‘I wanted to stay here’: Lars Eller credits Caps’ competitiveness, team culture for re-signing
Saturday morning, in a surprise move, the Washington Capitals announced the re-signing of third-line center Lars Eller to a five-year, $17.5 million contract extension that will keep The Great Dane in DC through 2023.
At age 28, Eller is on pace to set career highs in goals, assists, points, and shots on goal. The third-line center also set a career high in possession last season (54.60 shot attempts percentage) and is one of only seven skaters to be above water this year (50.04%).
Since arriving in DC in 2016 after a trade with Montreal, Eller has been a steady and constant producer from the team’s middle six. He simply makes everyone around him better. Eller was the driving force behind a dominant third line last year with Andre Burakovsky and Brett Connolly. Connolly scored a career-high 15 goals during the 2016-17 campaign and already has 13 goals through 45 games this year.
During his press conference with reporters Saturday, Eller expressed all the reasons why he re-signed: from the city to the team’s culture and winning.
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