Two days away from the NHL trade deadline, the Washington Capitals have made their next move.

GM Brian MacLellan has traded Lars Eller to the defending champion Colorado Avalanche. The return is a second-round pick in 2025.

The news was first reported by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.

Hearing Lars Eller to the Avalanche

— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) March 1, 2023

2025 2nd is return

— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) March 1, 2023

Eller, 33, has seven goals and nine assists in his 60 games this season. He’s in the final season of a five-year contract where he makes $3.5 million annually.

The Capitals will retain 31 percent of the salary meaning Colorado is paying for 69 percent of Lars’ remaining contract.

Caps retain 31 percent of Eller salary/cap hit

— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) March 1, 2023

Eller will go down as scoring two of the biggest goals in Capitals’ history. The Great Dane scored the Capitals’ championship-winning goal in Game Five of the Stanley Cup Final in 2018.

His double-overtime tally in Game Three of the Capitals’ first-round series against the Blue Jackets also turned that series around for Washington.

Behind Eller, the Capitals have a plethora of talented prospect centers including Aliaksei Protas, Connor McMichael, and Hendrix Lapierre. The team also has four centers signed on the NHL roster heading into next season including Evgeny Kuznetsov, Dylan Strome, Nicklas Backstrom, and Nic Dowd, meaning Eller was unlikely to be brought back.

Eller is the fifth Capitals pending UFA to be traded over the last week, joining Dmitry Orlov, Garnet Hathaway, Erik Gustafsson, and Marcus Johansson out of town.

The Capitals have five unrestricted free agents remaining on the roster Conor Sheary, Nicolas Aube-Kubel, Trevor van Riemsdyk, Craig Smith, and Matt Irwin.

With Eller gone, only six players from the Capitals championship team from 2018 remain, Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, John Carlson, Evgeny Kuznetsov, TJ Oshie, and Tom Wilson.

Here’s the full press release from the Capitals:

Capitals Acquire 2025 Second-Round Pick from Colorado for Lars Eller

The Washington Capitals have acquired a second-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft from the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for forward Lars Eller

ARLINGTON, Va. – The Washington Capitals have acquired a second-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft from the Colorado Avalanche for forward Lars Eller, senior vice president and general manager Brian MacLellan announced today. The Capitals will retain 31 percent of Eller’s salary as part of the trade.

The Capitals own 22 total picks in the next three drafts. Washington currently has five picks in the 2023 NHL Draft, eight picks in the 2024 NHL Draft and nine picks in the 2025 NHL Draft. Washington owns their first, second, fourth, fifth and seventh-round picks in 2023; their first, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh-round picks in 2024, as well as Boston’s third-round pick and Minnesota’s third-round pick in 2024; and their first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh-round picks in 2025, as well as Colorado’s second-round pick and Boston’s second-round pick in 2025.

Eller, 33, has recorded 16 points (7g, 9a) in 60 games with the Capitals this season. Eller, who won the Stanley Cup with the Capitals in 2018, has registered 364 points (160g, 204a) in 930 career games with Washington, Montreal and St. Louis.