Confirmed with Link: The Tiger 2.0 | Lars Eller traded back to Washington from Pittsburgh (for a 3rd in 2027 and a 5th in 2025)

[g00n]

Throw in a dozen cases of Muscle Milk for Lappy and I'm down with this transaction.

My biggest concern is just how much of a boat anchor Eller was in the playoffs the last 2 seasons here, iirc. It as really, really REALLY bad.

 

[stephenball]

It’s not an earth shaking move but it’s probably a decent one. I agree that I like the idea of trying Lapierre at the wing. I don’t want him back in Hershey, but it could be good for him to simplify his game, take some pressure off.

 

[Roshi]

Just because CMM turned out great does not mean Lapierre will. It’s incredibly illogical to assume that. Some players bust other players don’t.

It happens. It’s pretty much a 50% chance on draft day. Right now Lappy is far closer to bust territory than anything else.

And no one is going to give us a 1st round pick back for lappy. That’s insane. How does not managing to become a regular NHL player 5 years later keep his value?

whoa wait a minute.

Before going into it, id say its actually less than 50% chance on draft day for a late 1st rounder.

That being said, sending Lapierre to bust territory right after he was selected for MVP of AHL playoffs few months ago at the age of 21 is wildly overreacting to a cold scretch.

You are saying its illogical to assume that Lapierre can bounce back just because of CMM did (while assuming Lapierre cant bounce back just because CMM did), fine, but thats far from the only reason to assume Lapierre can bounce back. He was our best player against the Rangers in the playoffs six months ago.

Give it some time. He is young. Developement doesnt go linear.

I agree nobody propably gives a 1st rounder for Lapierre right now. And I think we shouldnt accept a late 1st even if someone did. Its not like he has just stalled and nothing happened during those 5 years. Its been a journey. He had went through major health issues even before being drafted, and had his gametime limited with Corona years too. He has been on a really good track the past couple years. He is 22.

To repeat, MVP for AHL playoffs few months ago, id see this card through before throwing it back to deck... And then again, theres no damage done to ease some of that pressure and load for now with acquiring more depth in Eller. Let him work through it and have patience. If it doenst work out, as you said noone is giving a 1st for Lapierre, so its not like there is a lot in line here. The pay-off if Lapierre can figure it out way exceeds a late 1st round value, based on his trajectory for the last two seasons.

 

[StrikingDistance]

I guess @AlexModvechkin8 and I have been outed as Caps scouts:

League News: - NHL Talk - (News n' Scores n' Stuff) | 2024-25 Summer Edition

For all the Eller critics: I've watched the majority of Pens games this year and he's stood out in a good way. He's got 4Gs 3As on a 3rd line of a shitty Pens team and PKs. Think it's an upgrade in the short-term while Lappy gets more development. We'll see. Eller on his contract year will be playing hard to stay in the league. 3rd line needs someone more physical and seasoned.

Good move.

 

[Kazer]

Just because CMM turned out great does not mean Lapierre will. It’s incredibly illogical to assume that. Some players bust other players don’t.

It happens. It’s pretty much a 50% chance on draft day. Right now Lappy is far closer to bust territory than anything else.

And no one is going to give us a 1st round pick back for lappy. That’s insane. How does not managing to become a regular NHL player 5 years later keep his value?

This is an absolutely insane take. Not that Lapierre cannot bust, but that's he's closer to busting than being a solid player.

Stats prior to the current season:
Player Name - Goals Per Game - Points Per Game
Connor McMichael - .17 GPG - .32 PPG
Aliaksei Protas - .08 GPG - .31 PPG
Hendrix Lapierre - .15 GPG - .40 PPG
(And keep in mind that Lappy is a year younger than both Pro and McM)

Don't get me wrong. He's having a rough year, but let's not pretend like he cannot bounce back because of 11 games. Player development is not linear as shown by McMichael himself (made the NHL in 21-22 and then spent most of 22-23 in the AHL).

When I saw the trade, I thought Lappy might go down immediately, but they sent Sgarbossa down instead. I'm confident management has a plan for getting Lapierre back on track. They do not want a 22 year old sitting in the press box.

 

[Chokingdogs]

If anything, imo, this move should make Milano start sweating. There’s a reason he’s on his third team in what, 7 seasons?

