Interested Parties: Toronto, St Louis, New York, Los Angeles

What he brings to the Dance: The consummate power forward. Big, strong, fast, skilled. Has the ability to take control of a game like few others have. Can shoot, pass, score and fight with the best of them. Unfortunately he also comes loaded down with baggage (his family) and a history of injuries, particularly concussions. He has never completed a full NHL season. That said, a healthy, happy, performing Eric Lindros could propel a contender to join the favourites in the hunt for the Cup.

Long or Short Term Fantasy Potential: Long term, where do you start. Forget for the minute his family, his contract demands, and his on again, off again play. This is a man who has had 6 concussions in his pro career, four of them last season. His days in professional hockey appear numbered. Despite all that, he brings instant respectability to any first line in the league, and his presence is enough to dramatically improve any hockey team - with the possible exception of Tampa Bay. Short term, any team in the East that acquired him must cringe at the thought of meeting Scott Stevens and his shoulder in the playoffs. And despite the fact that he has been training on the ice for months, he hasn't played in the NHL in close to a year. It will take more than the remainder of the regular season for him to get up to game speed and skill level again. Still, even a 75% Lindros can be a force on the ice, and enough to send shivers down the spines of opposing d-men. Just as long as he keeps his head up.

Playoff Implications: Since the potential deal with the Leafs fell through, there has been little talk on the Lindros trade front. But things appear to be heating up again. St. Louis is rumoured to be in the hunt now, and Lindros has agreed that he would consider playing there - something that a month ago seemed unlikely. A proposed deal for Pierre Turgeon supposedly fell through on the Flyers side. We can't think why. This would give the Flyers much needed depth up the center, as well as a creative playmaker to feed the puck to Leclair and Recchi. For St. Louis the deal makes sense in that Turgeon is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, and perhaps as injury prone as Lindros. The deal would give the Blues some added playoff toughness and size up front, while not reducing their skill level at all. And Lindros is a proven playoff performer, averaging over a point a game. For the Leafs, Lindros would bring instant credibility to a team seeded 6th or 7th in their conference, and a very deep set of forward lines, albeit perhaps countered by the loss of one of their better d-men - something they can ill-afford. Wherever he ends up going though, we can guarantee you one thing: Eric Lindros will not be boring. On or off the ice.