30 yrs ago today, the Nordiques- despite warnings he would not play for them- take Eric Lindros with the 1st overall pick in the 1991 NHL Draft. True to his word, the "Big E" doesn't don the ceremonial jersey or sign with Quebec, as he ends up going to PHI just over a year later pic.twitter.com/dUEKxRXKix
— StatsCentre (@StatsCentre) June 22, 2021
The Hockey News ran a recent article revisiting the Eric Lindros trade to the Flyers after being selected 1st overall in the 1991 draft by the Nordiques then holding out for a year refusing to report to Quebec to begin his NHL career.
As a refresher, the trade was as follows:
Flyers received
* Eric Lindros
Nordiques received
* Peter Forsberg * Mike Ricci * Chris Simon * Steve Duchesne * Kerry Huffman * Ron Hextall * 1993 1st rounder * 1994 1st rounder * $15 million
The whole ordeal was quite convoluted as there was another version of the trade before the above package was finalized:
Flyers originally offered
* Rod Brind'Amour * Mark Recchi * Mike Ricci * Steve Duchesne * Ron Hetxtall * Dominic Roussel * Multiple 1st rounders * $15 million
Adding another layer of complexity was the fact that the Rangers claimed their trade offer was accepted first which then required an arbitrator to decide whether Lindros was headed to New York City or Philadelphia. Of course, arbitration resulted in the latter.
Rangers offered
* Tony Amonte * Alexei Kovalev * Sergei Nemchinov * James Patrick * Either Mike Richter or John Vanbiesbrouck * Multiple 1st rounders * $20 million
If the debacle wasn't twisted enough, there were many other teams that were in the race to bring Lindros to their home city with the Blackhawks not only being one of the suitors but also ponying up the most attractive deal hadn't it been for an X factor.
Nordiques would have received
* Steve Larmer * Steve Smith * Ed Belfour * Two draft picks
Blackhawks would have received
* Eric Lindros * Three draft picks
So, what was that X factor?
The Nordiques were struggling financially and requested for $5 million in cash but Blackhawks owner Bill Wirtz stayed in character by saying no to the monetary contribution which in turn killed the deal. While disappointing, this wasn't surprising either.
Had Wirtz not been so close-fisted at the time of the trade and Lindros actually made his way to Chicago to form a 1-2 punch with Jeremy Roenick, would Wirtz have deferred his inevitable stinginess to a later date when Lindros was up for a contract renewal?
Staying in this proverbial time machine to alternate realities, if the Lindros trade happened in more recent times of the past decade, what would the Chicago trade package have looked like? Let's take a quick look through two lenses.
If looking at a trade during the recent Cup era, would these have been the equivalent trade assets:
* Larmer = Patrick Kane * Smith = Brent Seabrook * Belfour = Corey Crawford
Then looking at a trade using today's roster, would this have been the trade equivalencies:
* Larmer = Alex DeBrincat * Smith = Connor Murphy * Belfour = Kevin Lankinen
Obviously, the Cup-era rendition of the trade is more realistic and enticing than the present-day rendition. In the latter, Connor Murphy and Kevin Lankinen aren't on the same plane as Brent Seabrook and Corey Crawford so inclusion of even one of them squashes the deal.
What about those two draft picks that Chicago offered to Quebec? If they were successive 1st rounders, the following are who the Blackhawks would have presumably given up had the Nordiques drafted the same players that Chicago actually took in 1993 and 1994.
Original 1992 trade offer
* 1993 = Eric Lecompte * 1994 = Ethan Moreau
Proposed Cup-era offer
* 2016 = Chicago didn't have a 1st rounder * 2017 = Henri Jokiharju * 2018 = Adam Boqvist
The Blackhawks would have received three draft picks from the Nordiques had the original 1992 trade offer went down. Keep in mind that the franchise folded in Quebec after the 1994-95 season and relocated to Denver to become who we know now as the Avalanche.
Additionally, it's important to note that all three draft picks from the Nordiques/Avalanche weren't necessarily 1st rounders and possibly none of them were. For the sake of this exercise, let's pretend at least one of them was a 1st rounder.
Original 1992 trade offer
* 1993 = Jocelyn Thibault * 1994 = Wade Belak * 1995 = Marc Denis
Proposed Cup-era offer
* 2016 = Tyson Jost * 2017 = Cale Makar * 2018 = Martin Kaut
The above draft picks that Chicago would have received -- again assuming that they would have drafted the same players that Quebec and Colorado did -- lead to interesting plotlines that the Blackhawks fandom continue to grapple with at present.
In the 1992 trade edition, the Blackhawks would have drafted possibly one goaltender in the 1st round in either the 1993 or 1995 draft which points back to the debate of whether Chicago should select a goaltender in the 2021 draft or any other draft for that matter.
As everyone knows, Jocelyn Thibault eventually became the Blackhawks starter from 1998 to 2004 so he in a sense became a known quantity. In his career, Thibault won 20+ games seven times and fell short once with 19 wins in 1997-98. He also had one season with 30+ victories.
Marc Denis played a little over a decade mainly in Columbus as their starter. He won 20+ games three times. Had he played in Chicago, Denis likely would have fared no better than Thibault did especially playing for Blackhawks squads that struggled at both ends of the ice.
In the Cup-era trade edition, the Blackhawks may have had a future bonafide #1 defenseman in Cale Makar who is already a Norris Trophy finalist as a sophomore. Building a new mobile blueline with Makar as the centerpiece would surely be exciting for Blackhawks fans.
Another plotline is whether adding Lindros in 1992 would have done much to keep the Blackhawks a contender given they would have given up top-flight players in Steve Larmer, Steve Smith, and Ed Belfour. The center depth improves but costed defense and a scoring winger.
After the Lindros trade to the Flyers, the Blackhawks made the playoffs five more times -- getting ousted in the opening round three times -- before entering the infamous dark era. That decade of futility included nine years of not qualifying and one 1st round exit.
This last plotline is playing out this summer as rumors circulate about the Blackhawks showing interest in Seth Jones and Jack Eichel. Adding players of their caliber would be an upgrade but costly in terms of high-end youngsters, prospects, and draft picks given up.
For my adopted my province of Quebec, here is a nice feel good moment. 26 years after refusing to put on a Quebec Nordiques jersey at the draft, Eric Lindros would do an interview on a Quebec program to clear the air and finally put the jersey on. pic.twitter.com/9xV3Ast7tH
— GordiesElbow (@IceOffs) June 24, 2021
See you on the boards!