Confirmed Signing with Link: [PIT] F Lars Eller signs with the Penguins (2 years, $2.45M AAV)

[Lonewolfe2015]

How bad does he suck now WSH & COL fans? Be honest

There's a reason the Avs traded a 2nd for him and then traded another 2nd to replace him instead of keep him...

 

[SenzZen]

This move is such a combover.

Puts them over the cap and have 3 goalies, whats the plan? Is anyone injured

Just add Matt Murray. That’ll fix it!

 

[TheGoldenJet]

Good lord, Dubas sucks.

 

[banks]

Dubas found his newest Kerfoot/Jarnkrok style Swiss army knife player. He loves having someone who can play anywhere in the lineup.

Too bad that was Eller 4 years ago, not today. This is a mistake in day 1.

 

[biturbo19]

He may not be the player he was a while ago, but there are still worse things to spend money on than a bottom-6 Center who can kill some penalties, take some defensive minutes, etc. That seemed to be a problem with Carter as a 3C where that's not really his jam. So going out and getting some guys who can actually alleviate that pressure from Crosby and Malkin seems alright.

 

[OtherThingsILike]

Doesn’t Pittsburgh already have two bottom six centers though in Carter and Acciari?

Sullivan likes having multiple centers on a line, especially in the bottom six, so that one of them can take a faceoff if the other gets kicked out.

 

[Zbynek]

Good for Lars for sticking around and getting paid some more. He’ll be best if he’s your 4C and you let him PK. Anything more than that and he’ll get overwhelmed but you could do a lot worse than Lars as a 4C.

Doesn’t Pittsburgh already have two bottom six centers though in Carter and Acciari?

And we also have Granlund. Dubas did the impossible here and somehow gave this bottom-6 even less of an identity.

 

[wej20]

Didn't take Dubas much time getting into a Cap crunch. Ellers and Acciari. How many 4C's does a team need at 2+M per?

Enough to make Granlund a winger again.

 

[66-30-33]

Bumping to say Eller looks amazing so far. Was remembering people saying he looks cooked from other threads. He's decently a good skater and been amazing playing the 3C role that was given to Carter and has 1 SHG.

 

[Jacob]

Mentioned this in another thread but I like the veteran / leadership role he’s seemed to accept right away. He’s not here for that and this group shouldn’t need it but he’s been talking to the media despite being new to the team, taking ownership when they weren’t playing well, and backing it up with his play.

 

[Ezpz]

Mentioned this in another thread but I like the veteran / leadership role he’s seemed to accept right away. He’s not here for that and this group shouldn’t need it but he’s been vocal to the media despite being new to the team, taking ownership when they weren’t playing well, and backing it up with his play.

He's been doing that since he was a rookie.

 

[orby]

Eller looks very competent in his role. He reminds me a little of Matt Cullen, another guy whose signing raised the ire of some Pens fans since it seemed redundant. He's not going to knock your socks off, but he's an effective bottom 6 center who makes his linemates better.

 

[Chuck Norris Trophy]

Eller looks very competent in his role. He reminds me a little of Matt Cullen, another guy whose signing raised the ire of some Pens fans since it seemed redundant. He's not going to knock your socks off, but he's an effective bottom 6 center who makes his linemates better.

Yep. That Matt Cullen type is just what I´ve been thinking. He´s been awesome in me eyes.

 

[chethejet]

Long season but Eller is doing fine as the 3rd line center and is smart plays with good positioning and can PK. He is in his best role and brings smarts and size to that position.

 

[Jumptheshark]

Long season but Eller is doing fine as the 3rd line center and is smart plays with good positioning and can PK. He is in his best role and brings smarts and size to that position.

Always liked him
as long as you except what he can and can not do. He does his job and is not flashy about it

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

Happy to see that The Tiger is bouncing back and playing well. Figured he’d do well as a 4C but that his 3C days were behind him so good for him. He looked completely washed last year but then again, most of the Caps did playing under Laviolette. That was just a coach/roster match that seemed to make sense on paper but never meshed in real life.

 

[Empoleon8771]

Eller has been excellent on his own, but I don't think it can be understated how good of a duo that he and Zohorna have been. Even with Eller playing well to start the year, the 3rd line was really struggling when it was Harkins-Eller-O'Connor. But ever since Zohorna was called up and put on that line, the duo has been an absolute monster:

-3.85 GF/60 and 4.11 xGF/60
-1.54 GA/60 and 2.42 xGA/60
-71.43% GF% and 62.98% xGF%
-31.11% offensive zone start%

They're getting pretty tough defensive assignments and are just absolutely killing it in the role. It's only a 9 game sample size, but this 3rd line has been the best Penguins 3rd line in a really long time so far.

 

[DesertPenguin]

Eller has been excellent on his own, but I don't think it can be understated how good of a duo that he and Zohorna have been. Even with Eller playing well to start the year, the 3rd line was really struggling when it was Harkins-Eller-O'Connor. But ever since Zohorna was called up and put on that line, the duo has been an absolute monster:

-3.85 GF/60 and 4.11 xGF/60
-1.54 GA/60 and 2.42 xGA/60
-71.43% GF% and 62.98% xGF%
-31.11% offensive zone start%

They're getting pretty tough defensive assignments and are just absolutely killing it in the role. It's only a 9 game sample size, but this 3rd line has been the best Penguins 3rd line in a really long time so far.

It's criminal that they took a last minute waiver wire gamble on Harkins and sent down Zohorna to do it. Tell me they don't win at least one more game at the beginning of the season if that trio was in place from the start. It's magical. None of those guys are very physical, but it's jarring for Eller to be the short guy on the line at 6'2". The size makes for a totally different dynamic.