Washington Capitals looking to trade veteran forward

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Joshua Deeds
August 17, 2022 (7:06 PM)

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It looks like the 3rd line center job in Washington may be up for grabs, as the Capitals are trying to move veteran Center, Lars Eller. With Connor McMichael being promoted, Eller may be on the way out of the organization.

Eller's current cap hit is $3.5 Million, for this year while McMichael's upside is yet to be found, and has a cheaper cap hit at $863K a year.

This is unfortunate for Eller, whose been a part of the Stanley Cup-winning team as well. The Capitals currently have an abundance of Centers, after adding Dylan Strome and Henrik Borgstrom.

With Nicklas Backstrom and Carl Hagelin out, you would think this would complicate things more, however, this isn't the case as McMichael may be better than Eller based on some statistics:

Looking at the two head-to-head, McMichael had the stronger advanced statistics at 5-on-5. His expected goals-for percentage of 56.45 led all skaters with at least 40 games played, while Eller ranked fourth-to-last among forwards (48.49). McMichael also had a better shots-for percentage (53.90) and scoring chances-for percentage (54.12) than Eller at 5-on-5 (50.70, 48.65). At all strengths, McMichael also has the upper hand over Eller, also possessing a better Corsi-for percentage and goals-for percentage.

But McMichael still has to grow his two-way game, compared to Eller, and holds multiple roles in the organization currently.

Losing Eller would mean, losing a Penalty-Kill specialist, a solid back-checker, who isn't afraid to throw the body, accumulating 95 hits last season.

It is still Brian MacLellan's decision to make, but he shouldn't be so hasty.

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