{"id":60837,"date":"2025-07-12T23:50:09","date_gmt":"2025-07-12T23:50:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/60837\/"},"modified":"2025-07-12T23:50:09","modified_gmt":"2025-07-12T23:50:09","slug":"lars-eller-on-decision-to-sign-with-ottawa-senators-it-was-an-important-spot-for-me-an-important-role-to-fill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/60837\/","title":{"rendered":"Lars Eller on decision to sign with Ottawa Senators: \u2018It was an important spot for me, an important role to fill\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lars Eller<\/strong> left DC for the second time in his career this summer, signing a one-year, $1.25 million contract with the Ottawa Senators<\/a> on July 1. Eller, best known in Washington for scoring the Stanley Cup-winning goal in Game 5 of the 2018 final<\/a> against the Vegas Golden Knights, briefly returned to the Capitals via trade last season before departing in free agency.<\/p>\n

In an interview with the podcast \u201cComing in Hot with Wallace and York<\/a>\u201c, Eller provided some insight into why he ultimately chose to go to Ottawa.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to stay preferably in the Eastern Conference to be close to my family, who lives in Washington,\u201d he explained. \u201cThat certainly was also something that played a factor for me personally. But I also wanted to be on a competitive team, and I also do feel like talking to [general manager] Steve [Staios], Ottawa really wanted me. It was an important spot for me, an important role to fill. We saw eye-to-eye on how I would fit in and what I can bring in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eller didn\u2019t elaborate on the specifics of his new role, but he\u2019ll likely play more significant minutes than he did with the Capitals last season. He averaged just 12:26 in ice time after returning to Washington last fall, far below the 15:58 he averaged in Pittsburgh the season prior. Eller played 80 total games for the Capitals and Penguins in 2024-25 and totaled 22 points (10g, 12a).<\/p>\n

Besides the potential for more ice time, Eller also said that his past encounters playing against the Senators helped make the club an attractive destination.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver the last couple of years, every time I played against Ottawa, they\u2019ve been a pain in the ass to play against,\u201d Eller said. \u201cI feel like they\u2019ve been getting better and better. I think they took another step this year to become a playoff team, and I still think that there\u2019s room for growth with them. I think their best players are going to continue to keep getting better. So, I think they have been moving and [are] going to move in the right direction, so that was certainly appealing to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

He highlighted the mix of fellow veterans like wingers Claude Giroux and David Perron and younger, skilled players, and he believes he can provide another experienced voice in the room.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think you have to have the right mix of really good young players and have some veterans they can lean on a little bit. And I think I can be one of those guys. I know they have a couple already with Giroux and Perron that I know a little bit,\u201d he said. \u201cI think you need a little bit of everything, and I can provide some of that, that maybe they feel like they\u2019re missing. I think it\u2019s going to be really good. I\u2019m really looking forward to this challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eller is no stranger to playing in tough Canadian markets. He spent six seasons in Montreal, where he racked up 154 points (71g, 83a) as a member of the Canadiens. He noted that his experience in Canada over the past few years will give him a leg up in his return across the border.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it takes a special person to reach their absolute full potential and be at their best in the Canadian market,\u201d he said. \u201cYou have to have a little bit of thicker skin. I\u2019d like to think I\u2019m more at ease at things the second time around playing in Canada.\u201d<\/p>\n

His time in Montreal also gave him plenty of experience playing heated games against the Toronto Maple Leafs, a major rival of both the Canadiens and Senators.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Leafs were a big rivalry, them and Boston,\u201d Eller said of Montreal\u2019s most notorious opponents. \u201cThere\u2019s an innate hate. I don\u2019t want to say hate, but dislike for that team that \u2014 you always don\u2019t want to lose to them, that\u2019s for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite inking his new deal, Eller is still staying in the DC area for most of the summer. After vacationing in Keswick, Virginia, while taking a \u201ctwo or three week break from working out,\u201d he plans to start skating again in late July or early August before ramping up ahead of training camp.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m spending my offseason mostly in Washington, DC. That\u2019s where my family, that\u2019s where we kind of have our base,\u201d he continued. \u201cThat\u2019s where our kids have grown up, and their lives are there, so I\u2019ll be training and preparing up until pretty much training camp starts.\u201d<\/p>\n

When he does arrive in Ottawa, Eller will reunite with former teammate Nick Jensen, whom the Capitals sent to Ottawa last offseason<\/a> in a trade for Jakob Chychrun. Eller said Jensen offered \u201conly positives\u201d about living in Ottawa during a recent conversation the two had.<\/p>\n

Several Senators players have already reached out to welcome Eller, including star winger Brady Tkachuk, whose father, Keith, was briefly teammates with Eller on the 2009-10 St. Louis Blues. Eller reminisced about meeting the Tkachuk brothers as children.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember Keith. I got to play seven games my first year with the Blues\u2026 And Keith was a part of the Blues, so I got to play with him a little bit,\u201d he said. \u201cI remember him and Brady and [his older brother] Matthew always sitting on the bench at the end of practice getting ready for dad and the rest of the players to be done with practice so they could jump on with dad. I specifically remember they were around the room. I remember [they were] probably like nine or 10-year-olds at that point.\u201d<\/p>\n

With his longtime no. 20 already taken by Senators forward Fabian Zetterlund, Eller will don no. 89 in Ottawa, his birth year. He\u2019ll become\u00a0the second Danish player to wear those digits for the franchise, joining Eller\u2019s childhood teammate, Mikkel B\u00f8dker, who played two seasons with the Senators from 2018-20.<\/p>\n

\u201cMe and Mikkel grew up playing together. We were born the same year. We were pretty much linemates when we started playing hockey, so like three to age 15 or 16,\u201d Eller recalled. \u201cI know Mikkel very well. I know he had 89 for a while there, so I\u2019ll be the second Dane with 89.\u201d<\/p>\n

S\/T to RMNB commenter Hana for tipping us off on the interview.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lars Eller left DC for the second time in his career this summer, signing a one-year, $1.25 million…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":60838,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[293,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-60837","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-nhl","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-united-states","11":"tag-unitedstates","12":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60837","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60837"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60837\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60838"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60837"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}