Mark Messier had returned to New York, Theoren Fleury joined the Rangers after spending most of his career with the Calgary Flames, and Eric Lindros was traded to the Rangers from the Philadelphia Flyers.

After New Jersey won Game 5, Lindros returned to the lineup for the first time since March for Game 6 in another losing effort.

After a 27-game absence, Lindros returned to the Toronto lineup on February 28, 2006, against the Washington Capitals.

Unlike Lindros, Kariya returned to the game only ten minutes later and scored.

However, Gretzky, was passed over for the captaincy, along with several other Canadian veterans including Steve Yzerman and Ray Bourque in favour of the younger Eric Lindros.

In June 1992, the Flyers persuaded Clarke to return to the team as senior vice president after Jay Snider won the hard fought arbitration battle for 1991 # 1 overall pick Eric Lindros against the Rangers.

In 1992 – 93, Recchi set the franchise record for points in a season with 123 ( 53 goals, 70 assists ) and Lindros scored 41 goals in 61 games.

Lindros tied Jaromir Jagr for the regular season scoring lead ( though Jagr won the Art Ross Trophy with more goals ), and captured the Hart Memorial Trophy as the league's MVP.

Lindros eclipsed the 100-point mark for the first time in 1995 – 96, gathering 115 points, and LeClair scored 51 goals, as the Flyers repeated as Atlantic Division champs and clinched the No. 1 seed in the East.

The 1996 – 97 season started off slowly, as Lindros missed 30 games, but LeClair still managed to score 50 goals for the second consecutive year.

In January, longtime Flyer and fan favorite Rod Brind ' Amour was shipped to Carolina for Keith Primeau, with the intention of acquiring a big center to complement Lindros.

In the off-season, the Flyers re-vamped their lineup by signing Jeremy Roenick and finally trading Lindros to the Rangers for Kim Johnsson, Jan Hlavac, Pavel Brendl, and a 2003 third-round draft pick ( Stefan Ruzicka ).

As a result, the team earned three consecutive first overall draft picks, used to select Mats Sundin ( 1989 ), Owen Nolan ( 1990 ) and Eric Lindros ( 1991 ), even though Lindros had made it clear he did not wish to play for the Nordiques.

Lindros did not wear the team's jersey for the press photographs, only holding it when it was presented to him and, on advice from his mother, he refused to sign a contract and began a holdout that lasted over a year.

In hindsight, the Lindros trade is seen as one of the most one-sided deals in sports history, and a major foundation for the Nordiques / Avalanche franchise successes over the next decade.

* Hart Memorial Trophy – for the NHL's Most Valuable Player: Eric Lindros, Philadelphia Flyers

The Lindsay Award is considered to be the companion of the Hart Memorial Trophy — fourteen players have won both trophies for the same season: Guy Lafleur ( 1976 – 77 and 1977 – 78 ), Wayne Gretzky ( 1981 – 82, 1982 – 83, 1983 – 84, 1984 – 85 and 1986 – 87 ), Mario Lemieux ( 1987 – 88 and 1992 – 93 and 1995 – 96 ), Mark Messier ( 1989 – 90 and 1991 – 92 ), Brett Hull ( 1990 – 91 ), Sergei Fedorov ( 1993 – 94 ), Eric Lindros ( 1994 – 95 ), Dominik Hasek ( 1996 – 97 and 1997 – 98 ), Jaromir Jagr ( 1998 – 99 ), Joe Sakic ( 2000 – 01 ), Martin St. Louis ( 2003 – 04 ), Sidney Crosby ( 2006 – 07 ), Alexander Ovechkin ( 2007 – 08 and 2008 – 09 ) and Evgeni Malkin ( 2011 – 12 ).

The Nordiques sent Sundin, Garth Butcher, Todd Warriner, and a 1994 first-round draft pick ( acquired through the 1992 Eric Lindros deal, traded to the Washington Capitals, used to pick Nolan Baumgartner ) to the Leafs in exchange for Wendel Clark, Sylvain Lefebvre, Landon Wilson, and a 1994 first-round draft pick ( used to pick Jeff Kealty ).

