Follow @james_tanner123 Good morning! Today we're going to talk about Lars Eller! I have a half a PLUS/MINUS ready to go, but I gotta go to my son's hockey. Instead of Sunday, maybe I'll put one out on Monday or Tuesday.
Anyways, in the meantime, please enjoy this relatively moderate take on the (probably not very) exciting Lars Ellar signing.
The Washington Capitals have signed Lars Eller. I once knew a guy named Lars. He was really weird.
A lot of people were criticizing this move which leads me to believe that a lot of people don't realize that Eller is such a consistently good player. He's good for about 25 points every year, and the vast majority of them at 5v5, which puts him solidly above average for a 3C. He is also above 50% possession every year.
Last year he formed one of the best third lines in the NHL with Burakovsky and Connolly. This year he's stuck with Connolly, but Washington has experimented with moving Burakovsky up in the lineup for about half the time, and when that happens Eller usually gets Wilson, which, either way, remains a pretty solid third line.
Eller will cost $3.5 million cap hit, which is great value for 25 5v5 points, solid possession player and one of the team's top penalty killers. Some critics pointed out that at 28, a five year deal is probably too long for what amounts to a role player.
1) He's more than a role player. Eller is one of the ten best third-line centres in the NHL. He's not flashy, but there is something to be said about 30 points and great defense. Not every team has that. The Leafs get a ton of point production from Tyler Bozak, but he gives it all back with his terrible defense. Eller is better, he's three years younger and he makes $1 million dollars less. Given that, this can't possibly a bad deal.
2) You can't get that cap-hit without giving the extra term. It's a trade off that is smart for the team. As Eller declines, so will the real-world cost of $3.5 million (inflation and a rising cap will make it less in the future than it is now, obviously).
Though the Capitals may not like paying a 32 year old Ellar so much money, it really is the only way to avoid paying him $5 million against the cap, at which point, you might as well just let him walk.
I'm usually really critical of Brian McLellan, but I think this is a great move.
stats from naturalstattrick.com