Lindros Would Ice $2 Million In Bonuses If Awarded Tonight

Eric Lindros stands to profit by more than $2 million if he’s honored tonight as the NHL’s most valuable player.

The Philadelphia Flyers center has several clauses in his contract that provide for bonus money and salary revisions if he wins the Hart Trophy at the awards ceremony at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

The contract, a copy of which was obtained by The Canadian Press, calls for a salary of $3.6 million a season. But winning the MVP award would trigger an automatic revision. The Flyers would close the gap between his salary and the average of the three highest-paid players, excluding Wayne Gretzky, by onethird.

The average of those three - Mark Messier ($6.2 million), Scott Stevens ($5.8 million) and Pavel Bure ($4.5 million) - is $5.5 million, or $1.9 million more than Lindros is to make. One-third that average would mean an additional $633,000 in each of the three remaining years of his contract.

Add to that the $200,000 he will get for winning the Hart and another $100,000 if he’s named a first-team all-star.

Lindros tied Jaromir Jagr of the Pittsburgh Penguins for the most points but lost out the Art Ross Trophy as league scoring champion because Jagr had more goals. By finishing second, Lindros’ contract calls for a $50,000 bonus.