Breaking Down the Lars Eller Signing

The Senators have locked down their fourth line centre. Lars Eller is coming to Ottawa on a one year contract that will pay him $1.25 million. With this signing the Senators have just about secured their full roster for next season. Let’s dive into the details on the Lars Eller signing.

READ MORE: Senators Re-Sign Merilainen and Cousins

Lars Eller By the Numbers

Eller is a veteran of 1,116 regular season games and 112 playoff games. The 36 year old is 6’2″, 208 lbs, and shoots left. That gives the Senators two left shooting and two right shooting centres. Here were Eller’s numbers last season, split between the Penguins (17 games) and the Capitals (63 games):

• 80 games, 10 goals, 22 points, 13:17 averaged time on ice

Eller has consistently put up 10-20 goals and 20-40 points almost every season of his 15 year career. Over the last two seasons with Pittsburgh, he averaged over two minutes per game on the penalty kill. When traded to Washington, an obviously deeper team, his shorthanded ice-time dropped to 44 seconds per game. Eller does not play an overly physical game, but his calling card has always been his two-way play, trusted to take care of the defensive side of the ice.

A Look Ahead

Eller is nearing the end of his career. He saw a dip in ice-time when he joined Washington last season, from over 16 minutes per game with the Penguins to 12:27 with the Capitals. In the playoffs, he ranked 12th among Capitals forwards in ice-time, and scored just one assist in 9 games. With the Senators, he is securely behind Stützle, Cozens, and Pinto at the centre position. He won’t be used on the power play, and won’t be out there for many offensive situations. The Senators have three regular penalty killing forwards returning from last season- Pinto, Greig, and Giroux. There is an open spot for Eller to potentially be the fourth.

Final Thoughts

This is a pretty straightforward signing by Steve Staios. The Sens needed a fourth line centre, so they signed a 15 year veteran who is indeed, a fourth line centre. Eller has stuck around this long because he knows how to successfully play a two-way game. He is an intelligent player, he’s capable on faceoffs, and he can keep up with the pace of play.

With this signing, the Senators are left with about $5 million in cap space. They have 12 forwards, 7 defensemen and 2 goalies signed for next season, meaning it seems as though their roster is pretty well set for the start of next season.