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Habs Report Cards: Lars Eller |
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Habs Report Cards - Lars Eller
Grade: C+
It was a bit of a surprise when on the first day of training camp, Montreal Canadiens head coach Michel Therrien had Lars Eller lining up on the left side of Alex Galchenyuk on the Canadiens second line. A logjam of centers meant that someone would have to play out of position and so Eller was given his biggest opportunity of his career, playing on a consistent basis in the team’s top six. However, the results were very much the same as Eller only managed to record 26 points in 79 games and once again was not able to break the 30 point mark. His play was inconsistent and perhaps that is because he played out of position for much too long.
No longer can fans claim that Eller was not given a chance to put up numbers. Despite playing with Galchenyuk, the Canadiens most offensively gifted player for much of of the season, Eller scored 13 goals, two less than the season before. On top of that, his powerplay time on ice was up and so he had more opportunities as Eller averaged 58 seconds with the man advantage compared to just 32 seconds last season. Even at the end of the season when Galchenyuk found success as team’s #1 center alongside Max Pacioretty and Brendan Gallagher/Sven Andrighetto, Eller still played LW next to Tomas Plekanec as the Canadiens depth was exposed and he remained the team’s best option. However, with Daniel Carr on the right side for the last few games of the season, the line and Eller actually had some success and finished the season with 3 points in his last 4 games.
The left wing experiment lasted most of the season but did not net any better results for Eller and the Canadiens. Eller is a better 3rd line center than 2nd line left winger. As a third line center, Eller is strong at going against the opposition’s top six and chipping in occasionally. In 2014-2015, Eller had 7 game winning goals compared to 2 goals this year. He also played 15 seconds more per game and was also used more frequently on the penalty kill. On a positive note, Eller did improve without the puck as he had 111 hits and 46 takeaways.
The big question heading into next season is if Eller will be back with the Canadiens or will he be traded away? Eller is one of the few desirable trade chips that General Manager Marc Bergevin holds in his hand. A big body at 6’2” and 207lbs, Eller’s versatility is a positive and has managed to take his game to a higher level in the playoffs. Between Eller, David Desharnais, Torrey Mitchell, Phillip Danault and Michael McCarron, the Canadiens have a number of options for bottom six centers. Someone has to go and compared to Desharnais, Eller is more likely to fetch a bigger return. Eller is entering the last season of his contract which has a cap hit of $3.5 million dollars and he will then become an UFA. He could return again as a left winger but that is obviously not the ideal situation. For the Canadiens top six to improve, they need a winger that is capable of putting up at least 40-50 points and Eller has not been able to prove that he is capable of doing so.
Cheers & follow along!
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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