Lars Eller was not on the ice for today’s morning skate before the Washington Capitals take on the Anaheim Ducks and now we know why.

Eller is unavailable for tonight’s game due to the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol. It is not known yet if this will force Eller out of more games after tonight. All we know as of this moment is that he isn’t playing against the Ducks.

#Caps forward Lars Eller is unavailable due to the NHL's COVID-19 protocol.

— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) November 16, 2021

Eller did travel with the team to the West Coast and has four points in his last three games for the Caps.

Replacing him in the lineup will be Garrett Pilon who was called up from Hershey before the team embarked on this road trip.

Capitals lines at AM skate in Anaheim:

Ovechkin-Kuznetsov-Wilson
Sheary-McMichael-Sprong
AJF-Pilon-Hathaway
Hagelin-Protas-Leason

Fehervary-Carlson
Orlov-Jensen
TvR-Schultz

*Eller is not on the ice

— Samantha Pell (@SamanthaJPell) November 16, 2021

“We’re working through some things in the room right now,” Laviolette said after the morning skate when asked about Eller’s absence. “So we’ll have an update later.”

Screenshot via @Capitals