The Washington Capitals got forwards Nicklas Backstrom and Tom Wilson back from long-term injuries on January 8 and it has created a logjam up front in their lineup. Head coach Peter Laviolette has been forced to deal with that problem by often scratching players that otherwise would expect to be playing every night when available.

Backstrom’s return in particular has given the team five regular centermen. With the NHL trade deadline set for March 3 this season, the Caps could look to move one of them to free up that blockage and potentially help shore up some depth issues elsewhere on their roster.

The Athletic’s Eric Duhatschek, Pierre LeBrun, and Michael Russo put together a trade board for this year’s deadline based on the rumblings and rumors they hear around the league.

On January 18, Duhatschek added Lars Eller to their list and stated the Caps would be willing to listen to offers on the third-line center.

“Washington, I’m told, would entertain offers for [Eller] if they could get help on defense, where the injury to John Carlson has really thinned the ranks,” Duhatschek writes.

In 50 games this season for the Caps, Eller has posted just 15 points. That production rate has him slated to record the lowest total of points in a non-COVID-impacted season (24) since he was dealt to DC before the 2016-17 campaign.

The 33-year-old pivot has also seen the around one minute of power play time per game he has averaged over his tenure with the Caps fall to below nine seconds per game this season. However, with an average of 12:50 of ice time, he is playing the most minutes at five-on-five that he has in any season in DC.

The team does expect star blueliner John Carlson to be out longterm after getting hit in the head by a slap shot. They also say that they expect him back before the playoffs begin which could create issues both salary cap wise and with roster spots if the Caps were to add another defender.

Eller has had a relatively healthy 2022-23 season in comparison to some of the other centers on the roster. If he were to be dealt, the Caps would have to lean hard on a still somewhat recovering Nicklas Backstrom and a banged-up Nic Dowd. But, the team has gotten good results with Aliaksei Protas at center when he has needed to sub in at his natural position and a move could free up a permanent role for him.

With Protas on the ice at five-on-five this season, the Caps own 56 percent of the shot attempts, 58.1 percent of the expected goals, 54 percent of the scoring chances, and 58.6 percent of the high-danger chances.

A final thing that must be considered is that Eller has far and away been the best regular center in the lineup this season when it comes to faceoff percentage. He has won 55 percent of his draws which is over four full percentage points better than the next on the list, Nic Dowd (50.9 percent).

Eller will be an unrestricted free agent after this season.

Headline photo: Alan Dobbins/RMNB