Consenus: Lindros is finished in Philly
March 25, 200

Agents and NHL executives think that if the superstart had a future in the league, it will be somewhere else.

by Tim Panaccio
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

Eric Lindros has no future as a Philadelphia Flyers, but he can salvage his career elsewhere-though it won't be easy-several agents and NHL front-office officials said yesterday.

The agents and club executives were asked what the future for the FLyers and Lindros looked like after Lindros said Thursday that the team's training staff had ignored the symptoms of a Grade II concussion that has him sidelined for four to six weeks.

The agents and team officials did not want to be quoted by name beacuse of tampering rules.  The NHL Players Association prohibits agents from commenting onplayers they don't represent. And the NHL forbids teams from talking about players they might want to trade for or sign as free agents.

Bod Clarke, the Flyer's General Manager, said on Thursday that the club would make a qualifying offer this summer. It would have to offer him $8.5 million to retain his rights-even if they don't intend to keep him.

Yesterday, club chairman Ed Snider was asked if Lindros had a future as a Flyer.

"I have no coment," Snider saed. "We haven't eve thought about that."

Carl Lindros, Eric's father and agent, did not want to comment on what the future might hold for his son, saying that his focus was on Eric's heath and not where he would play next.

Around the NHL, others are saying that the Flyers probably have already decided that Lindros will not wear their sweater again-even this season. 

"Who would want him?" a front-office official of one NHL team said. "He's damaged goods with all these concussions. And then there is the baggage- his parents. Not many clubs want to deal with that."

Sand an agent: "He has no future in Philadelphia, and it's hard to tell where his future is.  Maybe a major market.  You have to look at clubs like Chicago or Los Angeles, places where he would be seen as a gate attraction and teams that could afford him.

As much as the Lindros family would dispute it, not a person interviewed disagreed with the perception that Lindros is "a great kid," but that his father has tried to manage Eric's life and, most recently, manage his injuries.

"I would still want to represent him," one agent said. "I know about the dad and all that, but you just do. YOu don't give up on him. He's still a great player.

"You heaar people say: 'But you have to deal with his parents.'  And the Flyers couldn't deal with his parents. Hey, when you sign these kids out of juniors, you're dealing with their parents."

Those interviewed said that, regardless of how they felt about Clarke on a personal level, there are those in hickey who wonder why Lindros didn't blossom more in Philadelphia under Clake.

"People thought, if there was one person he would listen to, it would be Bob Clarke," one executive said.  "And he hasn't listened to him. And Clarked has two (Sranley Cup) rings.  What are the chances (Lindors) listend to the next GM, who doesn't have a ring?"

One of the common threads among thos interviewed was that Lindros will probably continue to sign one-year contracts no matter where he plays. They said that. because of his four concussions, any club willin to trade for him would probably do so only on an agreement that they talk about one-year deals.

"If I were interested in him," one general manager said, "I would be very leery of takin ghim, unless I had some medical certainty from doctors telling me he is fine.

"And I would think some clubs would like to see him play again this season so they would know, in their own minds, about his health before they would inquire about him."

If the Flyers plan to trade Lindros, as many people now suspect, then the best way for them to get as much value for thier 27 year-old superstar would be to make sure that he is healthy and can return to the playoffs.

Even it that happens, Lindros' market value will have declined. No one interviewed said h thought Lindros could get the $8.5 million he is recieving for this season in the future because of his medical history.

Said one GM:"You ask yourself this question: Would a team with a small budget, say a Calgary, want him at $2 million? Yes. Would they want him at $3 miilion? Yes. Would they want him at $4 million? No."

One agent said that Carl Lindros now has to recognize that his son's history of concussions may coust him $3 million or more in his next contract. The agent also said that, because Eric Lindros had never agreed to a long-term deal with the Flyers, his income level will forever suffer.

Another agent that Lindros got the NHL to cave in when he forced the trading of his rights from Quebec to the Flyers.  That was a power play that worked for the Lindros family.  But perception of the turmail surrounding the dealings of Lindros and his family with the Flyers had cast a new light on how another team would deal with Lindros.

"When he came into the league, he was bigger than the game, but now the game is bigger than him," the agent said. "GMs won't allow themselves to cave this time. He'll become next year's Alexei Yashin (a holdout with Ottawa who has sat out the entire season), and you saw whay happened to him. He's not bigger than the sport."