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Little progress Flyers cut off Lindros trade talks with Leafs
Updated: Thursday January 11, 2001 7:37 PM
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Philadelphia Flyers chairman Ed Snider has told general manager Bob Clarke to stop negotiating with the Toronto Maple Leafs about a trade for Eric Lindros. Snider, speaking on a Toronto radio station, said Thursday the Maple Leafs are not offering enough for Lindros, a restricted free agent. "We've been talking to them for a month-and-a-half and they've offered us absolutely nothing for Eric," Snider told The Fan, 590-AM. "They feel we should make a totally contingent deal and we don't feel that way and a number of other teams don't feel that way either. "Toronto thinks they have us over the barrel since they're the only team we're negotiating with, but they really don't. Who they have over the barrel is actually Eric. I'd love to see Eric playing in the National Hockey League. He's one of the great players in the game and he deserves to play, but we're not going to give him away." Snider's comments surprised Maple Leafs general manager Pat Quinn. "I haven't heard that," Quinn told The Canadian Press. "They haven't called us." Lindros, 27, rejected an $8.5 million qualifying offer from the Flyers this past summer and made it clear he will not return to the team because of a contentious relationship with Clarke. On Monday, Clarke denied reports that talks between the two teams had broken off. But he said the Flyers and Maple Leafs "are a long way apart" from a deal. Since the day Lindros declared he only wants to play in Toronto, Clarke has maintained the Maple Leafs weren't willing to pay equal value for the former franchise player. "We gave up a lot for Eric and we're not asking for anything close to that," Snider said. "We feel he's a quality player and that's why we offered him $8.5 million." Lindros came to Philadelphia in 1992 following a trade with Quebec that included six players, two first-round draft choices and $15 million.
In November, Lindros was cleared to resume playing, nearly six months after a check by New Jersey's Scott Stevens left him with his sixth concussion in just over two years. He had just returned after a 2 1/2-month absence because of post-concussion syndrome. "It's up to Eric. Eric has set the parameters," Snider said. "He is a restricted free agent and he has every right to set whatever parameters he wants to set. He has every right not to play. We hope that Eric will play and we hope that he'll play for a team that's willing to deal with us in good faith." Neither Lindros nor his father/agent Carl Lindros could be reached for comment. Lindros' relationship with Clarke, his childhood hero, deteriorated to a point this past season where the two men didn't speak for months. The boiling point came after Lindros criticized the team's medical staff for failing to diagnose his second concussion of the season on March 4. Clarke then stripped Lindros of his captaincy, and the star was ostracized from the team until he returned for Games 6 and 7 of the Eastern Conference finals against New Jersey.
Lindros had 28 goals and 32 assists in 57 games this past season,
including four periods of the playoffs. He made six All-Star teams
and won the MVP award in 1995, but Philadelphia lost its only
Stanley Cup final with him.
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