Lindros played junior hockey in the OHL for the Oshawa Generals prior to being selected first overall in the 1991 NHL Entry Draft by the Quebec Nordiques.

Lindros refused to play for the Nordiques and was eventually traded to the Philadelphia Flyers in June 1992 for a package of players and draft picks including Peter Forsberg.

His younger brother Brett Lindros played for the New York Islanders and retired early on May 1, 1996 due to post-concussion syndrome

As a teenage power forward playing minor hockey, Lindros became nationally famous both for his scoring feats and his ability to physically dominate players older than himself.

Lindros had signaled in advance that he would never play for the Nordiques, citing distance, lack of marketing potential, and having to speak French ; the team selected him anyway.

Eventually an arbitrator, Larry Bertuzzi ( granduncle of Todd Bertuzzi ), ruled in favour of the Flyers, for whom Lindros played from 1992 to 2000, most of the time as the team's captain.

The trade between the Nordiques and the Rangers that was ruled invalid by the arbitrator had Lindros being traded for Doug Weight, Tony Amonte, Alexei Kovalev, John Vanbiesbrouck, three first round draft picks ( 1993, 1994 & 1995 ) and $ 12 million.

Early in Game 7, Lindros was on the receiving end of a controversial hit by Scott Stevens, giving him another concussion and leaving the Philadelphia crowd deflated.

But in the Finals the Flyers were swept in four games by the Detroit Red Wings ; Lindros ' only goal came with 14 seconds left in the 3rd period of Game 4.

The Flyers lost Game 7, 2-1 and the series despite leading 3 games to 1, and Lindros became a restricted free agent during the off-season.

His agent, Pat Morris, had reportedly wanted a similar deal to that of fellow Islanders prospect Brett Lindros – a five-year, $ 6. 7 million contract signed the previous summer.

Eric Lindros is Canada's all time points leader at the WJC with 31 points, 6 points ahead of Jordan Eberle and Ryan Ellis.

On March 6, 2008, the Oshawa Generals retired his # 88, just the second number to be retired by the franchise, and it was declared Eric Lindros Day in Oshawa.

The 6 ' 4 " Stojanov had crafted a fearsome reputation in junior hockey, and impressed scouts by pummeling the much-hyped Eric Lindros in a fight during their draft year.

The two led the team to the Eastern Conference Finals, where they were eliminated by the Philadelphia Flyers in five games, as the Rangers could not match the size and strength of Eric Lindros and his " Legion of Doom " linemates.

Although the Flyers were ahead 3-1 in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Devils and despite the return of the injured Eric Lindros, Boucher and the Flyers lost in seven games to the eventual Stanley Cup champion New Jersey Devils.

Head coach Jacques Lemaire created the line to counter the larger skilled players of the Eastern Conference, including Eric Lindros, Cam Neely, and Jaromir Jagr.

Lindros led the Flyers to the 1997 Stanley Cup Finals, handily defeating Pittsburgh, Buffalo and the New York Rangers in 5 games apiece.

Lindros as a franchise player was expected to carry the team, but he had not lived up to expectations nor had he shown leadership during the Finals series.

The 1998 – 99 season was marred by a life-threatening injury sustained by Eric Lindros on April Fools ' Day during a game against the Nashville Predators, a season-ending injury later diagnosed as a collapsed lung.

The Rangers defeated the Niagara Falls Thunder team in the semi-finals, setting up a series against the Leyden division champion Oshawa Generals featuring Eric Lindros in the finals.

With Lindros holding out against the Nordiques, who were one of the worst teams in league, Sakic commented, " We only want players here who have the passion to play the game.

During an April 1, 1999 game against the Nashville Predators, Lindros suffered what was diagnosed as a rib injury.

Having suffered his 2nd concussion of the season ( 4th overall ) in March, Lindros criticized the team's trainers for failing to diagnose a concussion as he played with symptoms following a hit he suffered in a game against Boston 2 weeks prior.

After a steady start to his tenure with Toronto in which he recorded 22 points in 32 games, Lindros suffered a tear of a ligament in his left wrist against the Dallas Stars on December 10, 2005.

" Only a week earlier Boulton had made a similar move in a game against Toronto, almost injuring Eric Lindros.