To any delusional Leafs fans who hold steadfast to the belief that any of the 700+ NHL players would sacrifice their salaries and sanity to play in Toronto given the divine opportunity, may I present Exhibit A:
Eric Lindros.
And the man has had multiple concussions. Don't you love the irony?
Lindros is expected to sign with the Stars today, penning an incentive-laden deal rumoured to be around the $2 million mark. The Leafs have offered the 33-year-old a one-year, $750,000 contract, according to Toronto media.
This isn't about Lindros' worth - he's a high-risk player with a lot of baggage, similar to Dominik Hasek. When he's on, you're loving it. When he gets injured, you're kicking yourself for being so gullible.
Eric Lindros is one of those players that everyone knew was going to end up in Toronto eventually. It was the hometown dream that refused to die. And regardless of whether a player grows up there, we all know there are many who express an open desire to play for the Leafs. Toronto fans revel in it. "Out of all the teams, they want to be here. They want to play for us." Naturally, such an outpouring of desire would be extremely cool, and quite the ego boost, I'm sure. And again, Lindros has been at the forefront of the "I wanna be a Leaf" movement for some time.
So you're telling me after 33 games -- not even half a season -- that Lindros has been sated by his time in Toronto, and is ready to move on? If he wanted to be a Leaf so badly (and up until now, all signs indicated that to be true), then why isn't he taking the $750,000?
What's the deal, Leafs fans? There's got to more to this story, right? Maybe he's greedy. Maybe he doesn't like Buster. Because no one on Earth would say no to the Leafs. If anything, Lindros should've been paying them for the opportunity to wear the blue and white.
(Now that's sarcasm.)
Posts
So how will this play out?
If I'm not a Dallas fan, I'm glad Lindros is going to Dallas at an inflated price.
Still with some players earning more than pre-lockout and lots of unsigned players are we going to see "bargain city" or are a very large number of players going to go to Europe for a better deal?
Anonymous
7:20 a.m.
I used to enjoy the "I wanna play for the Leafs" quotes I'd read about, but most of the time, the player who says it never ends up in Toronto. Maybe it's only ever a bargaining tactic.
Regarding the $750,000 thing - if I were Lindros, I wouldn't sign for it either. A contract that low is a slap in the face considering a plug like Wade Belak makes close to that amount or that Nik An-drop-ov was given $1,000,000 for this season. It's not like Lindros is after the big payday, but at the same time, he shouldn't play for peanuts, should he? Tie Domi made $1.25 last year. Jeremy Roenick signed this summer for $1.2 plus incentives, and I'd rate him as a much greater risk than Lindros.
I think it's about respect. John Ferguson (the idiot!) appears to be overplaying the "hometown discount" thing like he did last year with Gary Roberts and Joe Nieuwendyk. I say "appears" because we don't really know what's going on. Perhaps Toronto has to choose between getting Lindros and a player like Mike Peca...so if that's the case, I'd be okay with it because Peca is the best centre remaining on the free agent market.
But it's telling that Lindros went shopping in Edmonton and Dallas, eh? It was his childhood dream of his to play there, so like you say - 33 games was enough to sate the appetite? What happened there?
Newspaper sources, for what it's worth, say Ferguson offered Lindros $750K, and the same sources mention Lindros asking for $1.25. My personal opinion is, you give it to him. Lindros' last concusson was 3 years ago, and his wrist injury last year was a freak accident. If a team needs a centre, who else is available right now who can offer the kind of upside Lindros brings to the table? It was a treat seeing him play for Toronto for 33 games last season, and if he stays healthy, he can still produce.
Wardo
7:27 a.m.
Fellas,
All of you are right, but much like RC I like to see him do well as there were so many expectations on him and has really crapped the bed.
I'm not a fan of him or his his personal life, But he is a good hockey player and you don't want to see anybody no matter what you think of them, leave the game like with something left in the tank.
He played well last year.
Wade Belak is probably the worst player to step on the ice since Oggie Ogelthorp.
Plain and simple Ferguson is a moron.
No Owen Nolan Back to the Leafs.
Anonymous
2:48 p.m.
Love the Lindros cartoon
it is so true.
He always had skill but too much of a whiner and too fragile; not even worthy to be a Leaf. Personally between him and Tai Domi, (the guy they sort of retired), I'd take Domi.
Anonymous
8:22 p.m.