Farewell to Lars Eller
GMBM is executing his rebuild plans ruthlessly
I know I hinted I wouldn’t be back until Friday, but with Caps General Manager Brian MacLellan (GMBM) keeping busy I could hardly stay away. The latest veteran on an expiring contract to be dealt is center Lars Eller, a skater who will forever be remembered in team history as the man who scored the Stanley Cup-winning goal in 2018.
Eller will be joining the defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche. In return, the Caps received a 2025 2nd round draft pick. For those of you scoring at home — or even if you’re alone — the Caps now own three 2nd round picks in the 2025 draft. While that might seem to be a ways off, we ought to think of them as chips that GMBM can use to complete an on-the-fly rebuild he’ll need to fully execute in time for the 2023-24 NHL season.
With a little more than a day left until Friday’s 3:00 p.m. U.S. EST NHL trade deadline, there are still a pair of expiring contracts that a number of teams should be interested in, namely forward Conor Sheary and defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk. GMBM has had a great deadline so far. One wonders what he’ll do holding a pair of valuable chips as time is running out. Teams are always looking for a spare defenseman at the deadline, and Sheary, with two Stanley Cup rings on his resume, will surely find a buyer too.
While I’m sure his teammates were sorry to see Eller go, the Caps soldiered on last night in Anaheim and came way with a 3-2 win in OT. The hero last night was winger Tom Wilson, who scored twice, including the game winner. Wilson now has seven goals in 14 games since returning to action after suffering an injury during the playoff series last Spring against the Panthers. I think it’s safe to say he’s all the way back.
The Caps get a breather until they play on Saturday in San Jose, which will give the team more than enough time to bid farewell to anyone else who might be shipped elsewhere by Friday’s deadline. With that in the rearview mirror, unless the team somehow rallies and makes a late playoff run, the next time we need to pay attention will be June 28-29, when the 2023 NHL Draft decamps to Nashville. I expect some fireworks from GMBM. You should too.
Eric McErlain lives and works in the Washington, D.C. area. He blogged at Off Wing Opinion regularly from 2002-2009. In addition to writing at Off Wing, his work has appeared at The Sporting News, AOL FanHouse, NBC Sports.com, Deadspin, The Hockey Writers and Pro Football Weekly.