which he did.
However, less than 90 minutes after agreeing with the Flyers, the Nordiques' president, Marcel Aubut, changed his mind. He then verbally agreed to trade Lindros to the New York Rangers instead!
The Flyers were upset and said the Nordiques had gone back on their word. They complained to the NHL. The NHL then brought in a lawyer named Larry Bertuzzi to act as an arbitrator. An arbitrator is like a judge who listens to both sides and makes a decision. Bertuzzi held a five-day hearing, listening to 11 witnesses, including Lindros himself.
On June 30, the arbitrator announced his decision: the Nordiques' agreement with the Flyers was the real one and had to be honored. He said that the phone call where Lindros agreed to play for Philadelphia was very important in his decision. The Rangers were found innocent of any wrongdoing.
The final trade that happened was:
- The Nordiques received: Ron Hextall, Steve Duchesne, Mike Ricci, Kerry Huffman, Peter Forsberg, a first-round draft pick in 1993, $15 million, and other future considerations.
- The Flyers received: Eric Lindros.
Because the trade wasn't finalized before the 1992 draft, the Flyers kept a draft pick they were supposed to send to Quebec. To make up for this, the Flyers later sent Chris Simon and a 1994 first-round draft pick to Quebec.
| The Eric Lindros Trade | Voided New York Rangers Offer | |
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| To Quebec Nordiques | To Philadelphia Flyers | |
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What Happened After the Trade
After the arbitrator's decision, Eric Lindros signed a five-year contract with the Flyers worth about $24 million. He was a rookie (first-year player) and earned $2 million, which was a lot of money at the time!
The Nordiques team eventually moved to Denver, Colorado, in 1995 and became the Colorado Avalanche. This is where the trade really paid off for them.
Colorado Avalanche Success
The Avalanche won the 1996 Stanley Cup Finals with many players they got from the Lindros trade. Peter Forsberg and Mike Ricci were key players. They also traded Jocelyn Thibault (who they drafted with a pick from the Lindros trade) for superstar goalie Patrick Roy, who helped them win the Cup. Ron Hextall was traded for Adam Deadmarsh, another player who helped them win.
The Avalanche won another Stanley Cup in 2001. Again, Forsberg and Roy were very important. They also had Alex Tanguay, who was drafted with a pick they got by trading Ricci. Other players like Rob Blake and Steven Reinprecht were acquired through trades involving players from the original Lindros deal, and they also helped win the 2001 Cup.
New York Rangers Success
Even though the Rangers didn't get Lindros, they still won the Stanley Cup in 1994. Some of the players they had offered for Lindros, like Alexei Kovalev and goalie Mike Richter, were key players in their championship run.
Philadelphia Flyers with Lindros
As for the Flyers, Eric Lindros was a huge star for them. He played as a center and formed famous lines like the "Crazy Eights" and later the "Legion of Doom" with John LeClair and Mikael Renberg.
Even though Lindros won the Hart Memorial Trophy as the league's MVP with the Flyers, they never won the Stanley Cup. They made it to the 1997 Stanley Cup Finals but lost. Lindros's arrival in Philadelphia did help the team get funding for their new arena, the Wells Fargo Center, and a big TV contract.
Lindros had some disagreements with the Flyers' general manager, Bobby Clarke. He even sat out the entire 2000–01 NHL season because he wanted to be traded. The Flyers finally traded him to the Rangers in 2001. After he retired from hockey, the Flyers honored him by putting him in their team Hall of Fame in 2014.
End Result of the Trade (by 2001)
| Colorado Avalanche | Philadelphia Flyers | New York Rangers |
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