The NHL free-agent signing period is less than two weeks away.
So why is Eric Lindros' name on the Group II Restricted Free Agent list dated May 28 from the NHL's Central Registry?Doesn't the Flyers captain have a one-year contract extension for next season worth $8.5 million?
Didn't he sign that extension in December?
The answer to the last two questions is yes.
The answer to the first question is complex. The original contract extension was never signed by Flyers chairman Ed Snider because of his reservations about the wording and insurance concerns, and subsequent revisions have not been signed by the Lindroses because of their reservations about the wording in them. As a result, the deal has not been filed with the NHL Players Association and the NHL's Central Registry.
So that's why Lindros' name is on the free-agent list?
"He hasn't signed the paperwork and gotten it back to us, that's why," Flyers general manager Bob Clarke said Thursday. "I talked to Carl Lindros (Eric's father and agent), and he said it would get done."
The revisions were sent to the Lindros family June 5 for their approval and signature.
Flyers attorney Phil Weinberg said the Lindros family had been seeking continual changes in wording since receiving the documents.
"Eric is on the restricted free-agent list because his contract has never been filed with the league, and he'll stay on that list until it's filed," Weinberg said. "We've signed it a couple of times and we're waiting for their signatures."
If it has taken this long to get signatures on an agreed-upon contract from almost six months ago, what will make anyone believe the Flyers can get Lindros' signature on a long-term deal before next season begins, which is what Snider said, in May, that he wanted to do?