Kings May Be Skating to Center of Lindros Chase

All indications Thursday were that the Philadelphia Flyers were on the verge of completing a trade that would send Eric Lindros to the New York Rangers, but the Flyers may have another option if the deal falls through: the Kings.

After reports surfaced this week that the Lindros-to-the-Rangers deal was imminent, King President Tim Leiweke phoned Flyer Chairman Edward M. Snider and asked if the Flyers would be interested in entertaining an offer from the Kings, NHL sources said.

The sources said that Bob Clarke, the Flyers’ president and general manager, then phoned King General Manager Dave Taylor and told him that the deal with the Rangers was in place but that he had imposed a Friday deadline on the Rangers to get it done.

Clarke addressed the deadline Thursday in speaking with reporters in Philadelphia, telling them, “I told Glen [Sather, the Rangers’ president and general manager], ‘If this is not done by Friday, I’m going to entertain an offer from this other team.’ ”

Taylor said Thursday night that he and Clarke have had some “general discussions” that continued this week and that “we’ve always had some interest” in Lindros, a six-time all-star and the NHL’s most valuable player in 1995.

“But there was no firm ask or offer made,” Taylor added. “[Clarke] expects this deal [with the Rangers] to be completed, but in the event it isn’t, we will talk.”

Clarke, though, may just be trying to pressure the Rangers and the Lindros family, with whom he has had a contentious relationship. And the oft-injured Lindros, 28, has never expressed an interest in playing for the Kings.

The 6-foot-4, 235-pound center has not played in nearly 15 months since suffering his sixth concussion in Game 7 of the 2000 Eastern Conference finals.

He sat out last season after rejecting an $8.5-million qualifying offer from the Flyers, refusing to return to the team because of his poor relationship with Clarke.

Last November, he said that he would play only for his hometown Toronto Maple Leafs, but in March, at the trade deadline, he said he would be willing to play for the Detroit Red Wings, Washington Capitals or St. Louis Blues. He added the Rangers to the list last month.

“He hasn’t shown a lot of interest in coming to L.A.,” Taylor said. “We did have some discussions [with Lindros] early on [last year], but I haven’t talked to him or his people in quite a while.”

Though the price to get him would be steep, Lindros would fill the Kings’ needs for a legitimate first-line center and, after the departure this summer of Luc Robitaille to the Red Wings via free agency, a gate attraction.

The deal with the Rangers would send forwards Jan Hlavac and Pavel Brendl, defenseman Kim Johnsson and a middle-round draft pick to the Flyers.

The Flyers also would give the Rangers a conditional first-round pick if Lindros, who has undergone a battery of medical tests this week, failed to play a certain number of games.

“In general terms, I know what they’re looking for,” Taylor said of the Flyers. He declined, however, to say whom the Kings might offer.