Lars Eller left DC for the second time in his career this summer, signing a one-year, $1.25 million contract with the Ottawa Senators on July 1. Eller, best known in Washington for scoring the Stanley Cup-winning goal in Game 5 of the 2018 final against the Vegas Golden Knights, briefly returned to the Capitals via trade last season before departing in free agency.
In an interview with the podcast “Coming in Hot with Wallace and York“, Eller provided some insight into why he ultimately chose to go to Ottawa.
“I wanted to stay preferably in the Eastern Conference to be close to my family, who lives in Washington,” he explained. “That 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.”
Eller didn’t elaborate on the specifics of his new role, but he’ll 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).
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.
“Over the last couple of years, every time I played against Ottawa, they’ve been a pain in the ass to play against,” Eller said. “I feel like they’ve been getting better and better. I think they took another step this year to become a playoff team, and I still think that there’s 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.”
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.
“I 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,” he said. “I think you need a little bit of everything, and I can provide some of that, that maybe they feel like they’re missing. I think it’s going to be really good. I’m really looking forward to this challenge.”
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.
“I think it takes a special person to reach their absolute full potential and be at their best in the Canadian market,” he said. “You have to have a little bit of thicker skin. I’d like to think I’m more at ease at things the second time around playing in Canada.”
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.
“The Leafs were a big rivalry, them and Boston,” Eller said of Montreal’s most notorious opponents. “There’s an innate hate. I don’t want to say hate, but dislike for that team that — you always don’t want to lose to them, that’s for sure.”
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 “two or three week break from working out,” he plans to start skating again in late July or early August before ramping up ahead of training camp.
“I’m spending my offseason mostly in Washington, DC. That’s where my family, that’s where we kind of have our base,” he continued. “That’s where our kids have grown up, and their lives are there, so I’ll be training and preparing up until pretty much training camp starts.”
When he does arrive in Ottawa, Eller will reunite with former teammate Nick Jensen, whom the Capitals sent to Ottawa last offseason in a trade for Jakob Chychrun. Eller said Jensen offered “only positives” about living in Ottawa during a recent conversation the two had.
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.
“I remember Keith. I got to play seven games my first year with the Blues… And Keith was a part of the Blues, so I got to play with him a little bit,” he said. “I 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.”
With his longtime no. 20 already taken by Senators forward Fabian Zetterlund, Eller will don no. 89 in Ottawa, his birth year. He’ll become the second Danish player to wear those digits for the franchise, joining Eller’s childhood teammate, Mikkel Bødker, who played two seasons with the Senators from 2018-20.
“Me 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,” Eller recalled. “I know Mikkel very well. I know he had 89 for a while there, so I’ll be the second Dane with 89.”
