Capitals Trade Lars Eller To Avalanche

The Washington Capitals continue to sell ahead of the 2023 NHL Trade Deadline, and Lars Eller is the latest player on the move.

Washington has traded Eller to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for a 2025 second-round pick, general manager Brian MacLellan announced on Wednesday. The team is retaining 31 percent of Eller's salary.

Eller was one of the team's free agents heading into the offseason. With the team having a lot of business to take care of, general manager Brian MacLellan had shipped out several pending free agents, including Dmitry Orlov and Garnet Hathaway (Boston Bruins), Erik Gustafsson (Toronto Maple Leafs) and Marcus Johansson (Minnesota Wild). As part of those deals, MacLellan has received a number of draft picks, along with defenseman Rasmus Sandin and forward Craig Smith.

The Dane has had a rough go of it this season as he navigates inconsistencies and struggles in his game. Through 60 games this season, Eller has just seven goals and nine assists. Still, he made a notable impact in the face-off dot and was a key penalty killer.

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Over seven years in D.C., Eller made his mark with the organization with 87 goals and 121 assists through 488 games. He also scored the Game 5 game-winning goal against the Vegas Golden Knights that clinched the Stanley Cup in 2018.

Conor Sheary, Trevor van Riemsdyk, Nicolas Aube-Kubel and Matt Irwin are the team's only UFAs left who have been with the club since the start of the season. Nick Jensen was also set to hit the market but re-signed a three-year extension on Tuesday night.