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Why the Capitals Reacquired Lars Eller

Related Topics: Lars Eller, Michael Sgarbossa

GM Chris Patrick pulled off a little rush-hour surprise tonight, bringing back Capitals’ legend and forever Stanley Cup champ Lars Eller from the Penguins for a fifth-round (2025) and third-round (2027) pick.

Eller last played for the Caps back in 2022-23, when he was jettisoned to Colorado at the trade deadline as part of the team’s mini fire sale before signing with the dreaded Penguins that summer. Now, a year and a half later, he’s back with the team he won it all with…so why did the Caps make this move?

Let’s be honest, Eller isn’t here to fix the power play (although he did get about 19 minutes of power-play time in Pittsburgh…somehow) or provide a ton of offense (although he was the Penguins’ fifth-highest scorer before the trade and is currently on about a 20-goal pace).