Tossing HL out, at his stage of development/past performance/age would be foolish.

 

[895]

whoa wait a minute.

Before going into it, id say its actually less than 50% chance on draft day for a late 1st rounder.

That being said, sending Lapierre to bust territory right after he was selected for MVP of AHL playoffs few months ago at the age of 21 is wildly overreacting to a cold scretch.

You are saying its illogical to assume that Lapierre can bounce back just because of CMM did (while assuming Lapierre cant bounce back just because CMM did), fine, but thats far from the only reason to assume Lapierre can bounce back. He was our best player against the Rangers in the playoffs six months ago.

Give it some time. He is young. Developement doesnt go linear.

I agree nobody propably gives a 1st rounder for Lapierre right now. And I think we shouldnt accept a late 1st even if someone did. Its not like he has just stalled and nothing happened during those 5 years. Its been a journey. He had went through major health issues even before being drafted, and had his gametime limited with Corona years too. He has been on a really good track the past couple years. He is 22.

To repeat, MVP for AHL playoffs few months ago, id see this card through before throwing it back to deck... And then again, theres no damage done to ease some of that pressure and load for now with acquiring more depth in Eller. Let him work through it and have patience. If it doenst work out, as you said noone is giving a 1st for Lapierre, so its not like there is a lot in line here. The pay-off if Lapierre can figure it out way exceeds a late 1st round value, based on his trajectory for the last two seasons.

My previous post in this thread said I was unhappy with this trade because they need to give Lapierre more ice time.

I am not for trading Lapierre. We should wait it out.

 

[AlexModvechkin8]

Meh. Those guys told us Orpik was washed.

They were saying how good he's been and how it's a bad deal for the Pens.

I guess @AlexModvechkin8 and I have been outed as Caps scouts:

League News: - NHL Talk - (News n' Scores n' Stuff) | 2024-25 Summer Edition

For all the Eller critics: I've watched the majority of Pens games this year and he's stood out in a good way. He's got 4Gs 3As on a 3rd line of a shitty Pens team and PKs. Think it's an upgrade in the short-term while Lappy gets more development. We'll see. Eller on his contract year will be playing hard to stay in the league. 3rd line needs someone more physical and seasoned.

Good move.

I for one am happy to see Cars Smeller back in the fold, it's about time BMac and Chris Patrick started listening to me. Side note: we need a short-hand for Chris Patrick. GMCP? CPat? None as good as BMac or George McFail / George McNoCup.

This from 10/30:

There’s a center in Pittsburgh on the final year of his deal who is 4+2 in 11 games so far this season. Defensively responsible, plays in all situations, surprises you sometimes with his offense. Pretty good player and his name rhymes with Cars Smeller.

I’m just sayin’ if they need to solve the 3C spot and bring some stability to that line for the 2nd half of the season into the playoffs, they could do worse.

 

[kicksavedave]

The worst part of this trade is that it makes the Pens worse right now, which puts them closer to a lottery pick. Otherwise, pure win for the Caps.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

My previous post in this thread said I was unhappy with this trade because they need to give Lapierre more ice time.

I am not for trading Lapierre. We should wait it out.

Your use of the word “bust”, as if you were suggesting he might be one, caused people to react is all…

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Penguins Today: Fallout from the Lars Eller trade — The Athletic

One thing is certain: Kyle Dubas is open for business.

apple.news

After the trade, Kyle Dubas confirmed a poorly kept secret: He tried to find a suitor for Eller at last season’s trade deadline.

Eller handled the situation professionally up to and through the Penguins’ low point in his tenure, an embarrassing blowout home loss to the Dallas Stars earlier this week.

 

[Ovechkins Wodka]

I guessing they started working on the deal when the penguins were in DC Friday

 

[usiel]

Kinda of weirdly early move in the season but we do have a new GM. I do like Eller as an upgrade for Sgarbossa. But not as much a move to be a full time starter here on out. Lapierre's play in the playoffs and later in the season shows he could be a difference maker at the NHL level. For sure he has had some consistency issues which are not uncommon. Having Eller around does take pressure off of Lapierre and hopefully could be an additional mentor.

I have watched some good portions of pens games this year having a few of them on my fantasy team. Eller was pretty invisible on the offensive side and invisible in the good way on the defensive side. Could be missed some games he played well /shrug. Caps made good off season moves to get some new blood. So a little bullish in getting more 35 year old Old blood back on the team. Again if its more a depth move rather than a full time starter I'm ok with it.

