The other trade offers that were on the table for Eric Lindros.
Several other teams were in the mix.
Today marks the 30 year anniversary of one of the most infamous trades in the history of the National Hockey League. I am of course speaking of the trade between the Quebec Nordiques and the Philadelphia Flyers, a trade that would drastically alter the course of NHL history.
Not only is it one of the most famous trades in the history of the league but it is also among the biggest. The Flyers would get Lindros in the deal of course but in order to do so they would give up Steve Duchesne, Peter Forsberg, Ron Hextall, Kerry Huffman, Mike Ricci, Chris Simon, 2 first round picks and $15 million on top of all that. It was a king's ransom for the Quebec Nordiques but it wasn't the only other offer on the table.
In an article for The Hockey News, Alan Bass recently took a look at some of the other offers that were discussed for Lindros at the time and here they are:
Detroit Red Wings
Bryan Murray, who was general manager of the Red Wings at the time, cut talks off pretty quickly and it's not hard to see why. The Nordiques reportedly wanted the following:
Sergei Federov
Nicklas Lidstrom
Steve Chiasson
Martin Lapointe
Tim Cheveldae
(undisclosed draft picks)
Calgary Flames
The Flames made an offer of their own while the Flyers and Nordiques were negotiating the trade, although the Nordiques didn't feel their offer was up to par. The Flames offered the following:
Mike Vernon
The choice of Al McInnis or Gary Suter
The choice of Joe Nieuwendyk or Robert Reichel
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Maple Leafs may have had one of the most competitive offers of the bunch, but the Nordiques may have been a little too greedy. The Nordiques reportedly wanted Doug Gilmour in any deal, and the Maple Leafs offer did not contain Gilmour. Here is what they did offer:
Felix Potvin
Wendel Clark
Dave Ellett
Craig Berube
(multiple first round picks)
$15 million
Chicago Blackhawks
According to Bass this was the closest of the deals and it sounds like money may have been the only thing that stopped it from going through. The Nordiques wanted the Blackhawks to include $5 million with their offer and that was when Blackhawks owner Bill Wirtz shut down the trade. Here is what the Blackhawks had offered:
Ed Belfour
Steve Larmer
Steve Smith
(a 2 for 3 swap of undisclosed draft picks)
New York Rangers
The most well known of the other offers, this one actually went through and resulted in an arbitration case between the Flyers, the Rangers and the NHL. The arbitrator would rule in favor of the Flyers, voiding the trade between the Rangers and the Nordiques in the process. Here is what the Rangers offered:
Alex Kovalev
Tony Amonte
Sergei Nemchinov
James Patrick
John Vanbiesbrouck or Mike Richter
(multiple first round picks)
$20 million
With the added benefit of hindsight, would you have taken any of these deals over the deal from the Flyers?
