Capitals center Lars Eller will indeed play in the 2019 IIHF World Championship after showing passive interest last week during his breakdown day interview in Washington.
The Capitals announced Eller’s participation in a press release Thursday morning.
Eller will join five other Capitals players overseas in Slovakia, including Russians Alex Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov, and Dmitry Orlov as well as Czechs Jakub Vrana and Dmitrij Jaskin.
Eller missed several practices during the postseason dealing with an upper-body injury he suffered at the end of the regular season.
“We’ll make a decision on that with the doctors and everything here over the next day or two,” Eller said when asked if he would play for Denmark during the World Championship.
When asked if he literally wanted to participate in the event, Eller hesitated.
“I won’t comment,” he said laughing. “I’ll just say we’ll make a decision in the next little while.”
Eller scored 36 points in 81 games with Washington this season including 13 goals and 23 assists. The third-line center scored the Stanley Cup-winning goal for the Capitals in the 2018 playoffs.
He is the only Dane to ever win the Stanley Cup.
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Lars Eller will represent Denmark at the 2019 IIHF World Championship in Bratislava and Košice, Slovakia.
Eller, 29, has represented Denmark at four World Championships (2008, 2010, 2012, 2016) and three World Junior Championships (2007, 2008, 2009). The Rodovre, Denmark, native recorded 36 points (13g, 23a) in 81 games with Washington this season, setting a career high for assists and marking the first time in his career he’s recorded back-to-back seasons with at least 36 points (18g, 20a in 2017-18 season). The 6’2″, 203-pound center became the first Danish national to win the Stanley Cup in 2018. Among Danish players in NHL history, Eller’s 255 career points (116g, 139a) rank fourth, while his 116 goals are tied for second. In 54 career international games for Denmark, Eller has 57 points (22g, 35a).
