Photo: @CapitalsPR

Standing in front of reporters three hours after the first round of the 2016 NHL Draft began, Capitals General Manager Brian MacLellan was happy that he finally got his man. He was not referring to the draft pick the Caps made an hour earlier.

With a sly “yes” and a smile, MacLellan confirmed that Lars Eller, whom the Capitals traded for earlier in the night, would be the team’s third-line center heading into next season. According to the 2016 GM of the Year finalist, the deal was in the works for a long time and that he inquired about the center’s availability frequently.

Watch as #Caps SVP/GM Brian MacLellan talk to the media about the trade for Lars Eller and drafting Lucas Johansen.https://t.co/7a2rbcasDH

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) June 25, 2016

“We identified Lars probably a year ago,” MacLellan said. “We’ve been asking about him. We’re trying to fill a third-line center with a good two-way guy that can give us a little offense and play defense. Little PK and probably a little power play too. We identified him probably over a year ago and he was on our list this year. We kept trying and making calls to see if we could trade for him. And it happened today.”

Eller found out about the news at 2am at home in Denmark. MacLellan said he’s very excited to join the team.

“He fits what we need perfectly,” MacLellan said. “He’s got good size, he skates well, he’s got good skill level, he plays a good two-way game. We’ve been looking to fill that spot for a little while now.”

Despite Eller having two years left on a four-year, $14 million deal ($3.5 m cap hit), MacLellan thinks the Caps still have room for to sign their four restricted free agents (Johansson, Latta, Orlov, Wilson) and fit under the $73 m salary cap. MacLellan also didn’t completely shut the door on Jason Chimera coming back.

“We’re confident we’re going to get everything to fit, everything to work out,” MacLellan said. “We might tweak it a little bit here. We’re going to work on our RFA’s now and see where they come in and I think we’ll be pretty close to the cap.”

“We identified a couple guys on the UFA market but I think it’s going to be expensive,” MacLellan continued. “I think the fit here is a little better.”

Meanwhile, MacLellan indicated that the Caps wanted Riley Tufte at pick 26. When the six-foot, five-inch left wing from Minnesota got drafted by Dallas, the Capitals decided to trade down to number 28 and recoup a third-round pick.

“We had a player there that went just in front of us that we targeted and then the next guy on our list was Johansen,” MacLellan said. “So we moved back. We had two teams inquire about moving back. One team offered a fourth and one offered a third so we took the third.”

That doesn’t mean the organization isn’t excited about Lucas.

“I think the best attribute we have with Lucas is his intelligence,” Assitant General Manager Ross Mahoney said to reporters. “I think he has a high hockey IQ. He’s an excellent skater. He skates well with the puck. He has the ability to lug it out of his own end. He plays well on the power play because of his patience and like I said his hockey sense. He’s very patient with the puck and seems to make great decisions with it.”

“Good skater, good hands, and a very intelligent player,” Mahoney concluded.