Lars Eller embraces Penguins’ 3rd-line center role
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This isn’t anything new for Lars Eller.
He already has been a third-line center behind two high-end All-Stars on the depth chart.
For parts of seven seasons, he inhabited that station as a member of the Washington Capitals with Nicklas Backstrom and Evgeny Kuznetsov in front of him.
So joining the Pittsburgh Penguins as an unrestricted free agent and working down the trough from Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin isn’t an overwhelming assignment.
And that’s what makes him a perfect candidate for the role in his view.
“Playing behind those guys, I think it will be, for me and guys like me, it will be our job to support them with secondary scoring and being very hard to play against,” Eller said via video conference Tuesday. “Pittsburgh, playing against them, especially in my time with Washington, you know when you’re going against the Penguins, they’re going to be one of the most competitive teams. Extremely competitive games. I’m going to provide a highly competitive game at both ends of the ice.
“I’m a player that can play in any situation. That’s what I’ve done for the better part of my career. I can play short-handed, I can play on the power play, I can play in all kinds of different situations. Mostly center, but I have played on the wing as well. You can use me kind of everywhere. But third-line center is where I’ve probably been most effective during my career.”
While the Penguins’ top two lines carried most of the freight throughout the 2022-23 season, the bottom two lines derailed things and were a significant factor in the franchise missing the postseason for the first time since 2006.
That prompted new president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas to overhaul the bottom six forwards. Eller, who signed a two-year, $2.45 million, is largely the centerpiece of that remodeling project.
“Eller, he’ll take that spot here (as third-line center),” Dubas said July 1, the day Eller formally signed. “It’s hugely important. Everyone here would be very familiar with Lars Eller and his game and his time in Washington.
“We’re happy that was a great fit for us because that’s a really hard position to fill (with) someone that can come in and you know can play that role but also wants to play that role. Especially on a team like ours in the way that it’s constructed. …. The Eller signing was really, really key for us.”
Historically — or at least since Crosby and Malkin joined the Penguins in the mid-2000s — the third-line center role has been vital to the franchise’s success.
The likes of Jordan Staal, Brandon Sutter, Nick Bonino and Jeff Carter (for parts of two seasons, at least) have met that challenge. Others such as Riley Sheahan, Derrick Brassard, Nick Bjugstad, Mark Jankowski and Carter (last season, at least) have not realized that standard.
Eller certainly has the resume to be part of the former group and not the latter.
A first-round pick (No. 13 overall) of the St. Louis Blues in 2007, Eller first took on the duties of a third-line center with some average playoff-caliber Montreal Canadiens teams in the early 2010s before joining the Capitals via trade in the 2016 offseason.
One of the most successful of an admittedly limited pool of NHL-ers from Denmark, Eller played a vital role in the Capitals’ only Stanley Cup championship in 2018.
A key component of the Capitals’ second-round triumph over their long-time nemesis, the Penguins, Eller ended up scoring the Stanley Cup-clinching goal in Game 5 of the championship series against the Vegas Golden Knights.
The Capitals haven’t come close to enjoying the same success since then, but Eller remained a staple of that team’s lineup until this past season when he was traded to the Colorado Avalanche.
Dealt to Colorado on March 1, Eller (6-foot-2, 205 pounds) played in 84 games during the regular season and scored 23 points (10 goals, 13 assists) while averaging 14 minutes, 48 seconds of ice time.
(Note: Eller was able to play two more contests than a standard 82 games as a result of how the schedules of the Capitals and Avalanche lined up after he was traded.)
Beyond the base offensive figures, the left-hander was in the black with faceoffs, winning 53.7 of his draws (549 wins, 474 losses) and was a steady presence on the penalty kill, clocking an average of 1:38 of short-handed ice time.
“I can provide a little bit of everything to the team wherever it is needed,” said Eller, a 14-year veteran. “I’m strong in the faceoff circle, (I’ll) be good on draws, be good on the (penalty kill) and provide good offense and defense. Be helpful to the younger players that are coming in and taking them under your wing and trying to help their transition as much as possible. I can do a little bit of everything.”
Eller, who needs 46 games to reach 1,000 in his career, seemed to value one thing above all else in opting to sign with the Penguins.
“Pittsburgh, I see them being competitive for the next two years with how their team is structured,” Eller said. “I think we’ll be competitive for the next two years. So that made it a place where it was appealing to be for two years.
“I play my best games when there’s (the) most on the line. Top games against good teams. We’ll be facing a lot of playoff-caliber teams in our division. The more there’s on the line, I feel like the more I rise to the occasion.”
Note: Former Penguins defensive prospect Josh Maniscalco signed an American Hockey League (AHL) contract with the Rockford IceHogs, an affiliate of the Chicago Blackhawks. Maniscalco, 24, just completed a three-year entry-level contract with the Penguins, who did not extend a qualifying offer and allowed him to become an unrestricted free agent.