Player Discussion Lars Eller

Alexander the Gr8

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May 2, 2013
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Toronto
Defensively he's excellent and that's all we're asking from him. Offensively his production is lacking but he'll get there. The 3rd line with Burakovsky and Oshie is really playing well, he'll be rewarded with points.
 

HTFN

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Feb 8, 2009
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Not as much of a guarantee in the corners as advertised, although his choice of passes around the boards is solid and it makes him still very good at keeping the zone as a whole.

Makes smart, quick plays down low, would rather get a quick chance than hold for a perfect one, which fits his line.

Surprised he's not better at faceoffs, though, seems to lose a lot of clean ones.

EDIT: Honestly, I think the most impressive thing about Eller so far is that Burakovsky can tell what he's doing, and it's allowing Burt to make use of his new size and strength. Burakovsky has, in my eyes, been one of the Caps' top 3 forwards early on.
 

Ovie's Neighbor

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Jan 23, 2007
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I have not been impressed and think he is a downgrade from last year's Chimera. But he isn't as bad as Justin Williams so that is a plus.
 

Raikkonen

Dumb guy
Aug 19, 2009
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Id like to wait some more until I can say smth. Want to have some significant sample size first. So, after next 2-3 games...
 

Langway

In den Wolken
Jul 7, 2006
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It's early but I wouldn't be surprised if Beagle ends up with more points than Eller, despite significantly inferior linemates and less ice-time. Eller is more than fine defensively and on the PK but I don't see many signs of an ascendant offensive hockey IQ about to break out. The Caps aren't the easiest team to mesh with but I expected more flashes at least. He's got zero excuses now, especially lately given his linemates.
 

AlexBrovechkin8

At least there was 2018.
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Feb 18, 2012
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Not a huge fan so far, to be honest. Pretty underwhelming offensively. We're going to need Lars to find his scoring touch if this team hopes to get over the hump.
 

Chukcha

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Aug 24, 2011
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i still don't get an idea why GMBM acquired him. Was he really the best possible option as a 3C? All three top-9 centers on this team are soft euros. A good ole canadian boy a-la Brendan Morrison would be the better choice imo.
 

Hivemind

We're Touched
Oct 8, 2010
37,009
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Philadelphia
i still don't get an idea why GMBM acquired him. Was he really the best possible option as a 3C? All three top-9 centers on this team are soft euros. A good ole canadian boy a-la Brendan Morrison would be the better choice imo.

Not sure if serious
 

Carlzner

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Oct 31, 2011
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Denver, CO
I have not been impressed and think he is a downgrade from last year's Chimera. But he isn't as bad as Justin Williams so that is a plus.

Seriously?

FWIW I lurked on the Isles board earlier and it seems a lot of them want Chimmer scratched... and their forward group is awful.
 

HTFN

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Feb 8, 2009
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i still don't get an idea why GMBM acquired him. Was he really the best possible option as a 3C? All three top-9 centers on this team are soft euros. A good ole canadian boy a-la Brendan Morrison would be the better choice imo.

wat.

people were brushing morrison off the puck with a feather duster.
 

trick9

Registered User
Jun 2, 2013
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Disappointing.

Expected more from him, but it's still early. Still better than Mike Richards last season.
 

HecticGlow

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Mar 14, 2016
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Seriously?

FWIW I lurked on the Isles board earlier and it seems a lot of them want Chimmer scratched... and their forward group is awful.

Last year's Chimera. I don't think Chimmer has found his game again since it dropped off towards the end of the regular season into the playoffs - just like Justin Williams hasn't. I would tend to agree that the Chimera of the first six months of the regular season was superior to Lars Eller early on this season.

I'm a bit disappointed Bura-Eller-Oshie isn't scoring that much - I mean Bura is a top-6 forward, and Oshie is one of our 1st liners. They've been flying, but one has to wonder if Bura-Mojo-Oshie or Bura-Beagle-Oshie would be any less effective.

Eller seemed to be out for some of the Caps early PK goals against, but seems much more solid on the PK now. Interesting to see he's received no power play time, despite GMBM suggesting pre-season that he might (I guess Bura spoiled that idea). Still, Eller is probably tradeable, so worst case scenario Eller+propspect/draft pick might get us a better 3C rental at the TDL if he really doesn't work out, and clear some cap space for next year. Or he gets claimed in the expansion draft...
 

HecticGlow

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wat.

people were brushing morrison off the puck with a feather duster.

Michael Latta had more offensive flair than Richards. The only players Richards was an upgrade over, offensively, were Laich and Galiev. It's not hard for Eller to be an upgrade over him.
 

AlexBrovechkin8

At least there was 2018.
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Michael Latta had more offensive flair than Richards. The only players Richards was an upgrade over, offensively, were Laich and Galiev. It's not hard for Eller to be an upgrade over him.

Honestly, that might be all we need. If we had a more offensive Richards last year we probably beat the Pens.
 

Caps Circle

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Jan 19, 2015
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He's been great, by my estimation. Production isn't quite there yet, but he's one of our most dominant 5v5 players and his line with Burakovsky and Oshie has probably been our second best all year (after the Tre Kronor line). Also playing well on the PK and two-way at even strength, and has been going to the net more than advertised. Think he'll be a significant strength in the playoffs.
 

PuckSeparator

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May 18, 2014
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It's still very early and Lars Eller has been neutered for years in Montreal, it will take a while before he finds his confidence in the O-zone. Could it be too late? Who knows, but he's definitely worth giving a chance to as he is a guy that will pay dividends come playoffs time. He was the Habs' best forward the last couple of times they went past the first round.
 

twabby

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Mar 9, 2010
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He's been okay to pretty good IMO. Remember his first few games were with Zach Sanford (who is still getting adjusted to the NHL) and Justin Williams (who has been disappointing for most of the season so far). Eller didn't look good at that time either, but I'm willing to give him a pass on it.

However, when alongside Burakovsky and Oshie, Eller's line has looked fantastic, including a nice goal last night by Oshie set up in part by a hit from Eller that dislodged the puck to Burakovsky. This is exactly what a third scoring line should be like. Yeah, I'd like to see Eller put up some more points. But he's been one of the best defensive forwards on the team in terms of shots and attempts against.
 

HTFN

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Feb 8, 2009
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Michael Latta had more offensive flair than Richards. The only players Richards was an upgrade over, offensively, were Laich and Galiev. It's not hard for Eller to be an upgrade over him.

Which is all fine and dandy, as well as probably true.

But my point of contention was that another Brendan Morrison isn't what this team needs. If you wanted that, you could have just put Johansson back at 3C and bought a new winger.

I don't have a problem with what Eller is bringing to the table at all.
 

Bananas

****
Mar 26, 2007
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Another middling add to a middling organization that anticipates and accepts middling results. Next question...
 

Jags

Mildly Disturbed
May 5, 2016
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I think he's playing well, but his salary and the two 2's we gave up to get him are steep considering our looming cap crunch at the end of the year. It's hard to be too critical on trades where you pick up a quality guy because we have no idea who's available or what their cost might be, but though I like Eller a lot, I'm not convinced it was the best move we could have made.

Beagle was on pace for 15 goals when he got hurt last year, our win % dipped slightly while he was out, and the 3rd line was a solid part of our early-season success. Not sure why him being our 3C was a "problem" we needed to spend $3.5 million and two 2nd-rounders to fix.

Given Eller's performance thus far, it's not unreasonable to say that we could have picked up a cheaper option via trade or free agency that would have yielded similar results.
 

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