 

[hb13xchamps]

If anything, imo, this move should make Milano start sweating. There’s a reason he’s on his third team in what, 7 seasons?

Tossing HL out, at his stage of development/past performance/age would be foolish.

Milano is definitely the odd man out now.

https://x.com/i/web/status/1856729880953540810

 

[notDkristich]

Scratching my head on this. Did we move on he trade early b/c Caps had trade competition? I cant think of a good reason to move so early in the season. We are not hurting for wins at the moment.

 

[HTFN]

Kinda of weirdly early move in the season but we do have a new GM. I do like Eller as an upgrade for Sgarbossa. But not as much a move to be a full time starter here on out. Lapierre's play in the playoffs and later in the season shows he could be a difference maker at the NHL level. For sure he has had some consistency issues which are not uncommon. Having Eller around does take pressure off of Lapierre and hopefully could be an additional mentor.

I have watched some good portions of pens games this year having a few of them on my fantasy team. Eller was pretty invisible on the offensive side and invisible in the good way on the defensive side. Could be missed some games he played well /shrug. Caps made good off season moves to get some new blood. So a little bullish in getting more 35 year old Old blood back on the team. Again if its more a depth move rather than a full time starter I'm ok with it.

This trade has actually got me reconsidering a bit of the NHL's trading "meta" as it were.

Somebody in the trade boards (I think) said something that caught my attention, basically that making a move this early allows the Caps to act as buyers and sellers depending on how the next ~40 games go. The more I sit on that thought I have wondered if the "mid-tier purgatory" teams should be using this strategy to boom or bust.

I'm not sure it always makes sense, but...
a.) you acquire rental assets but the wheels fall off the team, you can shop the assets at the deadline. Some might take a loss but you're paying to gamble on elevating your squad, not win every trade, and you're not a lottery team yet so a lot of the pick swaps can arguably be negated with faith in your scouting department
b.) everything goes well and you keep the asset, pretty standard rental procedure but more time to gel
c.) the ultimate fantasy video game outcome: bridge players and veterans take some pressure off guys who are finding their game, lose their places to those players over the season, and are in the supremely comfy position of having added depth or flipping the bridge player anyway.

 

[trick9]

Teams love defensively responsible centers. That's why we got 2nd back for Eller the last time even though he wasn't very good towards the end. Some teams can't add salary yet but lots of teams could fit Eller at the TDL.

I hope we can get that late pick back for Milano as i assume this pushes him out.

 

[HTFN]

Scratching my head on this. Did we move on he trade early b/c Caps had trade competition? I cant think of a good reason to move so early in the season. We are not hurting for wins at the moment.

I can't think of any good reasons to wait either

The market for centers looks fairly unimpressive, waiting until the deadline just increases the risk of overpaying or coming up empty, and if we're all identifying a need on the roster for a 3C even during the wins there's no real reason to sit around waiting for dysfunction to take over. Doing it now allows them to get it done without the rest of the league trying to wring value out of them.

 

[Langway]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1856748881687511527

 

[Ovechkins Wodka]

Is he playing tonight?

 

[zappa4ever]

///
... basically that making a move this early allows the Caps to act as buyers and sellers depending on how the next ~40 games go.
///

This is one of the more intriguing factors for doing it early...

out: 3rd and 5th
in at TDL: 2nd? 3rd?
or keep for a Playoff run

hard to argue with what the big brass have done last year and a half

 

[Ovechkins Wodka]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1856483270403178662

What we have spent trade wise on the 3rd line looks like some good GM work

 

[HTFN]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1856483270403178662

What we have spent trade wise on the 3rd line looks like some good GM work

Wait, so... in a vacuum here that's:

IN: Eller, Mangiapane
OUT: 2027 3rd, Chicago 2025 5th.

That's stupid, and obviously it doesn't quite work that way because Eller had value on both sides at different times but... holy shit that's some asset management.

 

[Kazer]

Is he playing tonight?

Bailey said to expect Lappy tonight. I'm guessing Lars will make his second Caps debut Friday vs Colorado.

 

[stephenball]

I seem to remember last year there was a lot of talk about how CMM should be moved because Lapierre is better