Lars Eller is excited to move on from the media circus in Montreal and start anew with the Washington Capitals.
The Canadiens dealt Eller to the Capitals on June 24th in exchange for a second-round pick in the 2017 and 2018 NHL Draft. Montreal opted to head down a grittier, dirt road trading for Andrew Shaw on the same day the Eller deal took place – and trading P.K. Subban for Shea Weber. The Canadiens wanted to become a tougher team and Eller didn’t fit the mold.
Eller admitted to Katie Brown of NHL.com having a defined role in Washington gives him excitement about the upcoming season.
“I know who I am, I know what I’m here for, what I was brought in to do,” Eller said. “Sometimes in Montreal, I was moved around quite a bit, maybe. I didn’t maybe at times find one place to stick in, so I’m just really, really excited to get started here.”
The 27-year-old bounced up and down the Canadiens lineup in 2015-16 season, due to a consistently changing role. Head coach Michel Therrien didn’t know how to utilize Eller, shifting him from center to the wing and giving him fluctuating ice time throughout the season. Despite an ever-changing role, Eller had a positive possession impact on his teammates and proved to be an effective penalty killer in Montreal. Offensively, at this point in Eller’s career, you more or less know what he’s capable of – 10 to 15 goals and around 30 points – not bad production for a third liner. Eller fits in perfectly with the league’s best regular season team as he does a lot of the little things right.
Entering Capitals training camp, Eller’s role appears to be set. He’ll center Washington’s third line and provide depth to the club’s bottom-six. As it’s becoming more a trend in the NHL, the Capitals are likely to role four-skilled lines, not wasting the bottom-six on tough players who do little else. Eller will potentially lineup with Andrew Burakovsky, Marcus Johansson, Justin Williams and Tom Wilson.
Eller told Brown the Capitals present new inspiration for him.
“It’s new inspiration for me,” Eller said after arriving at Washington Capitals training camp last week. “New faces, new everything. I think this change comes at a good time for me, and I’m really excited to get started. I feel really energized.”
Eller should be re-energized and excited to get going with the fun, skilled Capitals squad. Washington isn’t in the position to move him around the lineup to help the needs of other players, as he was at times in Montreal, but instead, their depth affords the luxury of a defined position and role. That’s huge for Eller, who’s been shifted around many times over the past few seasons. It provides much more focus for him.
There’s a reason the Capitals dealt multiple useful assets, two second-round picks, for the Danish center. He’s one of the best depth forwards in the game. With better utilization and a set role, Eller is being set up to enjoy something completely new in Washington – stability.
[NHL.com]
