Lindros missed a ton of games from 1995-2000 and Leclair still produced. It's unfortunate he had to have major back surgery in 2000 and was never really the same after that.
Can anyone dig up the numbers on Leclair's production in the 96 games Lindros missed from 1995-2000? It would really shed a lot of light on whether that's a myth or not, and how good Leclair really was.
I was actually bored (or interested) enough to do most of the work for the seasons 95-96,96-97 and 97-98
95-96 :
Leclair scores 51 goals and 46 assists in 82 games
Lindros misses 9 games and has his statisticly best season
In those 9 games Leclair scores : 5 goals and 5 assists combined for 10 points. So he is on pace for 46 goals and 45 assists combined for 91 points.
If he had Lindros all season his pace would have been : 52 goals and 46 assists combined for 98 points.
With Big E : +1g and 0a from the real total
Without Bie E : -5g and 1a from the real total
96-97 :
Leclair scores 50 goals and 47 assists in 82 games.
Lindros misses 28 games.
In those 28 games Leclair scores : 17 goals and 13 assists combined for 30 points. So he is on pace for 50 goals and 38 assists combined for 88 points.
If he had Lindros all season his pace would have been : 50 goals and 52 assists combined for 102 points.
With Big E : 0g and +5a from the real total
Without Big E : 0g and -9a from the real total
97-98
Leclair scores 51 goals and 36 assists in 82 games.
Lindros misses 19 games.
In those 19 games Leclair scores : 12 goals and 9 assists combined for 21 points. So he is on pace for 52 goals and 39 assists combined for 91 points.
If he had Lindros all season his pace would have been : 51 goals and 35 assists combined for 76 points.
With Big E : 0g and -1a from the real total
Without Big E : +1g and +3a from the real total
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So there is basicly no statistical difference in Leclair's 50-goal seasons.
ps : I did this rather fast so there might be some mistakes. I mostly used flyershistory.com and hockey-reference.com as sources.